ecobee thermostats are compatible with most residential heating and cooling systems in North America, including gas, oil, electric, and dual fuel systems.
Below is a summary of the types of HVAC systems ecobee thermostats are compatible with. To find out if ecobee thermostats will work in your home, please use our compatibility checker.
| Electrical Requirements |
- Compatible with 24VAC controls
- Not compatible with millivolt systems (ex. fireplaces, wood stoves)
- Not compatible with DC voltage (ex. heating and cooling systems in recreational vehicles)
- Not compatible with line/high voltage systems (ex. electric baseboard heaters)
|
| Conventional (Furnace and Air Conditioning) |
- Supports up to 2 stages of heat and 2 stages of cool
- Supports a single accessory, such as a humidifier, dehumidifier, ventilator, HRV, ERV (ecobee3, ecobee4, and SmartThermostat with voice control only)
- Supports single-speed fan control
- Can be installed with the PEK if a C wire isn't present
|
| Heat Pumps |
- Supports air-to-air and geothermal heat pumps
- Supports up to 4 stages of heat (2 stage heat pump, 2 stage auxiliary heat) and two stages of cool
- Supports single-speed fan control
- Supports a single accessory, such as a humidifier, dehumidifier, ventilator, HRV, ERV (ecobee3, ecobee4, and SmartThermostat with voice control only)
- Can be installed with the PEK if a C wire isn't present
|
| Boilers |
- Supports up to 2 stages of heat
- Supports a single accessory, such as a humidifier, dehumidifier, ventilator, HRV, ERV (ecobee3, ecobee4, and SmartThermostat with voice control only)
- Cannot be installed with the PEK if a C wire isn't present
|
| Dual Transformer (Boiler and Air Conditioning) |
- Supports up to two stage of heat and two stages of cool
- Supports a single accessory, such as a humidifier, dehumidifier, ventilator, HRV, ERV (ecobee3, ecobee4, and SmartThermostat with voice control only)
- Supports single-speed fan control
- Cannot be installed with the PEK if a C wire isn't present—C wire must come from the air handler, not the boiler
|
Regarding Proprietary Systems:
If you currently have a communicating thermostat and equipment with proprietary features (such as variable fan speed), ecobee thermostats will not be compatible right out of the box. If you're unsure whether or not your current thermostat is communicating, there are a couple of things to look for:
- Your current thermostat has non-standard terminals (ex. ABCD or 123)
- There is an Equipment Interface Module (EIM) board present at the equipment-level bridging your thermostat and furnace
The ecobee requires standard terminals (R, G, Y, W, C) at the furnace control board, so if you do have these terminals present, it's possible that the ecobee can be made compatible with some re-wiring of your equipment.
Things to note:
- ecobee thermostats do not support proprietary features supported by communicating thermostats (such as variable fan speed), so these features will be lost
- Depending on the make and model of your equipment, you may need to contact your equipment manufacturer to verify the correct settings
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