Ecobee3 Lite
Ecobee released a new product – the Ecobee 3 lite. Unlike other competitors, where they release a gen 2 or gen 3 product, Ecobee has downsized the features for households which don’t need all the fancy features allowing them to bring the price down significantly.
In order to allow a lower price point features like the remote sensors, GEO fencing, etc had to go. All the main features of a smart thermostat are still there with the same look and feel and even the interface is the same.
If you don’t need the follow me feature using the remote sensors or if your HVAC system doesn’t provide the option to heat certain parts of your house separately, then you don’t need the Ecobee 3 and you have the option now to go with the Ecobee 3 lite. Remote sensors cannot be added later to the Ecobee 3 lite, but having the option now to downsize the price for features you really need is convenient and helps with your budget.
The Ecobee 3 comes at $249 while the new Ecobee 3 lite has a price point now of $169. This price difference is not insignificant. Time will tell, how many households require the higher feature rich model especially as all the other features are still there e.g. IFTT, support for Amazon Alexa Echo, Echo dot, IFTTT, Samsung, Wink, Vera, etc integration for home automation.