Ecobee Donates 776 Smart Thermostats to Toronto Community Housing

One Canadian company is giving back to their community and warming the hearts (and hands) of the city.

Ecobee has donated 776 ecobee3 smart thermostats to the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). This is part of ecobee’s A Better Tomorrow program, an initiative that looks to create more sustainable homes and a more sustainable future. The installation of ecobee thermostats will go a long way to improving the energy efficiency of TCHC buildings while also improving the comfort of residents.

The donation comes through a partnership between The Atmospheric Fund (TAF) and the TCHC. TAF has the goal of reducing carbon emissions in the GTA by 80 per cent by 2050, and the TCHC looks to provide affordable and comfortable housing for residents of Toronto, so the donation of ecobee3s helps achieve both organization’s goals.

The smart thermostats will be installed at four different apartment buildings in Toronto: 7 and 11 Arleta Ave. and 710 and 720 Trethewey Dr.

“Putting ecobee3 smart thermostats in these homes means we’ll be improving comfort for residents in a way they can feel, saving money for public housing and improving energy efficiency,” said Stuart Lombard, founder and CEO of ecobee. “As a Toronto-headquartered company, we saw a chance to help our community and immediately wanted to get involved in this project, which directly improves the lives of Torontonians and creates a more sustainable future at the same time.”

Ecobee smart thermostats allow users to remotely control the temperature from their smartphone, saving energy by lowering heating and cooling when the owner may not be home. The average ecobee owner saves 23 per cent each year on their bill.

A larger efficiency demonstration by TAF called TowerWise helped make the donation a reality. The buildings were retrofitted to achieve energy and emission reductions. Before these changes, the buildings ran on central heating, no matter how cold or warm it got through the winter. In these buildings during winter, the average temperature was an unalterable 27 degrees—residents had to open windows if they wanted to cool down.

The new ecobee3 units can now use sensors to make intelligent decisions and give TAF and the TCHC real-time insight into how the residents use energy.

“Ecobee’s generous donation of smart thermostats helps our TowerWise retrofit sites reduce heating bills, carbon emissions and improve resident comfort,” said Julia Langer, CEO of The Atmospheric Fund. “The smart thermostat data that we gather will assist us in identifying best practices for retrofits in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and beyond.“

At market value, the total donation cost to ecobee would be more than $230,000 for 776 ecobee3 units.

Ecobee is a finalist in the Canadian Innovation Awards‘ Energy & Sustainability category. Make sure to vote for them before February 2.