EcoNet vs CalaWater
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
EcoNet
Manage your home's heating, cooling, and water heater systems remotely. Optimize energy efficiency, track consumption, and set custom schedules for comfort and savings. Receive alerts for maintenance and system updates.
- Smart HVAC control
- Smart water heater monitoring
- Energy consumption tracking
- Custom scheduling
- Remote system access
- Maintenance alerts
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EcoNet®: Smart Control for Your Home’s Comfort Take complete control of your home’s comfort and energy efficiency. EcoNet provides seamless smart control over your HVAC and water heaters from the Rheem family of brands (Rheem, Ruud, Friedrich, Richmond, Sure Comfort, Russell by Rheem, Durastar). Experience the convenience of managing your home’s climate and hot water needs right from your smartphone. Features: - Smart Control: Easily adjust your heating and cooling settings to maintain the perfect indoor climate. - Smart Monitoring: Monitor and control your water heater’s performance for optimal efficiency and comfort. - Smart Savings: Track your energy consumption and receive tips to improve efficiency and save on utility bills. - Utility Programs: Enroll in utility programs in your area to maximize your savings. - Custom Schedules: Set personalized schedules for your HVAC and water heater to match your lifestyle and maximize energy savings. - Alerts & Notifications: Get real-time alerts and notifications for maintenance reminders, system updates, and potential issues. Quickly share these alerts with your contractor when contact info added at account creation. - Remote Access: Control your home’s systems from anywhere, ensuring comfort and peace of mind whether you’re at home or away. Download EcoNet today and transform the way you manage your home’s comfort and efficiency!
CalaWater
Monitor and control your intelligent heat pump water heater remotely. Track usage, optimize heating schedules for solar production or vacation, and ensure hot water availability. Receive ongoing system updates for improved performance.
- Track hot water usage patterns
- Sync heating with solar production
- View energy usage
- Boost production on demand
- Schedule vacation energy savings
- Monitor real-time availability and performance
- Configure system run times
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The Cala app is the companion to your Cala intelligent heat pump water heater. It allows you to monitor and control key aspects of your system to ensure it performs according to your household’s needs and preferences. With the app, you can: - Track your home’s hot water usage patterns - Sync your water heater to automatically heat during solar production - View your water heater’s energy usage - Boost production when family or guests are in town - Schedule your vacation for energy savings - Monitor hot water availability and performance in real-time - Configure when the system runs to avoid noise or cool air during specific times The Cala app also enables ongoing system updates and performance improvements delivered over time. An internet connection is required to access the features in the Cala mobile app. While your Cala water heater will function without the app, features like remote control and energy optimizations are only available when the app is connected to the internet No subscription is required. The Cala app is free to use.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: CalaWater at 100% against EcoNet's 15%. CalaWater also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 weeks). EcoNet's advantage is ratings volume (14K vs 6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
CalaWater holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EcoNet has 14K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 15% of EcoNet's written reviews are positive against 100% of CalaWater's.
EcoNet ships an update every 5 weeks, CalaWater every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | EcoNet | CalaWater |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (14K ratings) | 4.8 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 15.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14K — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rheem Manufacturing Company | Cala Systems, Inc. |
Customer experience
EcoNet
CalaWater
Bugs and requests
EcoNet
Reported bugs
5 issues- Frequent disconnections from Wi-Fi
- Vacation mode not functioning properly
- Schedules not being followed consistently
- Temperature and mode settings not sticking
- Incorrect time zone and date information
Requested features
5 requests- Actual water temperature display
- Customizable scheduling options
- Geofencing with multiple users
- Integration with other smart home platforms
- More detailed energy usage reporting
CalaWater
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
EcoNet
No in-app purchases
CalaWater
No in-app purchases
