If your ecobee thermostat isn't following your programmed schedule, changes temperatures unexpectedly, or seems to ignore your settings, this guide covers the most common causes and fixes from the community.
Check for Active Temperature Holds
Temperature holds temporarily override your schedule and will persist until you clear them:
- Look at your ecobee home screen
- Check for any "Hold" message or indicator
- If there's an active hold, tap it and select "Remove Hold" or "Resume Schedule"
Holds can be set accidentally when you manually adjust the temperature. If you want manual changes to expire automatically, go to Settings → Preferences → Hold Action and set it to expire after 2 hours or until the next scheduled activity.
Disable Eco+ Features
Eco+ includes several smart features that automatically adjust your schedule based on occupancy and energy savings. These can make it seem like the thermostat isn't following your schedule.
To disable Eco+:
- Press the three bars in the top right corner to open the main menu
- Select the gear/Settings wheel at the bottom right
- Find and select "Eco+"
- Toggle off Eco+ or disable specific features
Specific Eco+ features to check:
- Smart Home/Away: Automatically switches modes based on detected motion—disable if you want strict schedule control
- Feels Like: Adjusts temperature based on humidity—can make target temps seem different
- Schedule Assistant: Suggests schedule changes based on your habits
Turn Off Smart Recovery
Smart Recovery learns how long your HVAC system takes to reach target temperatures and starts heating/cooling early to hit the target by the scheduled time.
One user explained: "Smart Recovery causes the ecobee to take the behavior of your HVAC system and weather into account to make sure your house reaches the set temperature at the set time, rather than only starting to heat or cool at the set time."
During the learning phase (first few weeks), this can make the schedule appear erratic.
To disable Smart Recovery:
- Go to Settings → Preferences
- Find "Smart Recovery" or "Heating/Cooling Smart Recovery"
- Toggle it off
Check Third-Party App Conflicts
If you've connected your ecobee to HomeKit, Alexa, or Google Home, those apps may be overriding your schedule:
- Check for HomeKit Scenes or automations that control your thermostat
- Look for Alexa routines that adjust temperature
- Review Google Home automations
As one troubleshooting guide notes: "HomeKit Scenes, Alexa routines, or Google Home settings tend to override the settings inside your devices."
Verify Your Schedule Settings
Sometimes the schedule itself has incorrect settings:
- Go to the Schedule menu on your thermostat
- Check each day individually
- Verify the correct heating and cooling set points for each activity
- Make sure you have the correct system mode selected (Heat, Cool, Auto)
A common mistake: if your system is in cooling mode only, setting a higher temperature won't cause heating—the system will do nothing until the house gets warm enough to need cooling.
Check Comfort Settings
Comfort Settings define what temperatures mean for "Home," "Away," and "Sleep" activities:
- Go to Settings → Comfort Settings
- Check the temperature values for each activity
- Make sure they match what you actually want
If your activities get set to too many "Sleep" or "Away" periods by mistake, you'll experience unexpected temperature changes that look like scheduling problems.
Sensor Issues
If you're using ecobee Smart Sensors, they affect which temperature the thermostat uses:
- Check that the correct sensors are enabled for each activity in your schedule
- Make sure sensors aren't in drafty locations or direct sunlight
- If a sensor shows a very different temperature than the thermostat, check its placement
One user noted: "Temperature swings and sensor reading mismatches during sleep mode are common. When the ecobee shows a target temperature but the smart sensor reads lower, check sensor placement for drafts or obstructions."
Reset and Reconfigure
If nothing else works:
- Go to Settings → Reset → Reset Schedule
- This clears your current schedule
- Set up a new schedule from scratch
- Keep Eco+ and Smart Recovery disabled initially to verify basic scheduling works
Community Discussions
- Why Is My Ecobee Not Following The Configured Schedule? – Smart Home Point
- How do I program a schedule for the ecobee thermostat – ecobee Support
- How To Stop An Ecobee Smart Thermostat From Overriding Temperature Settings – Between Naps on the Porch
- Common Ecobee Thermostat Issues and How to Prevent Them – Sum Zero Energy Systems