ecobee alerts come through the ecobee app and email, and include equipment alerts, temperature and humidity alerts, sensor alerts and reminders. In the app open the thermostat's settings and the alerts and reminders section to choose which alerts you receive, and allow notifications for the ecobee app on your phone, turning off Do Not Disturb and battery restrictions. Alerts need the thermostat to be online, since an offline thermostat cannot send them, so check wifi.
The checks in more detail
Common alerts include a high or low temperature alert, a filter reminder, an equipment alert for a heating or cooling fault and a sensor low battery alert. If alerts do not arrive, check the alert is enabled for the correct thermostat, that the contact email is right and that emails are not going to spam. If alerts are too many, turn off ones you do not need or change their thresholds. A repeating equipment alert points at the system, so check the display and consider an HVAC pro.
Reminders such as filter changes are based on run time and set by you. If you share the account, alerts go to the account owner, and shared logins can create confusion. Test by changing a threshold to trigger a test alert. Trigger a test alert by changing a threshold to confirm the whole chain works. If alerts arrive on one phone and not another, the fault is that phone's settings. Add a second person to the alerts so an absent phone does not mean no notice.
Give the thermostat a test alert on a day you are at home, since finding alerts are off during a real problem is a poor time to learn it. Reminders such as filter changes count run time, so if a reminder seems early or late, check the thermostat's runtime settings before assuming a fault. If email alerts arrive but push alerts do not, the phone's notification permission is the cause, and if push alerts arrive but email does not, the address or spam filter is.
Differential
Likely causes of “ecobee thermostats notifications are late, missing or excessive”, and how to tell them apart
- 1
Alerts disabled
What separates it No alerts arrive because the alerts have been disabled in the app
How to confirm Open the alert settings in the app and enable the alerts that you want to receive
- 2
An offline thermostat
What separates it No alerts arrive because the thermostat is offline and cannot send anything
How to confirm Reconnect the thermostat to wifi, then check the app shows it as online
- 3
Phone restrictions
What separates it Alerts arrive silently because the phone restricts notifications from the ecobee app
How to confirm Allow notifications for the app in the phone settings, and turn off Do Not Disturb
- 4
A wrong email
What separates it No emails arrive because the email address on the account is wrong
How to confirm Correct the address on the account, and check the spam folder for the alert emails
- 5
An equipment fault
What separates it The same alerts keep repeating because there is a fault in the heating or cooling equipment
How to confirm Check the heating and cooling system, since a real fault keeps triggering the alert
Before you touch a setting
Record this first — changing settings destroys the evidence
- Which alerts are missing, or which arrive too often
- The alert settings chosen in the app
- The email address on the ecobee account
Try in this order
0 of 7 completedOpen alert settings
ReversibleOpen the alert settings in the ecobee app, by choosing the thermostat and then its alerts.
Enable the alerts you want
ReversibleEnable the alerts you want, choosing them for each thermostat that you have on the account.
Allow notifications on the phone
ReversibleAllow notifications on the phone, and make sure Do Not Disturb is not muting the app.
Check the email
ReversibleCheck the email address on the account, and look in the spam folder for the emails.
Check the thermostat is online
ReversibleCheck the thermostat is online, since an offline thermostat cannot send any alert to the app.
Adjust thresholds
ReversibleAdjust the thresholds to reduce extra alerts, choosing values that fit your home and your habits.
Contact ecobee
ReversibleContact ecobee if none arrive, and tell them which alerts and which thermostat are affected.
Model-specific
What is true of this model and not of its siblings
- Sensors
- Sensors can send low battery alerts.
- Equipment
- Equipment alerts point at the HVAC system.
- Other models this page answers
- These steps also fit the Smart Thermostat Enhanced, ecobee3 lite.
Stop boundary
When this stops being a self-service repair
- !If alerts never arrive, contact ecobee support and tell them which alerts are missing
- !If equipment alerts repeat, call an HVAC pro
- !If you get too many alerts, adjust the thresholds so that only useful alerts are sent
Evidence ledger
Sources behind this answer
Offline and disconnecting steps.
Reset options.
Sensor setup.
Black screen and power.
The company and its products.
Exact questions
Common questions
Where do I set alerts?+
Alerts are set in the thermostat's settings inside the ecobee app.
Do emails go to spam?+
Yes, alert emails can end up in the spam folder, so check it if you do not see them.
What is an equipment alert?+
An equipment alert is a warning about a fault in the heating or cooling system.
Can I change thresholds?+
Yes, you can change the thresholds for alerts such as temperature and humidity in the app.
Are filter reminders alerts?+
Yes, filter reminders are alerts too, and they can be switched on or off.
Who gets alerts?+
The account owner gets the alerts, and other people need access to get them too.