ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium wiring for heat pump with b valve wire

Good news: the ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium is a direct swap for this setup. Every wire has a matching terminal.

Rheem, Ruud and a few other brands energize the reversing valve in heating mode and label it B. Put it on O/B and choose B in settings, or your heat and cool will be backwards.

1Snap a photo of your old thermostat’s wires (optional)

AI reads the terminal letters and wire colors, then you double-check them. Photos are not saved.

2Tick every terminal that has a wire

Pull the faceplate off your old thermostat. Use the letter printed next to each wire, not its color. Skip short jumper wires between two terminals.

More labels (W3, X, X2, K, PEK, L, S, T, U, HUM, DEHUM)

3A few quick questions

Do you have a heat pump?

A heat pump is an outdoor unit that both heats and cools. Heat pump thermostats usually have an “EM HEAT” or “AUX” setting.

Do any of these apply?

4Your wiring

Your system: Heat pump, 1-stage compressor, 1-stage aux heat, fan, C wire present · 6 wires
Your B wire is treated as the reversing valve (energized in heat), common on Rheem and Ruud heat pumps. Set the new thermostat’s O/B setting to B.

Which smart thermostats work with your wires?

ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium

Works: direct swap
Wires from the wallecobee PremiumRred · 24 V powerRcCblack · Common (C wire)CYyellow · Cooling, stage 1Y1Ggreen · FanGBorange · Reversing valve (O/B)O/BW2white · Auxiliary heatW1
WireColorJobConnect toNote
Rred24 V powerRc
CblackCommon (C wire)C
YyellowCooling, stage 1Y1
GgreenFanG
BorangeReversing valve (O/B)O/B
W2whiteAuxiliary heatW1

Install steps

  1. Turn off power to the furnace/air handler (switch or breaker) and the AC condenser. Confirm the old thermostat is dead.
  2. Photograph the old wiring, then label each wire with the letter it came off. Ignore short jumpers.
  3. Connect each wire to the ecobee Premium terminal shown above. Cap unused wires one at a time.
  4. Restore power and finish setup in the app using the settings below.
  5. Test heat, cool and fan. If a breaker trips or equipment runs nonstop, power off and call a pro.

App settings to choose

  • Reversing valve (O/B): set to B.
  • Equipment type: heat pump with auxiliary (electric strip) heat.

What you need

  • ecobee Smart Thermostat PremiumThe thermostat itselfCheck price

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Confirm against the official ecobee install guide. The app also checks your wiring during setup.

Frequently asked questions

Where does each wire go on the ecobee Premium?

R → Rc; C → C; Y → Y1; G → G; B → O/B; W2 → W1.

Do I need a C wire for the ecobee Premium?

You already have a C wire, so no adapter is needed.

Other thermostats for this setup

ecobee Premium: other setups