power ecobee thermostat without HVAC?

[jpcjguy]

Hi all,

So I have 2 ecobees in my house and I want to monitor temps in my detached garage - no HVAC yet. I thought I could get the remote sensors and all would be well - but they run off 915MHz radio and not wifi - so there is no way they will work as my detached is 250ish feet from the house. The reason for staying with ecobee is so I only have 1 app and can monitor everything from there.
So I am picking up another ecobee thermostat tomorrow (used) and the plan is the "fake" an HVAC in the detached and use it and 2 remote sensors to monitor the garage temps. Eventually when I do put HVAC out there, I can just use it normally.
I assume I need a 110 to 24v transformer to power it - any suggestions? This is out of my area and I see from cheap to $$$.
Also any advice on how to wire it? I assume I power the C wire - anyone know these ecobees well?

Thanks!

 

[Innovate1]

C is common, R is power. You can leave the others not connected. Just about any 24v transformer will work. Might want to consider a "fan control center" which has the transformer and a relay and mounts to a standard electrical box. This would allow you to control a line voltage load (light, fan, etc) remotely through the thermostat by operating the relay coil from one of the thermostat outputs.

Just a random link - they are available from amazon, ebay, etc.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PY2856/?

 

[Denwood]

Yes, you just need R and C and it should power up. A 24 V AC wall wart like this is $20: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07FP9BLBM/?tag=atomicindus04-20

I've installed 12-13 of the Ecobee's...zero issues and lots of versatility. My commercial building had nine of them (four zone radiant and five air handlers) with about 20 sensors all in.

If you plan on using electric heat, that fan centre @Innovate1 1 posted is a good path.

 

[fitter30]

a 20va transformer more than enough. Amazon has either foot mount or plug in. Cheap is fine $15 - $20 they have some in the warehouse

 

[PoorUB]

Yup, I had customers do it once in a while. Buy a Wifi stat to minitor temps. Just connect the C and R on the stat and link it to your WiFi.

Here is another one,
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083R621RV/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[jpcjguy]

Thanks everyone. I ended up getting this one:
Transformer