Unfortunately, the Ecobee API doesn't discriminate - it allows changes from ANYWHERE, without identifying where they came from. Changes made all look the same, whether made with:
the Ecobee Mobile App,
the Ecobee Web App,
Ecobee Suite on both SmartThings & Hubitat, from ANY mobile/web device
the native platform integration for Ecobee (or any other integration)
Apple Homekit (direct)
Alexa native Ecobee Skill
Google Home
the physical thermostat
Thus there is no way to determine whether a change should be accepted or ignored. The only way to accomplish what you ask is to use a pass code to lock down the thermostat. I do this for my summer rental property, allowing renters only to adjust the temperature between a limited range.
As for the second scenario, unfortunately (again) Applications can't generate/maintain a User Interface other than the preferences page(s), and the Hubitat Dashboard only allows for device attributes to be displayed.
I totally agree that there needs to be a better way to dynamically adjust at least some of the parameters for Thermal Comfort - like adjusting for "exercise time" vs. "typing time". But I haven't been able to come up with a way to do that. I thought about using groups of "virtual switches", but the downside is that it would take 10 just to adjust Metabolic Rate, with the upside that you could easily integrate into Alexa/Google - "Alexa, turn on Housecleaning Mode," for example. I guess I could use Virtual Dimmers, but that would require the user to have some idea of what the appropriate value would be - "Alexa set Metabolic Rate to Two point Seven". So I don't think that is practical either.
I'm totally open to creating solutions for both of these, but as I say: I just don't know how to do what you want in a practical manner. If you have specific suggestions (or better yet, examples), I'd love to see them...
I just did set pin code on all ecobees and didnt tell anybody what is it.
workaround was direct connection ecobee =>alexa voice control
but kids discovered it so i turn that off too.
Ecobee Suite Manager Updated 24 April 2020 at 2:45pm EDT
This update is primarily cosmetic, and all of the SmartApps and Helpers have been updated (the Sensor and Thermostat drivers have not been changed).
I'm not going to list all of the version numbers anymore, but here are the primary non- cosmetic changes:
All Helpers that support Notifications
Updated to support the latest Echo Speaks Device release 3.6.2.0
All Helpers that change the thermostat's program
Fixed type conversion issues for hourly holds
Ecobee Suite Manager, version 1.8.38
Cleaned up connection lost notification text
Started support for new "climates" enabled by the new Eco+ features (incomplete)
Ecobee Suite Smart Room, version 1.8.15
Doesn't use Ecobee Sensor as a motion sensor, unless no other motion sensors are configured. This because of the inherent delay in active/inactive changes, which will cause a room to be prematurely activated.
Ecobee Suite Smart Switches, version 1.8.08
Fixes the logic to save and restore states (reverseActions())
Using Package Managers
I highly recommend that Ecobee Suite users make the small investment in time to setup one of the available automated package managers. This will significantly reduce the manual overhead of upgrading to new releases. Available options include:
SmartThings
SmartThings GitHub Integration is fully supported by the Ecobee Suite GitHub repository
SmartThings Community Installer - although this hasn't changed in 2+ years, it remains a powerful tool for automating upgrades for a broad variety of applications and drivers.
Hubitat
The native "Import" capability should allow you to simply run through all of Ecobee Suite Apps & Drivers doing Import/Confirm/Save.
The recently released Hubitat Package Manager is really awesome, and I highly recommend it for everyone. It really will make managing your Ecobee Suite environment (and others) MUCH simpler!
These updates are recommended for all Ecobee Suite users
I have the passcode set and my WAF level went down.
Anyways....are there plans to implement a ceiling fan helper? I have (5) rooms that have fans and it would be awesome to have Ecobee control comfort using those too. Thoughts?
The Smart Switches Helper can automatically turn on/off switches and/or dimmers based on the Thermostat's operating state - so like "turn on the fan whenever the HVAC is cooling".
Although originally designed to manage airflow using smart vents, you can also use the Smart Vents helper to turn on/off switches/dimmers based on a temperature target (or thermostat) for a given room.
I was thinking individual room control. So if Ecobee sees a room is hotter/colder than the others/avg it would change the fan to high and once temp avg is achieved reset fan back to original state.
Try the Smart Circulation and/or the Smart Vents & Switches Helpers. Even though they seem focused on opening/closing vents, they can also be used to control ANY switch. The former tries to increase the minimum minutes per hour that the HVAC fan runs, based on temperature deltas across multiple rooms. The latter turns on "vents or switches" when a room is too cold (HVAC in heat mode) or too hot (HVAC in cool mode). Try it with your fans - it MIGHT work...
Note, however, that running a ceiling fan won't cool down the ambient temperature - it just moves air. If you are under the fan, you will feel cooler, but the temperature of the room won't change noticeably.
# IMPORTANT WARNING ABOUT ECOBEE 2-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION
Over the past couple of weeks, several users have reported that they are unable to authenticate with Ecobee.
Ecobee Support has acknowledged that there is a problem with 2-Factor Authentication that breaks 3rd party application authentication. Apparently, once you turn 2FA, you won't be able to authenticate any new applications, even if you turn 2FA back off!
Existing applications that are already authenticated seem to continue to operate properly.
Therefore, I recommend to my users:
DO NOT TURN ON ECOBEE 2-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!
NOTE:You may have to authenticate again due to an Ecobee server outage, so please don't turn 2FA on even if you have already authenticated.
Ecobee Support says they are working on the problem - I will post an update once I hear that they have fixed their issue.
FWIW, and more data points, I had an existing data connection which stopped working because of the data outage but I didn't know and ended up getting disconnected and had to reauthenticate. I was able to disable 2FA temporarily, reauthenticate, then turn 2FA back on again.
I've been running Ecobee Suite Manager for 6 months or so and love it.
I am having an issue that has been ongoing the whole time, however.
About once or twice a day, I get "]and [ has been open for 10 minutes, Downstairs Thermostat and Upstairs Thermostat are now off" from the Open Contacts App. Looking through the logs and system events, I have not been able to correlate this to any event or see any particular problem, it just seems to happen randomly. However, it is a major issue for the usability of the app because it is randomly turning off my HVAC when a "phantom" device opens. I have to manually turn the hvac back on every time this happens, or wait for another legitimate open/close event to reset it. For a while I just had the helper paused because it was getting too annoying. I really want to be able to use this app because when it works, it works well!
Any idea what could be causing this?
Btw, I am on ecobee Suite Open Contacts version 1.8.12 and
Ecobee Suite Manager 1.8.21 which is about a month old, but I don't see any update notes that mention this issue since then.
Also, should mention that I do not have any contacts open when this event happens.