Ecobee EB-STATE6P-01 Smart Thermostat Premium: Full Review

Ecobee’s flagship thermostat packs energy savings, air-quality monitoring, and a built-in smart speaker into a single sleek device. The ecobee EB-STATE6P-01 Smart Thermostat Premium is the model number for the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, the top of the lineup. This review covers what it does, how it installs, how much it saves, and whether it’s worth the premium over cheaper smart thermostats.

Decoding the Model Number

EB-STATE6P-01 is simply the SKU Ecobee uses for the Smart Thermostat Premium; “STATE6” is the sixth-generation platform and the “P” denotes Premium. If you’ve seen the product marketed as the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, this is the same device. There’s a step-down model, the Enhanced, that drops the air-quality sensor and premium finish.

What You Get in the Box

The Premium ships with the thermostat itself, a SmartSensor for a remote room, a trim plate to cover old thermostat marks, a Power Extender Kit for homes without a C-wire, mounting hardware, and the quick-start guide. The included room sensor is a genuine value-add, since ecobee sells them separately for around $80 a two-pack.

Standout Features

• Glass touchscreen: A bright, edge-to-edge color display with a premium zinc-and-glass build that looks the part on a hallway wall.
• Built-in smart speaker: Native Siri and Alexa are baked in, so the thermostat doubles as a voice assistant and intercom.
• Air quality monitor: An onboard sensor tracks indoor VOCs, CO2 equivalents, humidity, and gives a running air-quality score.
• Radar occupancy sensing: Detects presence more reliably than motion sensors, improving comfort automation.
• SmartSensor support: Remote sensors read temperature and occupancy in other rooms to eliminate hot and cold spots.

The Air Quality Monitor Explained

The Premium is one of the few thermostats with a genuine air-quality sensor. It measures total volatile organic compounds and estimates CO2, then displays a color-coded score on the home screen. If air quality drops, you can set it to automatically run your HVAC fan to circulate and filter the air. For households with allergies or a tightly sealed modern home, this feature turns the thermostat into a low-key air monitor you’d otherwise buy separately.

How the SmartSensor Improves Comfort

A traditional thermostat only measures temperature at one spot on one wall, which is why a back bedroom can feel freezing while the hallway reads the target. The included SmartSensor lets the system average temperatures across rooms or prioritize occupied rooms. Put a sensor in the bedroom and the system can prioritize it at night, so you’re comfortable where you actually are rather than where the thermostat happens to hang.

Energy Savings

Ecobee cites average savings of up to 26 percent on heating and cooling costs versus holding a constant temperature, based on its own studies. Real-world savings depend on your climate, rates, and habits, but the eco+ software features drive genuine efficiency by:

• Pre-cooling or pre-heating during cheaper off-peak utility hours.
• Using community energy savings to shift usage away from grid peaks.
• Adjusting setpoints automatically when occupancy sensing shows the house is empty.
• Optimizing based on your local weather forecast.

Many utilities offer rebates of $50 to $100 for installing an ENERGY STAR smart thermostat, which shortens the payback period considerably.

Compatibility

The Premium works with the vast majority of residential systems: conventional gas, oil, and electric furnaces, central air, heat pumps (including many with auxiliary and emergency heat), and multi-stage systems up to a point. It’s compatible with 24V systems and, thanks to the included Power Extender Kit, works even in homes without a dedicated C-wire. It is not designed for high-voltage line-voltage baseboard heating or proprietary systems, so verify your wiring before buying.

Installation: Step by Step

Most homeowners install this in 30 to 45 minutes with a screwdriver.

1. Turn off power to your HVAC system at the breaker or furnace switch. This is a safety must.
2. Remove your old thermostat faceplate and photograph the wiring before disconnecting anything.
3. Use ecobee’s online compatibility checker or app to confirm your wires match.
4. If you lack a C-wire, install the included Power Extender Kit at the furnace control board following the labeled diagram.
5. Mount the ecobee backplate, using the trim plate if needed, and connect each labeled wire to the matching terminal.
6. Snap on the thermostat, restore power, and follow the on-screen setup wizard to configure your equipment and Wi-Fi.

If your wiring is unusual or you’re uncomfortable at the furnace board, a pro install runs roughly $100 to $200.

