You might find that your Ecobee thermostat is causing your HVAC system’s fan to keep running even, after the heat or AC turns off. Understandably, this will wonder how much this constantly-running fan is costing you in electricity. You may even regret installing the system — but, alas, you can solve this issue relatively quickly.
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Your Ecobee thermostat fan keeps running because of an issue in the settings. There are a few possibilities: the fan is in ‘On’ mode instead of ‘Auto’ mode, the smart recovery setting is on, or the heat dissipation time is over thirty seconds. These three setting errors are usually the cause of a continually running fan.
In this article, I’ll explain each of these settings in detail and why they make your fan run after the thermostat turns off. I’ll also explain how to adjust each setting so the fan turns off when the heat or AC does. Let’s get started!
1. Ecobee Thermostat Fan Is Set To ‘On’ Instead of ‘Auto’
If your fan stays on constantly and never turns off, it’s probably because, in the setting, you have set the fan to ‘On,’ which means it will just stay on all the time. This setting is the default option when you first set up your thermostat.
It’s not hard at all to adjust this setting. And once you change the setting to auto, the fan will only run when the heat or AC is running, cutting down on electricity costs and the ambient noise created by a fan in the home.
How To Fix?
If you need to change this setting on your Ecobee thermostat, simply:
- Locate your thermostat.
- On the thermostat, navigate to the ‘Quick Settings’ menu
- Find and select the ‘Fan’ option under quick settings
- Once you’ve tapped on the fan option, you will see that you can change between ‘Auto’ or ‘On.’
- If you want the fan to stop running constantly, change the setting from ‘On’ to ‘Auto.’
Once you have changed this setting, listen closely the next time your heat or AC turns off. The fan should turn off automatically when the heat or AC turns off. If the fan continues to run after you have changed this setting, then there is something else causing it to run.
You may adjust the fan to a minimum runtime each hour that causes it to run after the heat or AC turn off, even when you set it to auto. The fan will run if you set the minimum to a higher value than your hourly heating or cooling time.
This issue is easy to change as well. To adjust the fan’s minimum run time each hour:
- Locate your thermostat.
- Instead of going to ‘Quick Menu,’ go to the thermostat’s Main Menu.
- Find the option that says ‘System’ and select it.
- Then scroll down and find the option that says ‘Fan’ and select it.
- You should see the fan’s minimum run time each hour and adjust accordingly.
- It is best to set the value to zero If you don’t want the fan to run after the heat or AC turns off.
For most, changing these two settings is enough to get the fan to stop running. Remember there are plenty of other settings you can switch on your Ecobee thermostat to get the fan to stop running after the heat or AC turns off.
Read: White Rodgers Thermostat Troubleshooting
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2. the Ecobee Is Set to ‘Smart Recovery’ Setting
The Smart Recovery feature is a fantastic option that allows your Ecobee to learn and adjust to your preferences. This feature rests on factors such as weather conditions and your daily schedule. This feature also tracks activities like a workout or a hike detected by activity trackers and many other factors like your temperature adjustment habits.
The Ecobee thermostat will learn from your day to comings, goings, activities, and temperature adjustments to get an idea of how you prefer your home to be heated or cooled. While this may seem like a helpful and futuristic option, it may cause your heat or AC and, in turn, your fan to run at odd times.
So it may appear like your Ecobee thermostat fan keeps running continuously, though it really is simply learning your patterns.
The thermostat is not without its faults, and AI learning is still in its infancy, meaning the smart recovery setting may not always function how you think it should. You might find that it wastes electricity and decide to turn it off.
How To Fix?
If you want to turn off the smart recovery setting on your ecobee thermostat:
- Go to where your thermostat is in your home.
- Navigate to the thermostat’s main menu.
- In the main menu tab, find the settings option.
- Under settings, find and select ‘Heating Smart Recovery’ or ‘Cooling Smart Recovery.’
- Select the option to disable smart recovery.
- Whether you selected heating or cooling, go back and disable the other option, and turn off both heating and cooling smart recovery.
Turning off this feature will make the thermostat less of a smart thermostat, but it will ultimately give you more control over your heating and cooling system. If you’re frugal, it is best to have this option turned off so that heat or AC only comes on when you turn it on.
This option should also solve any lingering issues with the fan constantly running. Without the heat and AC frequently being toggled on and off due to the smart recovery feature, the fan will have fewer opportunities to turn on and stay on. It will also be more noticeable when the fan runs when it should be off.
The smart recovery feature on ecobee thermostats is an excellent addition, but it will sometimes guess wrong and have heat or AC on at seemingly inappropriate times. Turning this option off is the best way to gain ultimate control over the heat, AC, and fan.
Read: How To Override A Trane Thermostat?
3. Your Ecobee’s Heat Dissipation Time Is Too High
Ecobee thermostats boast a useful feature that allows the HVAC system to purge the vents. This feature enables your ecobee to push out any remaining hot air left after the home has reached the temperature at which you set the thermostat.
It does this using the fan and a specific time value. The default setting is thirty seconds, so if the heat runs and turns off, the fan will run for 30 seconds to get all the hot air pushed out. If you’ve tried the other suggestions to no avail, this heat dissipation setting could be the culprit for your constantly running fan.
Read: Why Is House Thermostat Reading The Wrong Temperature?
How To Fix?
To change the time value for heat dissipation:
- Go to your thermostat.
- Select the main menu.
- Select ‘Settings.’
- Scroll down and find ‘Installation Settings.’
- Under installation settings, locate the ‘Thresholds’ option.
- In the thresholds menu, find and select the ‘Heat Dissipation Time’ option.
- From here, you can adjust this value from 0 to 900 seconds.
- Set this value to zero if you don’t want the fan coming on after the heat turns off.
Once you have adjusted the heat dissipation time and set it to zero, listen for the next time your heat turns off. If you’ve changed the setting correctly, you should turn the heat off, and then, nothing but sweet relaxing silence.
If the fan is still running, go back to the thermostat and repeat the steps above to ensure you have adjusted the heat dissipation time correctly. Make sure that you set it to zero. Any other numeric value will allow the fan to come on after you have turned the heat off.
Read: Why Thermostat Is Clicking?
Conclusion
If your Ecobee thermostat fan keeps running constantly, it’s understandable to be frustrated, especially if you can’t figure out how to adjust the settings to get the fan to turn off.
Before you return your ecobee thermostat, there are three settings you can easily adjust to try and get the fan to stop constantly running. You may set the fan to ‘On’ instead of ‘Auto,’ if the smart recovery setting is on or the heat dissipation time is over thirty seconds.
These settings are easy to find and change, giving you more control over the fan.