They don't address static pressures within the duct system and the air is merely shut off at the end of the duct line. This creates system turbulence with in the duct system because if only 1 or 2 vents are open where is the air going to go?

There are no two duct systems alike. Then there's the battery fiasco... each vent needs 4 AA batteries to operate. 10 vents in your home = 40 batteries!

Where is the efficiency in that? They probably got an investment from a battery manufacturer.

See they sell you the system by saying how cheap it is compared to a 'REAL' zoning system. But start adding up those battery costs... you are paying for a real zoning system 4 batteries at a time and not getting one. $28 battery cost 'roughly' for 10 vents.

Think about that a couple times a year... those costs never go away.

Thanks Austin Air. Have you used or installed Ecovent ? Their site says they measure static pressure at each duct and stop closing them at a certain threshold to prevent high pressure. They make a big deal about this feature. Since they have pressure data for every duct, they should be able to close only till that static pressure cutoff. True about the batteries. We're going to have a lot more than 10 vents but given the thousands extra for a zoned system it's more the inconvenience than the cost. I admit it would be annoying if the batteries didn't last a good deal of the year.

Is there another option that would do room by room zoning ? My previous zone system actually froze our ac coil when just one zone called for AC. It was a disaster. I'm sure it wasn't the best of class though.

According to their website they do measure static pressures. This system was invented by a couple MIT grads and ex aerospace engineers so Im pretty sure they have a much better grip on measuring/dealing with airflow and static pressures in a system than any HVAC installer does. If you're worried about battery costs factor in the cost of rechargable batteries, or buy a 40 pack of AA when its on sale at Costco for $12. I have no experience with the system, but from reading about it it seems like a viable option to traditional zoning, especially in an existing home

Worried about battery costs? No. Frequent battery replacement? Yes. It does sound promising and they say they work with installers so hopefully some Pro's have seen them as well.

Due to the battery fiasco I would never even contemplate installing these or anything remotely close professionally. Can you imagine me getting a call back from a job and it turn out to be a drained battery? If a product isn't GOOD enough to be installed in my own home... I would never do it. It's bad enough to have to go around every so often to change the batteries in my 4 thermostats for my 4 zoned home. I can not imagine having to go around changing batteries for each vent. LOL. I would rather laugh about it... call these idiots producing this garbage a bunch of amateurs. It's what they are.

It's pointless to argue it. You buy a professional system because it's professional.

It doesn't matter if it has some static pressure measurement. The relief would be to open the vent... there is no other relief. If that's the relief then what is the point of the vent closure?

I've seen worse regular zoned systems that use junky controls, dampers etc. That don't work.... Why would I then use something like Eco vent when I already KNOW better. You know, what you know? HOW?

That is not the case in a 'PROPERLY' designed zone system.

Freezing the coil: again, this is something that would never happen in a 'PROPERLY' installed zone system. For the simple reason, in a 'PROPERLY' installed zone system there are controls that prevent it.

Control knowledge... there is no escaping this part of the equation when it comes to HVAC zone systems.

At some point, boys become men and put away toys. I think Eco vent fits this category to a 'T'.

# Toys run on batteries.

Ecovent responded that expected battery life is 3-5 years. Sounds fine to me. That's well beyond the time that would bother me at all. So far I've found only one user who reported he was quite happy. He was hoping to get smart home integration but was otherwise pretty happy. Still looking for a few others. I'm also considering mini splits. They control room to room temps as well but completely different beast.

Naturally Ecovent is going to say things that are conducive to selling their stuff, just like any manufacturer would. I would never consider anything Ecovent has to say about it, because they have an interest to gloss over the short comings of a product they make.

I've owned enough battery operated, manufactured in China junk to last more than one lifetime. (History Repeats.)

To each their own but I don't mind long batteries as I use items all the time with non toys. Some of them are extremely well made (and in China). The one person who did post on Ecovent didn't mention longer battery life in his wish list (although he did wish it proactively notified if one needed replacement). I'm not going to take their word either, nor do I assume every company will say anything just to sell or I'd end up never buying anything. If they do, people who use it will respond accordingly. The whole purpose of my post was to find actual user experience with the product.

