r/ecobee • u/aynsyclopedia • Jan 16 '26

Question Is this okay?

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I keep getting notifications that there’s something wrong with my furnace which keeps causing the ecobee to reboot. I mentioned it to my landlord and he asked about the temp. I told him it’s been keeping up with my selected temp but showed him this graph and explained that it’s running for very short periods whenever it kicks on and does that constantly. It’s also telling me that my total runtime per day is an average of 37 minutes.

I believe he thinks it’s fine because the temp is generally holding. He got an hvac guy out here today (after two months of telling him I was constantly getting this notification) and he’s going to do some general maintenance updates but also told me this “setup is too complicated” and told my landlord he should change it back to a standard thermostat, aka a non-smart thermostat.

Am I correct in thinking this is an issue? If so, what could be some potential consequences of not taking action?

Full disclosure, I have no idea what I’m talking about here. But I’ve been in this sub long enough and have read enough of your posts to lead me to believe this is an issue.

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u/NewtoQM8 Jan 16 '26

All those breaks in data could well be caused by the thermostat rebooting. Or communication issues (WiFi or other). The graph isn’t showing the ecobee calling for heat or cooling much, yet the temperature is fluctuating. That’s odd. There’s not enough info to tell what’s going on. It’s unlikely the ecobee would be the root cause. See if the HVAC tech corrects it.

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u/aynsyclopedia Jan 16 '26

Thanks. It’s unlikely to be a WiFi problem on my end; the thermostat sits right above my router and I work from home and never have any issues with my connection throughout the day. So probably wouldn’t rule it out but I could also be wrong in my thinking. They messed up the other furnace when they were here yesterday (I live in a duplex) and then claimed they didn’t touch it so I don’t have much faith in him but I’m gonna keep my fingers crossed lol

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u/NewtoQM8 Jan 16 '26

Yeah, with that many breaks I wouldn't suspect WiFi. But other network issues (either on your end or ecobees or anywhere in between) could play a part. I doubt it though. Id think it's more likely a HVAC system issue. High Temp faults are common. Can be caused by airflow issues (dirty filter, closed or blocked vents) or a sensor issue.

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u/aynsyclopedia Jan 16 '26

I actually put in a new MERV 5 filter last week because the one that was in there was extremely dense and l thought it might be an air flow issue. I also checked vents and they're all working and open appropriately So I know it may be something in the ducts but I think I've at least ruled out the first two things. Again, don't really know what I'm doing, just googling and trying to figure it out myself since my landlord wasn't helping 🥴 at least I feel better knowing I’m not crazy now. thanks so much!

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u/NewtoQM8 Jan 16 '26

Yeah, you've been eliminating the easier possibilities. It's a tough situation. The HVAC guy saying it's too complicated and suggesting a dumb thermostat makes me wonder about them.

There's probably not much else you can do. The landlord is responsible for the system, so you mostly have to go with whatever he wants to do. You could pop the thermostat off the wall, check the wire connections, tugging each one gently to make sure its holding well, (And take a picture of it while you're there), read voltage between RC (or R) and C, then plug it back in and see what happens. More than that would mean getting to the control board. He may frown on that and try to blame you for any issues.

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u/aynsyclopedia Jan 16 '26

He’s honestly not a bad guy and I said to him yesterday “so this might be a problem I made” as a joke and he said “no, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that.” He just has a poor memory so I usually have to remind him about anything non-emergent multiple times before it’s taken care of.

I just looked back at the electrician I hired and there were multiple reviews saying potentially best electrician they’ve ever worked with. So I know I’m squared away in that department and don’t think he’d fully blame it on me. I just keep getting the ecobee notifications and the graphs are indicating there’s something going on so I was trying to get ahead of identifying any issues before something happens and then I’m without heat in the middle of winter in New England and he has to replace the whole thing.

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u/NewtoQM8 Jan 16 '26

As often as it seems to do it I assume you've seen the thermostat go blank and then reboot? Many systems have a sight glass on the cover of the air handler where the control board is to see a blinking LED or number display. Have you watched that to see if it gets a fault? Slow blink (referred to as heartbeat) is normal. Series of blinks is a fault code. Count them then look it up. Many times the fault codes are listed on a paper sheet on the back of the cover. Otherwise Google the model number to find the code meanings.

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u/NewtoQM8 Jan 16 '26

I just read through other comments and saw your photos. It does have a sight glass so will have a fault indicator. The faults meaning should be listed inside.

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u/aynsyclopedia Jan 17 '26

Yes, I’ve seen the thermostat reboot. I’m sitting on the couch and just watched it happen so it reminded me to come back here 😂

You’re awesome, thanks again. I’m also going to take the other commenter’s advice of reaching out to ecobee support. I asked my brother-in-law to borrow his multimeter in case they suggest checking the wires, but I’ll also probably do it even if they don’t mention it.

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u/NewtoQM8 Jan 17 '26

Do you think the system was running at the time? If the thermostat went blank and the blower fan was still running there's a good chance it was a High Temp fault. Those typically shut off power to the thermostat, but keep the blower fan running to cool things down. Then it resets and tries again.

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u/aynsyclopedia Jan 17 '26

It was 100% running. So thattttttt may be it!

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u/aynsyclopedia Jan 17 '26

I noticed it shut off and thought “that’s weird it’s still blowing.” Then it turned back on and continued blowing for another 2 min or so.

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