Why Is My Ecobee Blinking Green? (Possible Causes & Fixes)
Smart thermostats, like those from the Ecobee brand, come equipped with many special features. It’s tough sometimes to keep up with everything our smart devices can do.
Flashing lights of any color can be alarming when you don’t know what they mean. But a blinking green light on an Ecobee is nothing of concern.
If your Ecobee has a blinking green light, it signals you have a notification. You can manually check this notification in your Ecobee app. If your thermostat is paired with an Alexa-enabled device, you can also ask Alexa to explain the notification. Reading and/or deleting the notification will get rid of the flashing green light.
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Ecobee and Alexa
All Ecobee thermostats are compatible with Google Assistant and Alexa-enabled devices. The Ecobee4 actually has Alexa built right in! After enabling the Ecobee skills on your Amazon device, you have the ability to control your Ecobee by giving Alexa certain commands.
Blinking Green Light
Because Alexa is built into it, an Ecobee4 can be used just like a smart home hub. An Amazon Echo or Dot flashes yellow when you have a notification. On an Ecobee4, notifications will appear as a blinking green light on the thermostat. Some users indicate the notifications appear as a yellow light instead.
Notification Types
Similar to a notification on a smart home hub, Ecobee gets notifications from Alexa about the weather or an Amazon package delivery. Whatever notifications you have signed up for through Alexa appear on your Ecobee4.
Blue Notification Bubble
Another sign there’s a notification from Alexa on your Ecobee is a blue bubble icon. This appears next to the clock on the thermostat screen. It may also make a sound.
How to Read and Delete Notifications
If you have Alexa paired with your Ecobee, you can check your notifications by asking the following:
- “Alexa, what did I miss?”
- “Alexa, read my notifications.”
- “Alexa, what are my notifications?”
Alexa will then proceed to read the notifications aloud to you. You can also vocally navigate through your notifications by saying, “Alexa, next/previous.”
You can delete your notifications by saying, “Alexa, clear my notifications” or “Alexa, delete all of my notifications.”
Even if you don’t have an Alexa-enabled device, you can still receive notifications on your Ecobee. Without Alexa, you need to check and delete these notifications manually, either through the Ecobee app or the web portal.
How to Get Rid of Blinking Green Light
Now we know what it means when your Ecobee is blinking green. But how do you get rid of the blinking green light?
You have a few options here, but the easiest one is to either read or delete them. If you have notifications enabled, the only way to get rid of the blinking green light on your Ecobee is to read the notification or delete it.
(Note: reading and/or deleting notifications will also make the blue bubble icon disappear from the Ecobee home screen.)
Ask Alexa
If you ask Alexa to read the notification, she’ll do so out loud. Then, the green light will disappear. If you ask her to delete the notification, the green light will disappear without her reading it to you. Keep in mind that when you receive a new notification, the green blinking light will appear again.
Change Notification Settings
In your Alexa app, you have the choice of what notifications you receive. Go to the sidebar and choose Notifications. Then make your selection of which notifications you want to receive from Alexa.
Should you not wish to receive any notifications, you have the ability to disable them in this menu. Simply toggle the Announcements switch from “On” to “Off.” Disabling notifications means you should no longer receive a blinking green light on your Ecobee.
Disable Alexa
Another way to permanently assure you won’t get a green light is to disable Alexa from your Ecobee.
To unlink Alexa via the Ecobee app, go to the Home screen and select the device you wish to disable. In this case, it would be the Ecobee. Tap the Microphone icon to take you to the Audio screen. From here, select Unlink and confirm by tapping Unlink a second time in the pop-up window.
To unlink Alexa from the web portal, log in and choose the Alexa Voice Control field. Click Unlink Alexa on the left-hand menu. Then, click the Unlink Alexa button that appears on the right-hand side of your screen.
Reset Ecobee Thermostat
The last resort to rid yourself of the blinking green light is to reset your Ecobee. Under Settings on the thermostat, you can disconnect from your Wi-Fi or restore your Ecobee to its factory setting.