The App and Smart Home Integration

The ecobee app gives you scheduling, remote control, energy reports, and a HomeIQ dashboard that shows runtime and efficiency trends over time. The Premium is unusually ecosystem-agnostic: it works with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and IFTTT. That broad support is rare and means it fits almost any smart-home setup you already own.

What It Costs

The Smart Thermostat Premium typically retails around $250, though it frequently sells for $200 to $230 during promotions. That’s a premium over basic smart thermostats at $130 to $170, but the price includes a room sensor, the air-quality monitor, and the built-in speaker that would cost extra elsewhere. Factor in a possible utility rebate and the effective cost drops meaningfully.

Ecobee Premium vs Enhanced

If you’re deciding between the two ecobee flagships, the Premium adds the air-quality sensor, the built-in speaker with Siri and Alexa, radar occupancy sensing, and a nicer glass-and-metal build. The Enhanced keeps the core smart-thermostat features and a bundled sensor at a lower price. Choose Premium if air quality and voice control matter to you; choose Enhanced to save money if they don’t.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

• Thermostat won’t power on: Almost always a C-wire problem. Install or recheck the Power Extender Kit.
• Wi-Fi won’t connect: The thermostat needs a 2.4 GHz network; separate your bands if you use a combined SSID.
• SmartSensor not pairing: Pull the sensor’s battery tab and keep it within range during setup; replace the coin cell if it’s old.
• Short cycling: Adjust the minimum runtime and temperature differential settings in the installation menu.
• Heat pump runs aux heat too often: Tune the compressor-to-aux threshold in the equipment settings.

Maintenance

The thermostat itself needs little care, but replace the SmartSensor coin-cell batteries roughly once a year when the app warns you. Keep the air-quality sensor vents dust-free, and wipe the screen with a soft dry cloth. Reviewing your monthly HomeIQ report helps you catch an HVAC efficiency drop early, which can flag a dirty filter or a failing component before it becomes a breakdown.

The Radar Occupancy Sensor Explained

Unlike older thermostats that rely on passive infrared motion detection, the Premium uses radar-based presence sensing. Motion sensors only see movement, so they can wrongly decide a room is empty when you’re sitting still at a desk or on the couch. Radar detects presence even when you’re motionless, which means the thermostat’s occupancy-based automations, like relaxing the temperature when the house is truly empty, are more accurate. In practice this reduces the annoyance of the system deciding you’ve left when you’ve simply been reading quietly, and it improves the reliability of energy-saving setbacks.

Using It as a Smart Speaker and Intercom

The built-in speaker and microphone turn the thermostat into more than a climate controller. With Alexa or Siri active, you can ask about the weather, set timers, control other smart-home devices, and play brief audio responses, all from the hallway wall. Ecobee also offers an intercom feature that lets you broadcast a message from your phone to the thermostat, useful for calling the family to dinner without shouting up the stairs. You can disable the microphone entirely with a hardware setting if you’d rather not have a listening device in the hall.

Scheduling and Comfort Settings

The thermostat organizes your day into comfort settings, typically Home, Away, and Sleep, each with its own target temperature. You build a weekly schedule assigning those settings to times, and the Smart Home/Away feature uses occupancy sensing to override the schedule when reality differs, warming the house when you come home early or setting back when you leave unexpectedly. This blend of a set schedule with real-time occupancy adjustment is what drives most of the energy savings, and it requires very little ongoing input once configured.

Adding More SmartSensors

While one SmartSensor comes in the box, larger homes benefit from more. Additional sensors, sold separately, let you balance temperatures across a multi-room home so no single room dominates the reading. You can group sensors, choose whether to average all rooms or prioritize occupied ones, and place them in the rooms you use most. For a two-story home or one with a problem room that’s always too hot or cold, a couple of extra sensors meaningfully improve comfort and are worth the added cost.

Final Verdict

The ecobee EB-STATE6P-01 Smart Thermostat Premium earns its flagship status with genuine energy savings, a rare air-quality monitor, broad smart-home compatibility, and a bundled room sensor that improves whole-home comfort. If you want the most capable thermostat ecobee makes and you’ll use the air-quality and voice features, it’s a strong buy, especially once a utility rebate trims the price. For a leaner budget, the Enhanced covers the essentials for less.