How to Install an Ecobee Thermostat

This tutorial will show you how to remove an old thermostat and install an ecobee smart thermostat.

“Warning” This tutorial is to be accomplished only by an adult. Please only perform this install if you have experience working with electricity. If you have no experience please stop here and find someone who has and can help you. Not knowing what you’re doing or missing a step could result in death or damage to property.

1 Power drill

1 Phillips screwdriver

Open your ecobee and verify you have everything pictured above. We won’t be using the power extender for this tutorial. You will need the following items.

1 face panel

1 backplate

1 backcover

1 instruction manual for help

2 Phillips screws

This step is crucial for your own safety. You’ll need to find your service panel. This is typically located outside the home and looks like similar to the one in the picture.

Find the service disconnect.

Flip the Service Disconnect to OFF.

You can verify this by looking at the unit. Display should be blank as pictured.

Find a vent and verify no air is coming from vent this will also verify unit is off and has no power.

Pull on the face of the old unit gently towards you. You should here a click slowly lift face panel off.

With the faceplate now gone you can see in what locations these wires go. You can remove each wire and tag each wire with its name i.e. RC, RH Y1 and so on. Or you could simply take a picture of the wires and use it later when installing the ecobee. If you have a jumper cable like I do in from RC to RH ignore this as your ecobee will not need a jumper. Simply focus on the wires coming from the wall.

Disconnect each wire from your old unit. At the end the only wires attached the unit should be the jumper cables if you had any.

Unscrew the 2 supporting screws of the back plate with your Phillips screwdriver.

Now that you have removed the 2 screws. Pull the wires through the hole and remove the old backplate.

Find the new backplate and place it up to where the old plate used to be. If you have no damage you can use this plate as is. Mark the wall where your 2 new holes are going to be.

Use a power drill to make the 2 new holes for you.

Locate the cover and place the backplate over it. This will help cover the damage to the wall from your old backplate.

Once the cover and backplate are together push the wires through the plate hole.

Screw in the top screw but allow wiggle room.

screw in the bottom screw of the backplate but allow wiggle room.

Locate the built in level installed in the bottom of your ecobee.

Ensure the bubble is in between the 2 lines. Once you verify this you can screw in the screws till they are secured.

When securing the wires do not place them in the holes facing you like pictured above.

Secure the wires to the holes on the side of each label as pictured above. This is the part where you will need to reference the picture you took earlier to ensure you place the correct wires in the correct letters.

As you install the wires tug on them a bit to verify the wire is secured properly and not loose. Having a loose wire can result in damage to thermostat or harm to you in way of shock once power is applied.

This is what you backplate should look like once all the wires are secured. Take a picture of this as you will be asked later to confirm your wire placement.

Locate your face panel line up the back to match your back panel.

Push your new face panel onto the back plate. You should here a loud click ensuring your panel is secured.

Return to your service panel and flip the “Service Disconnect” to ON.

When you return back inside your ecobee should say “hi” on the panel.

In this step your ecobee is asking you to confirm you only used on R cable.

This is where you will need that picture of the wires you secured. Your ecobee is asking you to confirm this set up.

The next step is to confirm your set up in fahrenheit or celsius.

Your next step is selecting if you have a furnace or boiler heater.

In the following step you are selecting what controls your heat. It is recommended to select thermostat.

Next select wifi set up.

You can set up your wifi manually or with an I-device.

Locate your wifi network and select it.

Insert your network password.

Once your wifi is set up you should see the following message displayed “connection completed” on your panel.

Your ecobee is now installed and connected to your wifi network. Once it is on the device should look like the picture above.

Now that your setup and install is done lets power on your A/C.