Why Is My Ecobee Flashing A Yellow Light?

The Canadian company Ecobee makes smart thermostats that can pair with Alexa to control your home’s climate. The LED on the front of the Ecobee thermostat will change colors depending on the error or message the Ecobee is trying to convey. Why is my Ecobee thermostat flashing a yellow light?

The yellow flashing light on an Ecobee thermostat is the LED indicator that Alexa has an unread notification for you. The yellow light will flash until you clear the notification using Alexa voice commands, the Alexa app, put the thermostat into Do Not Disturb mode, or reset your Ecobee thermostat.

One of the great things about home automation is the interconnectivity of your devices, such as your thermostat, lights, and home security cameras. This also stands as one of its biggest drawbacks. That interconnectivity can sometimes become a burden when your device starts acting up. You may find yourself wishing to go back to analog. But problems can be fixed.

Why is My Ecobee Flashing a Yellow Light?

Your Ecobee Smart Home Thermostat can access the internet and use Alexa. The upside is that you can control your home climate anywhere with an internet connection. Using Alexa smart home assistant, you can also control your thermostat using voice commands. The downside is that you now have another device in your home vying for your attention.

The flashing yellow light on your Ecobee Smart Thermostat indicates that you have unread or new notifications from Alexa. The flashing yellow light will continue to flash until you clear the notification from Alexa. The flashing yellow notification can be disabled by disabling Alexa.

If you notice your Ecobee is having difficulties connecting to WiFi, there are some other things you can do.

Permanently Stop The Flashing Yellow Light

If you want to permanently disable the flashing yellow light, you will need to unlink Alexa from your Ecobee thermostat. If you unlink Alexa, you will no longer have access to Alexa’s voice commands to control your thermostat.

How to Disable Alexa Using an Internet Browser

1. Log in to the Alexa web portal at Alexa.Amazon.com
2. Select the Alexa Voice Control icon
3. On the left-side menu – Select Unlink Alexa
4. Another menu will pop up
5. Click on Unlink Alexa

How to Disable Alexa Using the Ecobee App

1. Open the Ecobee app on your mobile device
2. Select the Microphone icon
3. A menu will appear – Select Unlink
4. Confirm your choice on the popup that appears – Select Unlink

Use Alexa to Clear Notifications

If you don’t want to disable Alexa on your Ecobee Smart Home Thermostat, you can simply say, “Alexa, delete notification.” or “Alexa, read the notification.” That will stop the yellow light from flashing until you get another notification.

Do Not Disturb Mode

You can set your Ecobee thermostat into a Do Not Disturb mode that will set a specific time of your choosing for the thermostat to receive notifications. You won’t get rid of the flashing yellow light completely, but you can control when it is visible and when it is not visible by controlling the time the thermostat is allowed to receive notifications. 

How to Put Your Ecobee Thermostat into Do Not Disturb Mode

1. Open the Ecobee app or open the Alexa web portal
2. Select Settings
3. If asked to pick a device – Select Ecobee
4. Select Do Not Disturb

You can then schedule times for your Do Not Disturb. 

Reset the Thermostat if None of These Fixes Worked

If none of the above fixes solved your flashing yellow light problem, you might just have a bug in the system. When this happens, you may just need to reset your device. The downside to performing a reset is that you will lose all of your saved settings. This reset will set your Ecobee thermostat back to factory settings.

How to Factory Reset your Ecobee Thermostat

1. Go to the Home Screen on your Ecobee thermostat
2. Press Menu
3. Select Settings
4. Select Reset

It is important to remember that if you reset your Ecobee Smart Home Thermostat, then you will lose all of the settings you have programmed into, and you can’t get them back. It will be as if you had just opened your Ecobee Thermostat from the store and installed it brand new.

Some of the Reasons You May Be Getting Notifications

There are several reasons your Ecobee thermostat is notifying you. Some of these could be:

• Change the filter
• Checking the UV lamp
• Scheduled HVAC maintenance
• Temperature Alerts based on your settings (High and Low temp alerts)
• Auxiliary heat runtime – lets you know if running past a set time
• An outdoor auxiliary heat source is going above a set level

Many of these simple maintenance notifications can save you money and time in the future. It is probably in your best interest to read and follow them.

Conclusion

A flashing yellow light can be annoying, but it is easily cleared from either the Alexa web portal or the Alexa app. You can also use Alexa voice commands to clear the notification. If you want to stop it completely forever, you must lose the voice commands and disable Alexa.