If you’re away from home and your HVAC system breaks down suddenly, you probably want to get it fixed as soon as possible. Here’s how to receive instant alerts from your Ecobee3 thermostat whenever there’s a possible problem with your heating and cooling.
How to Install and Set Up the Ecobee3 Smart Thermostat
How to Enable HomeKit on the Ecobee3 Thermostat
You can receive similar notifications from the Nest, but it can’t do it natively, so you have to get some help from IFTTT and create a couple of recipes to get it going. However, the Ecobee3 has a built-in feature that sends you alerts on your phone (and in your email) if the indoor temperature of your house ever reaches a certain level, pointing to the likelihood that something might be wrong with your HVAC system.
To begin, open up the Ecobee3 app on your smartphone and when you’re on the main screen with the thermostat’s user interface showing, tap on the menu button in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Select “Reminders & Alerts”.
Tap on “Preferences”.
The two alerts that you’ll be setting up are the “Low Temperature Alert” and the “High Temperature Alert”. The former you’ll use in the winter, and the latter during the summer.
First, we’ll set up the Low Temperature Alert, so go ahead select it and you’ll see two options. Tap on the arrow next to “Receive Alert” and select “Enable” if it isn’t already.
Next, tap on the arrow next to “Low Temperature Limit” to set the threshold. Tap and hold your finger on the right-hand dial and drag it up or down to set the temperature. Then hit “Save” in the bottom-right corner.
After that, tap on the back arrow in the top-left corner.
Next, tap on “High Temperature Alert”.
Do the same thing as before, only this time you’ll set a high temperature for use during the summer.
With both of these alerts enabled, you’ll receive a notification on your phone whenever the temperature dips below that certain point in the winter and rises above your high temperature limit in the summer. When you receive this notification, it’s likely that either something’s wrong with your thermostat or your HVAC system went kaput, allowing you to be able to get someone on the horn as soon as possible to get it looked at.