Make a Difference From Home by Donating Your Thermostat Data

Protecting our planet is a responsibility we all carry. You might be looking for ways to help ensure a brighter future for your children, whether that means eating less meat, opting for reusable bags, or installing an ecobee smart thermostat to increase your home’s energy efficiency.

ecobee customers can take this commitment one step further through a voluntary program called Donate Your Data (DYD). The is the first program of its kind that invites homeowners to give their anonymized thermostat data to scientists and researchers who are answering critical questions related to the sustainable future. To date, ecobee is the only smart home company that allows customers to make their anonymized data available for science and social impact.

How it works

Donate Your Data participants are finding new and meaningful ways to make a difference for the planet simply by choosing to opt into the program. One small decision made right from a smartphone can further environmental causes in big ways. From that point on, their data is used to help answer real-world problems with solutions that will make life better for millions of people. Together with the nine researcher institutions we proudly partner with, we’re creating stronger, healthier, safer cities and communities.

Using data to track large power outages

The risk of power outages traditionally increases in the hot, summer months. Now that we’re spending more time than ever at home, that risk is even higher as families are using air conditioning and fans more than usual.

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory used DYD participant data to find that ecobee smart thermostats can track power outages better than existing systems, providing faster response, relief, and cutting down on outage time.

Why is this important?

In the aftermath of a devastating storm or natural disaster, seconds count.

Getting the power turned back on as quickly as possible can be the difference between safe food to eat, or no food to eat. It is the difference between an oxygen machine working or not. It can be the difference between safely heated homes, or dangerous back-up generators and fuel sources.

Utilities need to both strengthen grid reliability and strengthen their ability to communicate the scope of the outage and the impacts to emergency responders, who can then deploy the right resources to the homes and families who need help the fastest.

That’s just one way ecobee customers are making a meaningful global impact through the Donate Your Data program, uniting people, innovative technology, and planet.