programmable thermostats

I just buy the cheaper honeywells that do the 5-2 program. It saved me money plus not having to mess with the air is nice. I like it colder when I sleep and I never have to touch the thing now.
 
DSM Turbos said:
I just buy the cheaper honeywells that do the 5-2 program. It saved me money plus not having to mess with the air is nice. I like it colder when I sleep and I never have to touch the thing now.
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Is it programmable for several different times of the day? Is a single whole hose unit. I've looked at some that have separate controller for each zone of the house, that's not what I'm looking for I would have to redo duck work
 
Loganwayne said:
Is it programmable for several different times of the day? Is a single whole hose unit. I've looked at some that have separate controller for each zone of the house, that's not what I'm looking for I would have to redo duck work
Click to expand...

Yeah, all of the ones I have got basically have a wake, go to work, get home from work, go to sleep (so 4 different time settings you can do). It may even have more but I always did 4. If you have a different schedule each day you should look at the 7 day programmables, and if on weekends they are different look at a 5-1-1

Shop Honeywell 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat at Lowes.com That is the one I always bought. Had them in a couple houses now.

I have never had one that is dual zone so I am not sure how it can do dual zones.

This one is cheaper - Shop Honeywell 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat at Lowes.com but not as many features
 
DSM Turbos said:
Yeah, all of the ones I have got basically have a wake, go to work, get home from work, go to sleep (so 4 different time settings you can do). It may even have more but I always did 4. If you have a different schedule each day you should look at the 7 day programmables, and if on weekends they are different look at a 5-1-1

Shop Honeywell 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat at Lowes.com That is the one I always bought. Had them in a couple houses now.

I have never had one that is dual zone so I am not sure how it can do dual zones.

This one is cheaper - Shop Honeywell 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat at Lowes.com but not as many features
Click to expand...
Thanks for some reason I was hung up on the much more expensive units. How much a month did you save when you switched. During the winter i heat with wood when I'm home and cut my costs in half if I could cut even more off that I would be doing great
 
Honestly its too hard to really tell how much you save by switching. I like the convenience of it more than anything. I didn't pay attention when I swapped them over since normally I did it right after I bought the place.
 
I have a Wifi enabled programmable one in my house. It wasn't much more than the non wifi one, and I like the fact that I can go away on vacation for a week, set the temperature in the house at 80+ and on the way home, switch it back on so the house is cool by the time I get home. It was pretty simple to install, too.

Beyond that I have nothing to add.
 
ManglerYJ said:
I have a Wifi enabled programmable one in my house. It wasn't much more than the non wifi one, and I like the fact that I can go away on vacation for a week, set the temperature in the house at 80+ and on the way home, switch it back on so the house is cool by the time I get home. It was pretty simple to install, too.

Beyond that I have nothing to add.
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I'm likely going to add one of these very soon. Every damn time I program the t-stat, the nanny or my wife changes the damn thing. I need a way to keep it monitored and consistent remotely! :D
 
ManglerYJ said:
I have a Wifi enabled programmable one in my house. It wasn't much more than the non wifi one, and I like the fact that I can go away on vacation for a week, set the temperature in the house at 80+ and on the way home, switch it back on so the house is cool by the time I get home. It was pretty simple to install, too.

Beyond that I have nothing to add.
Click to expand...

Model?
2 years ago when when I was looking for a new 'stat, it was either ~$60 for a pretty standard programmable one, or $200+ for anything that had cool features like this. But I'd assume things have changed since then.

I almost bought a Nest, but have read and heard directly about too many horror stories of their magic "updates" causing more problems (expenses) than it saved.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Model?
2 years ago when when I was looking for a new 'stat, it was either ~$60 for a pretty standard programmable one, or $200+ for anything that had cool features like this. But I'd assume things have changed since then.

I almost bought a Nest, but have read and heard directly about too many horror stories of their magic "updates" causing more problems (expenses) than it saved.
Click to expand...


Just go to your local cell phone store to get one that works with your carrier.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I almost bought a Nest, but have read and heard directly about too many horror stories of their magic "updates" causing more problems (expenses) than it saved.
Click to expand...

I've been interested in the Nest for years, but it really seems more gimmicky to me now. I just bought a new house and was looking at programmable options, and I think I'll go with Honeywell. They get really good reviews, and just look more practical.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Model?
2 years ago when when I was looking for a new 'stat, it was either ~$60 for a pretty standard programmable one, or $200+ for anything that had cool features like this. But I'd assume things have changed since then.

I almost bought a Nest, but have read and heard directly about too many horror stories of their magic "updates" causing more problems (expenses) than it saved.
Click to expand...


It's a Honeywell something-or-other. We bought it at Lowes or Home Depot (don't remember). It has an iPhone app that alerts you if it loses connection as well (power outage, etc).
 
ManglerYJ said:
It's a Honeywell something-or-other. We bought it at Lowes or Home Depot (don't remember). It has an iPhone app that alerts you if it loses connection as well (power outage, etc).
Click to expand...

Maybe this one? That is the one I am interested in. It just looks easier to see and use over the Nest.
 
I have a programmable Honeywell. It was on sale for $79 at lowes, typically $99.

I wired it into 24v power source.

The model it was replacing kept shutting the gas heat off as when it would kill the batteries. It started going through 3 aaa batteries a week. Probably could have just wired it into 24v power source as well, but I was fed up with it.

I can control it from my phone, but the nicer part is the email notifications for temp limits and communication failure.

You can preset upper and lower temp limits and if they are exceeded, it send you an email.

If the power goes out, and the server can't communicate with tstat for a selected duration, it sends you an email.

We saved about 5% on electric by programming the tstat to our preferences.
 
Mac5005 said:
I have a programmable Honeywell. It was on sale for $79 at lowes, typically $99.

I wired it into 24v power source.

The model it was replacing kept shutting the gas heat off as when it would kill the batteries. It started going through 3 aaa batteries a week. Probably could have just wired it into 24v power source as well, but I was fed up with it.

I can control it from my phone, but the nicer part is the email notifications for temp limits and communication failure.

You can preset upper and lower temp limits and if they are exceeded, it send you an email.

If the power goes out, and the server can't communicate with tstat for a selected duration, it sends you an email.

We saved about 5% on electric by programming the tstat to our preferences.
Click to expand...

So in order for this to work, Honeywell must have a server that is logging your data. Do you have access to it? Historical data I mean. That could be quite useful.
And, do they have access to it to? It's even more useful to others... /tinfoilhat
 
RatLabGuy said:
So in order for this to work, Honeywell must have a server that is logging your data. Do you have access to it? Historical data I mean. That could be quite useful.
And, do they have access to it to? It's even more useful to others... /tinfoilhat
Click to expand...


No, because the VW CEO would use it to modify the economy settings.....
 
shawn said:
By lowering the set point, you mean?
Click to expand...

It's programmed after 8:00 am for temp setting to go up to 78, and holds 78 until 4:00 then returns to 74.

Before we left it on 74 all day.

This is for the cooling season.

Same "plan" for heating season. Just opposite temperature swing.

This is downstairs.

Haven't changed the upstairs yet.

Typically we manually raise the temp to 73 in the morning and lower it to 71 at night.

This resulted in 5% savings.

Cleaning the mold & dirt from both evap coils resulted in a 10% saving.

Total I'm at 17% savings over the base line.

The baseline was set the Tstats to 74 down stairs and 71 upstairs.

The temp difference get both units to run pretty much equally.

The humidity usually stays between 45-55% Inside during the cooling season.


Ratlabguy.

Haven't tried to retrieve the data sent.
 
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