Lots of people complain about the appearance of the Ecobee. I think it has to do with the giant white circle around the unit, and the fact it hangs off the wall so far. Every day I looked at my Ecobee, it bothered me. So I solved the problem, with a custom flush mount.
This is version 1.0 for a reason. The Ecobee mounting plate snaps into place in this mount. SNAPS. The clearances are tight, and the mount plate wants to not fully sit. You need to push on the plate (at the center) with force until you hear the snap, and all the wobble disappears. I did this instead of having the plate screw into place, because if you need to remove the unit for any reason, the mount plate will come out with the Ecobee. You should also know that the Ecobee does not sit flush into the mounting recessed mount. This too is intentional. I made it flush originally, but then, I could not remove the Ecobee without accessing the unit from behind. I say all this because if I can figure out how to have the mount plate snap on a little easier while still holding securely, I will make a 2.0
Designed for the Ecobee 3. Might work for others. 1.2 increased the ventilation at the vents on the ecobee, due to comments (not actual performance issues). I have a version 1 and 1.2 installed at my home on different hvac units, that are monitored by Home Assistant. I observe no issues with either design.
Instructions:
- Print the mount plate and two pins.
- Test fit the pins. They will be tight because their job is to hold the recessed mount against the drywall.
- Turn off the breaker(s) to your HVAC system.
- Take your Ecobee unit off the wall, and its mounting plate. Take of photo of the wiring!
- Test fit the mounting plate into the recessed mount. It will SNAP into place. This will take you several tries! Keep trying until you get it to snap in so tight that it will not come out not matter how hard you shake it. Once you do this, you will have an understanding of what it will be like to attach it once it is in the hole in the wall. If you don't take this step, you will get mad at me and think it is a bad design. It is just TIGHT!
- Trace the backside of the recessed mount onto the ½" drywall with a pencil.
- Cut the drywall on the line.
- Feed the wire through the middle of the recessed mount.
- Insert the pins into the recessed mount just a hair, so they are ready to be used once the recessed mount is in the right place.
- Push the recessed mount into the drywall.
- Push the pins fully through the recessed mount. If you inadvertently made your hole too close to the stud (like I did), use a screw for that side.
- SNAP the mounting plate into the recessed mount. Remember how it fit when it was not in the drywall? Make it fully seat. Seriously, I designed this thing, and it still took me a couple minutes to get it to fully seat!
- Reinsert your wires.
- Insert your Ecobee.
- Turn your breakers back on.
- Throw out the stupid, gigantic, white circle thing.