Entry into HA with Smart Thermostat - help me pick please | Home Assistant | Page 1

jade pewter Oct 24, 2025, 3:18 PM

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very very new to the space, but I have an opportunity to pick up a Sensi Lite Smart Thermostat for about $40 or an Ecobee Essential Smart Thermostat for about $90 through the Focus on Energy marketplace. I'd prefer not to overspend, but want to be sure the Sensi can be used with HA. This would be my first foray into HA with a connected device and don't want to have a bad experience. Any one want to nudge me in the best direction?

dawn tapir Oct 24, 2025, 3:44 PM

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HomeKit Controller Integration could be used with the Sensi Lite in Home Assistant to have local control, so does the Ecobee Essential Smart Thermostat, wich (if seeing user reviews) would be perfectly compatible in HA with the HomeKit Controller integration and also has an ecobee integration, although this is cloudbased.

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so for basic things you should be fine with both options.

jade pewter Oct 24, 2025, 3:46 PM

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Is the HomeKit Controller a device or just the software/server installation on my local instance?

dawn tapir Oct 24, 2025, 3:47 PM

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it's an integration (software) within home assistant you can easily install from within HA (Home Assistant)

jade pewter Oct 24, 2025, 3:49 PM

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thank you, for as obvious as that was I just wanted to confirm. So today I could save the $40 but I could also spend the extra and have a more direct integration with the EcoBee? off hand is there anything I'd miss from being cheap today?

dawn tapir Oct 24, 2025, 3:53 PM

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i can not answer the questions about the exact functions that will be exposed in HA, but i recon that the basic settings do work on both. Personally, i would go for the user reviews that are better for the ecobee than the Sensi, but again, dont shoot the messenger ..

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i bought a honeywell Lyric T6 for 60bucks, love it

jade pewter Oct 24, 2025, 3:55 PM

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they appear to no longer be $60 😉

dawn tapir Oct 24, 2025, 3:56 PM

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sorry, bought it 2nd hand, forgot to mention 🙂

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but your 2 options should both work in HA

jade pewter Oct 24, 2025, 4:02 PM

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appreciate it - honestly the ecobee is a little more aesthetically appealing which will be needed for wife acceptance

dawn tapir Oct 24, 2025, 4:02 PM

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thats heavily important, i can tell you... lol then it would be an easy choice i guess 🙂

jade pewter Oct 24, 2025, 4:03 PM

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thanks @dawn tapir !

dawn tapir Oct 24, 2025, 4:05 PM

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np, if you've got the thermostat and need help with configuration, shout out and create a thread in either #1284966540617449515 or if having difficulties with installing the homekit integration use #1284966582375813201

jade pewter Oct 24, 2025, 4:05 PM

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I need to spin up my VM still to get HA installed and homekit added, I'm a few days away at best

dawn tapir Oct 24, 2025, 4:05 PM

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#Entry into HA with Smart Thermostat - help me pick please