Is Ecobee Humidity Accurate? (Explained)

Ecobee is well known for providing smart home solutions to smart home owners. They offer a variety of products, each one of them aimed at making your smart home life more convenient. One of their most popular products is the smart thermostat.

Thanks to the smart thermostat, you will never have to worry about your house’s temperature anymore. One of the reasons for this is because you will have complete control over your house’s temperatures.

It is up to you whether you decide to control the thermostat using your phone, or through the touchscreen that comes installed on it.

Is Ecobee Humidity Sensor Really Accurate?

We have found users asking whether the Ecobee humidity sensor is accurate or not.

One of the reasons for this is because whenever they compare the humidity sensor with other devices, it always shows a slightly different reading.

This slight difference may depend. Hence, they are concerned about using the humidity sensor. Today, we will be taking a look at some facts regarding the humidity sensor.

We will also be telling you how accurate the sensor really is in practical use, and if there is something you can do about it.

In most cases, we have found the Ecobee sensor to have an inaccuracy of around 5-12%. This really isn’t that huge, but for some people, it could be. But can something be done about the inaccuracy?

Yes, you can easily correct the inaccuracy through the use of calibration.

Calibrating will allow you to configure your sensors so that they may show more accurate results. However, you may need to perform some things in order to properly calibrate the sensor. All of them are mentioned below:

How to Calibrate Ecobee Humidity Sensor?

1. Start by taking a bottle cap.
2. Make a mixture of salt with only a tap of water, making sure that you get it to be paste-like.
3. Take the mixture along with the cap and place it into a zip lock bag, as well as the hygrometer.
4. Seal the zip lock bag and let it rest for around 24 hours.
5. Your readings should now help you calibrate the humidity sensor according to your liking.
6. You will now have successfully calibrated your sensor!
7. This is pretty effective in lowering the inaccuracy of your sensor. Although the inaccuracy isn’t major, knowing how to lower it through calibration can be handy.

Troubleshooting Inaccurate Temperature Reading

Now that you know how to calibrate the humidity sensor, the question remains on how you can tackle issues with the inaccurate humidity reading. Yes, even with a decent sensor like Ecobee, you can still run into issues with the sensor. 

However, there is no need to despair as you’ll still maintain a decent enough control on the situation.

Just start by checking the hardware one more time and make sure that there are no issues on that end. Once you’re sure, you can proceed to check the programming side of things in the sensor.

A quick and simple fix here is to power cycle the sensor. In this routine, all that you have to do is to remove the batteries from the sensor and then put them back inside.

This will refresh the programming of the sensors and you can calibrate them one more time. 

Another thing that you can do here is to get new batteries. Issues with the inaccurate reading often present themselves when the batteries are not supplying the sensors with enough juice.

You can’t expect the humidity sensor to work when the power supply is insufficient. 

So, if you’ve yet to replace the batteries and the unit has been in your home for a couple years, then now might be a good time to get new ones. The good thing is that new batteries will be cheaper on your budget. 

You will not have to feel a massive sting on your budget, and asking the dealer for compatible batteries will be more than enough to have you sorted out. 

Next, you can just reset the sensors. This is one of the more effective and surefire methods of limiting the issue, and you will not have to bother on your own.

All that you’re trying to do here is to wipe away all the configurations and start fresh. 

So, instead of wasting more time with the basic methods, we will suggest that you reset the Ecobee humidity sensor.

We won’t tell you that it won’t be a hassle to set up the Ecobee sensors from scratch. However, you’re still better off in this situation and won’t have to deal with more hassle. 

Lastly, you need to take a good look at the hardware one more time.

Even if the system seems to be in good shape, minor issues with cracks and other damaged sections can create numerous problems. So, you will not be able to figure out a fix accordingly when trying to limit the issues. 

Finding Perfect Placement

One of the key factors that play into figuring out how accurate Ecobee sensors are is the placement.

You have to figure out the right spot where there are minimal obstructions and the connection with the thermostat is not compromised. 

Yes, it will take a bit of your time to find the right spot, but you’re not left with many options. The only method that we will recommend here is the trial and error method. It can take a hot minute to test out all the different spots, and you will have to put in the time.

You may safely lock them up once you’ve established that the sensors are giving you a good response to your commands and are accurately tracking humidity and temperature changes.

When you get to that point, you won’t have to face any further difficulties.

If this is where the system is fixed, then maybe all the headaches will be avoided. If you’re still not sure of yourself and your ability to prevent mistakes on your own, it’s best to consult an expert.

If you insist on attempting to mend the system by yourself, you will simply be wasting more time. In such case, contact either a neighborhood handyman or Ecobee’s support staff.

If you go to the right department and explain your problem, they will be able to correct it for you.

They may need a day or two to get back to you. In spite of this, getting in touch with the official support staff will still save you a lot of time and effort, maybe tens of hours.

Never try to solve a problem like this on your own; instead, contact the proper authorities for assistance.

Lastly, you can also look up some YouTube guides on these issues.

Going through a few presentations and common mistakes should help you figure out the right spot quickly. Moreover, the community members are pretty active on the online forums as well.

You’ll only be creating more hassle for yourself if you try to fix these issues on your own. So, when you’re stuck or can’t seem to figure out the situation on your own, just ask the other members how they managed their Ecobee humidity sensors. 

These members will be more than happy to list out all the details and will also guide you step by step on figuring out the best spot.

Hopefully, the hassle will end right here for you and the humidity sensors will respond accurately to temperature and humidity changes.

The Bottom Line

Is the Ecobee Humidity sensor accurate? We have used this article to answer the following question in detail.

If you want the shorter version of it, then no, it isn’t completely accurate. Luckily, you can make it accurate through the calibration method which we have mentioned above.

If you can’t seem to calibrate your Ecobee humidity sensor, there are also a bunch of videos on how you can do so on the internet.

But you will have to perform the salt+water+zip lock method in order to calibrate the sensor successfully.

If you still have no success, a factory reset may be your only choice. The solution usually depends on the approach you take to the problem.

Don’t make things more difficult than they need to be; instead, contact the appropriate authorities.

Ecobee support staff are eager to provide a hand; all you have to do is hand the reins over to them. You are not alone, and the Ecobee support staff will help you out quickly.