There are many types of resets you can perform on your Ecobee. But if you restore the thermostat to its factory setting, any personal information, schedules, and programs you had in place will need to be reprogrammed.
To reset your Ecobee, go to the Home screen on your thermostat. Then press Menu > Settings > Reset and select the reset option that works best for you. If you choose “Reset All Settings,” this will completely wipe your Ecobee and restore it to its factory setting.
Do Not Disturb Mode
Rather than disabling notifications completely, you have the option to implement a “Do Not Disturb Mode.” This allows you to set certain periods of time for notifications to come through. You can schedule these times either through the Alexa app or the Alexa web portal.
Go to Settings and choose “Ecobee” when asked to pick a device. Then, press Do Not Disturb, which brings you to another screen. In this menu, you can choose to keep “Do Not Disturb” on permanently or create a Scheduled option. Selecting the latter then prompts you to input the times you want to receive messages.
Other Lights on Ecobee4
The Ecobee4 has a light bar on the top of the thermostat. If the bar is not lit, your Ecobee is functioning normally and has nothing urgent to communicate.
We’ve discussed that it will blink green if you have a notification. However, other colors, such as red or blue, may also appear on the light bar.
Red Lights
A flashing or steady red light on an Ecobee4 means the microphone has been disabled. It could also mean the “Always Listening” feature is turned off. When the microphone is on, Ecobee is always waiting for a voice command. And if the thermostat is near a loud area or a TV, your Ecobee might get confused, thinking it’s receiving user communication.
Turning off the microphone enables Privacy Mode. The red light should go away when you turn the microphone back on.
Blue Lights
Similar to Alexa-enabled devices, the light bar on your Ecobee4 turns blue if Alexa is actively listening. It will remain blue while you ask your question and while Alexa answers it. In order for this feature to be enabled, the microphone must be activated and switched on.
If you notice the light isn’t turning blue when you say “Alexa,” try using the Push to Talk button on your thermostat’s home screen. First, press the microphone icon, then press “Push to Talk.” This should prompt the light to turn blue, indicating that Alexa is listening.
(Note: this feature is only available on the Ecobee4 and the SmartThermostat with voice control.)
Related Questions
How do I turn off the Ecobee display?
You can choose to adjust the brightness on your display screen or implement sleep mode during periods when your HVAC system is off.On the thermostat, go to Main Menu > Settings > Preferences > Screen Brightness. From here, you can adjust the brightness of the screen when it’s active and in standby mode. If you want the screen to go blank during Sleep mode, select “Screen Sleeps When I Sleep.”
Do my Ecobee and Amazon Echo need to be on the same Wi-Fi network?
While they don’t need to be on the same network, the Ecobee and Amazon Echo both need to be connected to Wi-Fi. If you have a registered Ecobee in a different location altogether, you can still ask it to change the temperature there.
Can I use Ecobee without Wi-Fi?
Without Wi-Fi, Ecobee functions like a traditional thermostat. You can still set schedules and adjust the temperature. But you lose all smart capabilities. Ecobee needs Wi-Fi to pair with other smart devices and run certain software and third-party apps. In order to use Home IQ, Ecobee needs to be connected to Wi-Fi.
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Summing It Up
When we see flashing lights on our smart devices, we can go into a mild panic if the reason for the light is unclear. Thankfully, a blinking green light on your Ecobee simply means you have a notification. You can view or delete this notification by asking Alexa to read it to you or by checking the app or web portal.
To get rid of the light, read or delete the notification, change or disable your notification settings, or disable Alexa altogether.
Brigid Levi is a wife, mother, and freelance writer who enjoys a good DIY project and creating beautiful spaces within her home. From cleaning and organization hacks to home decor ideas, she loves helping people in their quest to turn a house into a home. Her hobbies include pretending to be Joanna Gaines while updating her home with her husband and performing in local theater productions.
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