The Ecobee4 thermostat and Ecobee Switch Plus now support Alexa Announcements

Ecobee today announced that its Ecobee4 Smart Thermostat and Ecobee Switch Plus light switch now work with Alexa Announcements. 

Announcements is a new feature from Amazon that lets you send a message to every Alexa device in your home with a single voice command. Start with ‘Alexa, broadcast,’ ‘Alexa, tell everyone,’ or ‘Alexa, announce that’ to start your custom announcement. 

You could say, ‘Alexa, tell everyone that it’s bedtime’ or ‘Alexa, announce that dinner’s ready’ — really anything you’d say over an intercom.

Problem is, this feature has been limited to Amazon smart speakers, but now it is expanding to additional devices, starting with Ecobee.

The Ecobee4 is a $249 smart thermostat with a built-in Alexa speaker. It earned an Editors’ Choice Award for its impressive performance and unmatched features in the connected thermostat space. 

Ecobee’s Switch Plus is a hardwired light switch designed to replace an existing wired switch. At $100 per switch, the Switch Plus is a definite splurge. And, unlike Lutron’s Caseta Switches and Belkin’s WeMo Dimmer, the Switch Plus can’t dim lights. 

As part of Thursday’s announcement on Announcements, Ecobee said its running a sale on its own website for the Switch Plus, cutting the price by $20.

Alexa Announcements are expected to work with the Ecobee4 and the Ecobee Switch Plus today via an update.