Ecobee offers a simple and stylish way to control your heating and cooling throughout your home. These handy innovative units detect fluctuations in indoor humidity and adjust the temperature to ensure your home remains comfortable. However, even for all their benefits, Ecobee sometimes stops working after power outages.
So, how do you troubleshoot an Ecobee thermostat that does not work after a power outage?
Power outages have a knack for occurring at the most inconvenient times. Worse, you can be easily stuck in the cold weather inside your home, even after power is restored, because your Ecobee thermostat is not working. This post will cover how to troubleshoot an Ecobee not working after power outages.
How Ecobee works
Ecobee smart thermostats use smart sensors and digital technologies to detect humidity levels inside the house and adjust the temperature. They are designed to allow for remote control, which can be handy if you want to preheat or cool your home before you return or just to monitor temperatures while you’re away. That said, Ecobee needs to be powered to function, which makes it crucial to understand how it gets power before you can troubleshoot it.
Well, Ecobee units draw power from the furnace, meaning any disruption that causes power loss at the furnace will result in the Ecobee not working.
All in all, it is worth noting that the Ecobee room sensor comes with a 3-volt CR-2032 that keeps it running when there are power interruptions., which is also handy when there are power surges.
How to fix Ecobee not working after a power outage
A power outage is likely to cause your Ecobee thermostat to shut down improperly. And while your thermostat should turn on automatically once power is restored, this is not guaranteed following an unexpected power outage. If your Ecobee thermostat was working properly only to fail after a power outage, troubleshooting it should fix the issues.
Here is how to bring your Ecobee back to life after a power outage:
1. Check the fuses
It is not uncommon for fuses to blow after a power outage. For this reason, if your Ecobee stops working after a power outage, the first thing to check should be the fuse on the furnace control board.
Open the furnace control panel to expose where your furnace wires are connected, and check the fuse to see if it is intact. If the fuse is blown, replace it. Your thermostat should turn on and continue working if the fuse was the only issue.
2. Check your circuit breaker
A flipped breaker is one of the common causes for a circuit breaker to suddenly stop working, especially after a power outage. Reach your circuit breaker box and check whether the HVAC breaker is flipped wrong. Circuit breakers often flip during power outages to protect your electrical components.
If the circuit powering your furnace is flipped, turn it back on to restore power to the furnace. The Ecobee unit should start working once power to the furnace is restored. There will be a green flash on the light bar to indicate that the thermostat is adequately powered.
For the unacquainted, Ecobee requires a constant 24VAC power supply to operate.
Notably, you may want to give your Ecobee about 30 minutes after power is restored to the circuit so that it remembers all its settings. Your Ecobee will need to reconnect to the WiFi, after which it will automatically retrieve its settings.
Ecobee is not working after power is restored.
Sometimes Ecobee will not work even after fixing power issues. If your Ecobee was working well before a power outage and didn’t work after fixing power-related issues, it might be the right time to seek the help of an expert. You can call customer support or a certified expert to help check if your thermostat is faulty.
If there are faulty components, have them repaired or replaced.
Conclusion
An unexpected power outage can cause your Ecobee to shut down abnormally and not work after power comes back. If your thermostat suddenly stops working after a power outage, fixing the power supply should bring it to life. Otherwise, you may want it checked by a professional to advise and repair it if necessary.
