Even prefabricated homes are getting smarter: Clayton, one of the nation’s largest prefabricated home builders, is putting Ecobee smart thermostats in all of its new units.
Under a partnership announced this week, all new Clayton Built homes will ship with Ecobee3 Lite thermostats, effective immediately. The Alexa voice-enabled Ecobee4 will be available as an upgrade in selected Clayton Built homes.
Clayton, which manufactured more than 48,000 homes in 2017, is the country’s largest builder of manufactured homes, and the only prefab home builder to partner with Ecobee, but it’s not the first. Earlier this year, Ecobee and Mattamy Homes, which builds about 7,000 conventional homes a year in the U.S. and Canada, announced a similar partnership.
Ecobee’s Wi-Fi-enabled smart thermostats, major competitors of the Nest Learning Thermostat, save on energy bills (up to 23 percent, the company says) by adjusting settings based on local weather conditions and by letting you manage your home’s temperature remotely via mobile devices.
For example, Ecobee thermostats can keep air conditioning and heating equipment at lower settings when you’re not around. There’s also a vacation mode setting for longer-term absences.
Ecobee’s free reports can track your energy consumption and offer energy-saving tips. Optional room sensors help thermostats make adjustments for occupancy and hot or cold spots. Ecobee thermostats also send alerts when a problem occurs.
“Improved energy efficiency results in meaningful cost savings, putting money back into the pockets of families across America,” said Derrick Boyce, Ecobee’s vice president of sales. “We’re always excited to find new partners like Clayton who share our commitment to innovation, affordability, and world-class technology.”
Ecobee’s Energy Star-certified thermostats are hard-wired, so having a prefab home with Ecobee already installed means you don’t have to worry about compatibility with a pre-existing climate-control system, or pay for a professional installer.
The Ecobee3 Lite, which retails for $169, lets you make adjustments with your iOS (including the Apple watch) or Android device. It supports, but does not come with, Ecobee room sensors.
The $249 Ecobee4 comes with a single room sensor, and also includes built-in Amazon Alexa voice services, so you can also use it to control other devices, order groceries, and the like. Ecobee sells additional room sensors in two-packs for $79.
