I know the eco bee has a motion sensor and think the nest does too. It needs to sense you’re there otherwise it will assume you left and change the temperature. Check this out first. They have other remote sensors you can add to rooms to tell the unit you’re still home.

If you need to, you should be able to install a common maker at the furnace to make it compatible.

The Honeywell Wi-Fi is pretty cool, just installed this week in Home state. Only hiccup was they didn’t attach the common wire at the furnace because previous unit was battery operated. I just found that, added the wire to “C” and off we went.

Keep it on "holding" mod and nothing changes until you
raise or lower the temp.

Amazon does not "make" Ecobee. Ecobee is a Canadian company, and was acquired by US-based Generac in 2021.

I had the same experience as Brian. I live in the northern part of TV. Installed a Nest thermostat with no issues. Wiring directions were clear and my house happened to be 100% compatible.

not that it matters who owns who, but
 

Amazon does NOT make Ecobee. Ecobee is owned by Generac. It works fine in my south of 44 home.

Nest is by Google. I've installed a Nest in my former home that had a 2015 Trane HVAC system with no issues. Just be careful because if it is in learning mode and someone in your house changes the temp all the time, it will learn that and eventually change the temp...all the time.

...

Nest, Ecobee, Honeywell are all great thermostats. The problem is some homes have
1) Less than the six(6) wires needed at the thermostat if you have a heat pump.
2) Have a two(2) wire communicating Carrier thermostat installed.

I've seen both in the same areas and have no idea why some homes are one way or another.

Addressing item #1 If you have less than Six(6) wires. If your HVAC company suggests running a new wire, they are ripping you off. All these premium thermostats above have an adaptor, usually included that converts five or less wires to six giving you the Common or Ground wire needed for these wifi smart thermostats. Always check your existing wiring behind your thermostat before purchasing a new one.

Addressing item #2, For some reason in some Villages a Carrier communicating thermostat was installed although there was a Five or Six wire cable in the wall. There is no advantage to this type of thermostat unless you don't have the necessary wires or you want to save money on copper cable. With these systems you will see a white box mounted on the side of your Air Handler in the garage. With the power Off, you need to disconnect the wires and remove the circuit board in that white box and spice the wires from the Air Handler to the thermostat cable. You can use the white box as a splice box. When this is done all the wires at the thermostat should be correct to install your new wifi smart thermostat.

As far as which brand to get. I've had Honeywell and Nest and both worked great but the best i've used is the ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium with Smart Sensor and Air Quality Monitor. $217 on Amazon. Sometimes they run a sale. Why do I recommend this unit? Because it comes with one remote temperature/motion sensor, more can be added, that you can put in other rooms in you home to get better temperature distribution in homes with one zone like we have here in the Villages. So for example, my office in the front of my Ivy home gets the sun in the afternoon and is always a couple degrees warmer than the rest of my house. I placed the Ecobee remote sensor in my office so if i'm in that room in the afternoon and its warmer the Ecobee thermostat will turn on the A/C to lower the temperature in my office while i'm in there, averaging the temperature for that time across my home. The Ecobee thermostat is very smart and i've been saving money in heating and airconditioning cost ever since I've had it. It also has an intuitive phone App and a very comprehensive web interface showing how efficient your home is compared to others in your area, when the A/C and heat is on, outside temperature, etc... You can easily see on a graphic display how the thermostat is turning on and off the system 24x7. No more guessing if the Aux heat came on or if the A/C is not keeping up during very hot days. I highly recommend this thermostat. The user interface on the thermostat is also very easy to understand with an explanation on all the advanced settings if you want to tweak them.

I've installed several of these wifi thermostats for friends and neighbors so if you have a question PM me.
John

When we installed a Nest in a Patio Villa a few years ago a lot of rewiring at the air handler was required. Had to be done by HVAC company. Next doesn’t control dehumidification, so I would look at other options.

Sorry but the Nest and the Ecobee Do control dehumidification. It's in the advanced options on both thermostats.

And Ecobee system doesn't a great job at it I might add. :coolsmiley:

I have a Nest thermostat. I'm in Summerhill, 2003 villa. My son in law walked me through the installation in a video chat last year. It was easy. I love the ability to adjust my temps when I'm 1,000+ miles north.