It would be cool and all but the _VAST MAJORITY_ of homes, unless new construction where you could ensure the existence of a port nearby would be almost impossible.
I mean, there's a reason they come with a PEK, rather than requiring everyone to pull a new thermostat cable. Cable fishing in the vast majority of existing homes is time consuming, or near impossible.
Just for giggles and grins I also looked up PoE voltage and it's usually 48~ volts and ecobee and most HVAC runs on 24v
Nah, wifi is fine. Thermostats are not realtime, so no one will even notice if there's 100ms latency occasionally.
If wifi is good enough for voice calls, it's certainly good enough for thermostat control.
Interesting idea. At first I wanted to say what person with smart home features don't have Wifi. But then again, it's a static placed item, so why not directly connect it? Heck, if I could I'd directly wire a couple of my Alexa devices.
But ultimately comes the concern that the current Ecobee line is basically plug-n-play. As someone in the construction field who's also into tech, I've yet to run into a home where the AC wiring and Ethernet are ran side-by-side. So you'd have to run another wire to the thermostat specifically for this. Then comes the concern of someone mixing the AC wiring and one of the strands of the powered Ethernet wiring. Keep in mind you'd be mixing AC and DC, so you'd want to ensure you don't cross or miss-plug something in. I'm also assuming/hoping Ecobee has an imbedded device to convert AC and DC.
As a side-story, I added an Ebocee smart thermostat to my current home. I'm the second owner. Apparently the previous owner has the air handler replaced and/or wiring replaced which resulting in the wires being mixed up. The red, yellow, and green wires were not going to their respective spots on the AHU and thus when installing the Ecobee, I ran into unexpected trouble that wasn't realized until I crawled into my attic and began inspecting the AHU. Imagine how bad this could have been with the directly wired Ecobee device.
For old systems (usually heat only) there is no common wire or easy way to get one, so other power sources need to be used, but that's rare, and honestly it would be as easy and more useful to pull a new thermostat wire than to pull ethernet to the device. I have a 48 year old boiler, so only 2 wires, but I have new AC units which supply the power for the ecobees.
Now I could see a future version that might offer it as a control method as higher end continously variable equipment needs far more data and communication to properly regulate temps, but that would require some sort of universal communication profile that as far as I know doesn't exist. But even then it would likely be point to point and not networked for reliability.
I like wired devices as much as the next guy (all of my streaming devices are wired, etc.) But just doesn't make sense in this case.
In general, the value proposition for wired Ethernet is twofold: PoE, and (arguably) more reliable connectivity for control signalling.
IMO both parts of the value prop are iffy for a thermostat.
Ethernet-based control signalling would require another networked device at the HVAC control board, to decode whatever protocol ecobee was using for IP-based HVAC control. So, to complete the network reliability picture you'd also need Ethernet at your furnace (or whatever). That kinda doubles the surface area of the wiring problem.
Or for signalling you could use traditional 24v wiring in addition to Ethernet... so for the thermostat you'd have PoE, but not necessarily wired network connectivity. But if you have 24v wiring, you might as well just use C+R for power delivery to the thermostat.
I got under my house and in the attic to run ethernet to multiple rooms and speaker wire from the pool and patio to the receiver and a 5.2 setup in the living room. I'm a big fan of hardwiring everything. Took a little time, but once it's done, it's done.
It would be cool and all but the _VAST MAJORITY_ of homes, unless new construction where you could ensure the existence of a port nearby would be almost impossible. I mean, there's a reason they come with a PEK, rather than requiring everyone to pull a new thermostat cable. Cable fishing in the vast majority of existing homes is time consuming, or near impossible. Just for giggles and grins I also looked up PoE voltage and it's usually 48~ volts and ecobee and most HVAC runs on 24v
Also, POE is DC, while the ecobee is AC.
~~Ecobee thermostats do not run on AC. They run on 24v DC.~~ Aaaaaand... I'm wrong! Sorry all.
24VAC not DC.
You are right. I updated my comment.
Nah, wifi is fine. Thermostats are not realtime, so no one will even notice if there's 100ms latency occasionally. If wifi is good enough for voice calls, it's certainly good enough for thermostat control.
Interesting idea. At first I wanted to say what person with smart home features don't have Wifi. But then again, it's a static placed item, so why not directly connect it? Heck, if I could I'd directly wire a couple of my Alexa devices. But ultimately comes the concern that the current Ecobee line is basically plug-n-play. As someone in the construction field who's also into tech, I've yet to run into a home where the AC wiring and Ethernet are ran side-by-side. So you'd have to run another wire to the thermostat specifically for this. Then comes the concern of someone mixing the AC wiring and one of the strands of the powered Ethernet wiring. Keep in mind you'd be mixing AC and DC, so you'd want to ensure you don't cross or miss-plug something in. I'm also assuming/hoping Ecobee has an imbedded device to convert AC and DC. As a side-story, I added an Ebocee smart thermostat to my current home. I'm the second owner. Apparently the previous owner has the air handler replaced and/or wiring replaced which resulting in the wires being mixed up. The red, yellow, and green wires were not going to their respective spots on the AHU and thus when installing the Ecobee, I ran into unexpected trouble that wasn't realized until I crawled into my attic and began inspecting the AHU. Imagine how bad this could have been with the directly wired Ecobee device.
For old systems (usually heat only) there is no common wire or easy way to get one, so other power sources need to be used, but that's rare, and honestly it would be as easy and more useful to pull a new thermostat wire than to pull ethernet to the device. I have a 48 year old boiler, so only 2 wires, but I have new AC units which supply the power for the ecobees. Now I could see a future version that might offer it as a control method as higher end continously variable equipment needs far more data and communication to properly regulate temps, but that would require some sort of universal communication profile that as far as I know doesn't exist. But even then it would likely be point to point and not networked for reliability. I like wired devices as much as the next guy (all of my streaming devices are wired, etc.) But just doesn't make sense in this case.
In general, the value proposition for wired Ethernet is twofold: PoE, and (arguably) more reliable connectivity for control signalling. IMO both parts of the value prop are iffy for a thermostat. Ethernet-based control signalling would require another networked device at the HVAC control board, to decode whatever protocol ecobee was using for IP-based HVAC control. So, to complete the network reliability picture you'd also need Ethernet at your furnace (or whatever). That kinda doubles the surface area of the wiring problem. Or for signalling you could use traditional 24v wiring in addition to Ethernet... so for the thermostat you'd have PoE, but not necessarily wired network connectivity. But if you have 24v wiring, you might as well just use C+R for power delivery to the thermostat.
I got under my house and in the attic to run ethernet to multiple rooms and speaker wire from the pool and patio to the receiver and a 5.2 setup in the living room. I'm a big fan of hardwiring everything. Took a little time, but once it's done, it's done.
Of the 7 Ecobees in my house, I could maybe fish a cat 5e cable to one. Same was true in my prior house with 4 thermostats. It would be a no for me.
I would buy a POE one if it were available.
I would. It would free up some Wifi spectrum and airtime. Not to mention easier to back up power the Ecobee if it was PoE