When I looked at the company it appeared that their marketing was not working and the product wasn't selling. Then you have to wonder how much longer they can afford to stay in business and support the product.

Sure I use batteries too. car battery, cell phone battery.

They both must be recharged daily.

If it's any consolation the cell phone battery is probably made in China or some facility nearby. So Ben2ee I agree with you to an extent.

Just know folks that commercial HVAC companies are going to be very critical of this new model as it disrupts the conventional HVAC zone strategy they have used for years (and do some research on conventional zoning. You'll find many unhappy customers due to poor installs). The concept behind ecovent appears to be revolutionary and I hope they succeed because I just installed a new HVAC in my home and the HVAC "sales" people were throwing out crazy expensive numbers for me because that's what they do. Finally we potentially have a new strategy that is possible to install yourself. Batteries? 3-4 year life per ecovent. That is music to my ears if this works. I'm waiting for REAL reviews by users that have installed this system. @austin Air . please don't criticize a new system unless you have real experience. "They don't address static pressures" tells me you have not done your homework on this issue.

I have it. Love it. Notifies me when batteries are low (I'm not cheap and buy them in bulk from Amazon so I always have them around anyway), the rooms are at the temps I want, and this along with a bypass damper resolved my +/-10 difference in the upstairs downstairs of our home which is a single speed system.

More specific explanation:

I have a single speed air handler and a 3 ton unit on a 2 story home. Our problems were an issue of a huge temperature difference between upstairs and downstairs. Horribly inconvenient and uncomfortable.

Now, the proper way to fix the 10 +/- temperature difference between upstairs and down stair is to separately heat/cool each floor with two separate appropriately sized systems. However, the cost to fix this was around $18,000. At least that's what I was quoted by multiple companies.

Another fix would be to replace the single speed air handler with a variable speed air handler and zone it. Still around 10.000 quoted.

With Ecovent I was able to zone the floors separately, but had a horrible amount of static pressure. That was an easy fix. I had a appropriately sized bypass damper installed and now the end result is a quiet house with equal temperature throughout.

Ecovent cost me roughly $2000 for my order, and I spent roughly $2500 for the replacement of the plenum boxes, installing the bypass damper, and adding a media filter and UV-C light, and adjusting the blower motor jumper to the lowest setting that doesn't strain the systems.

I'm very happy with end result. More importantly... my wife is happy.

I'm considering buying into the Ecovent system. You replaced all of your supply vents, added their thermostat and their hub, and put the sensors in each room? It sounds as if you are happy with it all... before shelling out this kind of money, I'm looking for more positive happy customers. Thank you!

You have to dig really deep to find any 'real' reviews about this product. That should be your first clue.

Again, I stand by everything I said previously. But if you need someone else to tell how foolish this is...Ecovent Reviews

I purchased the Ecovent system back in 2016, all I can say is that the system was a total nightmare for my family. I am currently in dispute with Ecovent where they agree in an email to refund 65% of the total cost (The head of customer service received approval from upper management) after 3 years of emails and phones going back and forth, they even sent me a shipping label to send the system back for refund and now that they received the system they don't what to refund me anymore. More they don't even want to ship the system back to me, they are asking or me to pay for shipping arguing that after evaluating the system they can't refund me anymore. What a scam. In the last 3 years I tried to make the system work, followed their instruction step by step but the connection to the thermostat will be cut all the time, the vents battery will be drained every year, the vents curtain will be stuck very often. The noise rattling also a huge concern. Not to mention the face that is holder by magnets fell off all the time. The app was ok but not very responsive. So overall this was a very expensive experience for me. My son got sick because the system malfunctioned and no heat was provided in his room. So $1200 system that turned to be a nightmare for my family. I am considering suing them in small claims. If you buy this be careful, is not like a real company, more like a garage shop, they try but customer is not their priority.

But this thing was invented by a couple of MIT grads --- and ex aero space engineers. The customer service.....

ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Yet, I'm not here ripping you off 'truly' with garbage that will never work. I'm considered the jerk. Welcome to earth 2019. The truly knowledgeable people who can help you (if you listened) are shunned in favor of a piece of garbage makers made by non-HVAC people.

Have fun, it only gets worse from here.

Sincerely, the jerk.

I'm sorry to say that I can confirm all of the negative reviews of customer service. The batteries are a non issue. I just don't use heat or a/c in two rooms most of the year (only when I have guests). So I periodically (once a month or so) want to open them and otherwise leave closed. The real problem is a) non-responsive app (it sometimes takes 30-min of swiping a duct "on" or "off" repeatedly every 2 seconds until the app responds). and the nightmare problem is b) Ecovent has locked me out of my own account, I haven't been able to operate the vents for 10months now (I bought around 2015 or 2016?). I went through every single step online, via email complaints & followups to try to get the system to respond, but nothing. Eventually they convinced me to buy a new hub. The new hub also won't work. And after 5 solid months of no one following up with repeated complaints by phone, someone finally answered (a guy named Sean - he may not work there anymore b/c he is no longer responsive). He finally acknowledged that somehow they have locked me out of my own account (password resets didn't work - repeatedly) and I may need to set it up under a new email address. Instructions never arrived. And I have returned to the beginning of the loop: I lodged yet another complaint online only to get a form response that ignores every single detail provided, failed to review the last 10 months worth of emails detailing the problem and proceeded to give me super basic instructions to reset the vents (the same instructions that haven't worked the prior 15-20 interactions with them. (Interactions is a generous term - they refuse to answer the phone; only one person - after 6m - ever returned a call [they are back in silent mode]; they only send form email responses that 99/100times ignore the actual problem reported & just pull a response out of their manual that is unrelated entirely to the reported problem.

Under no circumstances should anyone buy ecovent. They don't work. And it is hands down the worst customer service I have ever experienced. And I've lived in France. Just don't do it.

I echo the last 3 "user" comments. It's 12:09am and I'm awake because the vent curtain is stuck and the resulting woody woodpecker noise it's making every few minutes is keeping me awake. Worse investment we've made.

This is a tough one. The Ecovents themselves are pretty good. We’ve had them for six years, and they definitely work. On the other hand, the complaints about customer service and battery replacement are very real.

We have 16 Ecovents in our home and have to replace the batteries every few months. About four years ago, we comtacted customer service about this, as that’s obviously a far cry from 3–5 years. Their customer service was awesome: they said they’d look into it and get back to me, and a couple of days later, they informed me that it was a firmware issue. Batteries were being drained much more quickly than expected, and as an apology (and out of gratitude for letting them know), they said they would cover my batteries for the next ten years: anytime I needed more, just let them know. Now, obviously, this was a great deal. Not only were they covering my costs, but it gave them another reason to improve the functionality: the better the battery life, the fewer they’d have to send. It was a win-win!

A few months later, the batteries started dying and I contacted them. Obviously, they hadn’t fixed the problem; but true to their word, they sent me enough AA batteries to power all 16 vents. Unfortunately, that’s where it stopped: when the batteries started dying again, a few months later, I called for replacements and was told that free batteries isn’t something they do, that I’d obviously misunderstood. And, you know, that’s possible. I was probably just thrown off by the fact that after they said they’d send me free batteries, they sent me free batteries. It’s an understandable mistake.

To be honest, the functionality has improved quite a bit, since then. The batteries still don’t last very long, but we’ve started buying them in bulk from Amazon. The Ecovents don’t seem to last much longer with high-end Energizers or Duracells than they do with Amazon’s own brand, so we save the money that way. I just replaced 40 of them, in the last 24 hours, and everything seems to be working just fine. Furthermore, Ecovent has been acquired by Keen Home, and they seem to have much better customer service than Ecovent’s eventually degenerated to be. (I won’t go into details, but suffice to say there were more issues than the battery one.)

So yeah… a mixed bag. Personally, I think they’d probably do a lot better in addition to a traditional zoning system than on their own—which is, after all, an option they support. But since I’ve never had both Ecovents and traditional zoning in the same house, I can’t say for sure.