Programmable Thermostat pissing me off

[maradcliff]

I have a INDIGLO programmable thermostat. It worked ok when I was gone during the day at work, but I am now retired and that thing is really pissing me off. I bet I go to that thing 30 times a day to increase the heat. I set the heat to maybe 65, and an hour later its back t 60 again. I turn it up, an hour later it's 60 again. This is reduculous.

Does anyone know if there is a way to override these things? Otherwise I am going to just get rid of it and get a regular thermostat. One would think that when I raise the heat to 65 it would stay that way until the next daily change. In other words, I had it set to go to 55 during the day when I was at work, and change to 65 shortly before I returned home. But somehow this thing decided to set itself to always default to 60, and everytime i raise it, it heats to whatever I set it to, then once it heats that ONE TIME, it goes back to 60. We are having a cold spell, and I have not been feeling well and staying in bed, but I got to keep getting out of bed to raise the heat every hour. This thing is really pissing me off.

Can they be made to work as a regular thermostat (stay at the temp I turn it to), or do I need to replace it?

Mark

[Rich]

I have a INDIGLO programmable thermostat. It worked ok when I was gone during the day at work,

Go back to work.

[Travis Jordan]

I'm not surprised. Hunter thermostat products have a terrible reputation in the industry.

Try a Honeywell thermostat.

[Joseph Meehan]

Have you bothered to check the manual that came with it? If you threw out the manual, I have little empathy for you, but you could try checking their web site to see if they have an on line version.

Of course it is possible that it is defective, but my guess is you are not using it properly.

[trader4]

If you decide to chuck it and get a new one, there are some great deals on Ebay. I just got a Honeywell touchscreen one for 40% off what it retails for.

[Al Moran]

If you are running it in program mode this is what it is supposed to do. You can either program it to maintain the temp for longer while in program mode or just put it in hold mode. While in hold mode it will not return to 60 if working properly.

[Roy Starrin]

First of all, it sounds like it is working like it is supposed to, or rather like it is programmed to. You are attempting to override the t-stat and apparently not doing it the way the t-stat demands. Now, w/o knowing what maker, model, etc it is, it is almost impossible to find something to help you reprogram it. E.G. I have a Trane programmable t-stat made for them by Honeywell. It has an "indiglo' feature, but it is not an Indiglo Thermostat. Here is one large maker of t-stats with an indiglo feature:

site address is on the page. Send them an email, or call them up, if your model is among those listed. They maybe can help you over the phone, or you might be able to access the specific instructions for your model over the internet. Or, you can call your local installer. Or you can tell us what the make and model is and maybe we can help. Hope you are feeling better soon!!!

[Lionel]

I had a similar problem until I read the instructions and learned that I needed to press the HOLD button after setting the temperature. This effectively suspends the programmer and keeps the current setting active. Yours may have a similar feature, or you could simply change the program. Go to

use the "contact us" link and ask where you can get the instructions.

Don't blame the equipment because it doesn't work the way you would have designed it. Learn how it's supposed to be used. It worked fine before you retired because it was programmed to reduce the heat when you were at work during the day. If this is your biggest post-retirement challenge, you haven't attempted the Medicare pharmacy program.

Lionel Retired since 2001, and occupied with putting the house back together from the exposed studs after Hurricane Ivan - September 16, 2004. Great home repair experience and training in patience.

[trader4]

What he's claiming is that when he overides it, it goes back to 60 sometime later BEFORE the next program change should occur. At least, that's what I think he's saying.

And when recently looking for a thermostat, I looked as some manuals online. I recall reading in one of them a description, that while confusing, and not making a lot of sense to me, seemed to say if overidden, it would only hold that temp for a certain period of time or until the next program change, whichever came first. I moved on to the next thermo, cause that made no sense to me! :)

[David Martel]

Mark,

As others have indicated it sounds as if you are not using this thermostat correctly or it is broken. If you have the manual then read it. If not then see if you can download it. INDIGLO is a trademark of the "glow in the dark" feature and is probably not the name of the thermostat, so try Googling with the model number and the manufacturer's name. My Honeywell programmable does work the way that you describe.

Dave M.

[kevin]

You probably just need to replace the battery. The normal way these things work is that if you manually change the temperature setting (and don't hit HOLD), it stays that way until the next programmed change. If you manually change and then press HOLD, it stays that way indefinitely. Pressing the reset button will reset the programming, which might be set as a default to something like 60 during week days,

68 in the morning and evenings, 68 on weekend days. And it sounds like that is what you are living with.

If your battery is dead, it probably forgets everything after 5 or 10 minutes, including your manual change. Since you have been struggling with this for 4 years (!!), I am guessing that your battery is at least that old. It's usually just a single AA battery in the thermostat itself.

-Kevin

[maradcliff]

Thanks to all that replied. You may be right. This came with the house so there is no manual. I looked on the Hunter website and they dont have my model listed. I sent them a email and hope they respond soon. However there is a HOLD botton, and I had no clue what that was for. Maybe that is the ticket. I will try it. Last night I pushed a piece of wire in the RESET hole, which I assume removes all the programming. I was desparate to do something, because I am sick and freezing my butt off because of that thing. I reset the clock to the correct time but did nothing else. So now, it seems to be staying where I set it, because there is nothing programmed. I have been fighting with this thing all winter long for 4 years, resetting it every hour or so, all day and night, except from 5pm to

10pm at which time it was often too hot. When I was working it was fine, but not since, and it finally got to me last night. I was wishing I had one of those old round Honeywells in my junk box because I would have changed it right then and there.

You know they put instructions on the small panel door, but even with my best glasses I cant read it. I never could figure out why things like this dont have a slot in the back where the instructions could be placed on some cardstock. I guess they dont understand that us old farts dont have the best eyes. But I dont think I could haev read that door when I was 20.

BTW: It is a HUNTER, and the model is 44155B (their website has a

44155C, but not the "B"). The "C" looks much different.

[Walter R.]

Most digital thermostats nowadays come with two sets of instructions (may be two separate booklets, or one): One contains the instructions for the installer. Here you set the basic type of furnace, the anticipator or the cycling rate (your problem?), the readouts in F or C, etc. The second set of instructions is for the owner: It tells you how to program the thermostat for different days, how to set the date and time, etc.

Be sure the read both sets of instructions

[maradcliff]

Thanks for you help. I changed the batteries a couple months ago, and they display still lights so they seem ok. But I have never used that hold button, so that might be the whole problem. You could be right about those settings, because I dont recall ever setting anything to

1. I went lower than that when I was at work, to save fuel, and higher when I planned to be home. Yeah, I know I put this off way too long. I am good at procrastinating with things like that. I didnt have a manual so it always seemed like too much hassle to screw with. I almost bought a new thermostat (regular one) not too long ago, but decided to try to reset mine (which I never did). I guess I got to be too sick to work outside to make me do these little jobs in the house....

[Joshua Putnam]

That's what we used to have in the office -- the override setting was called "temporarily occupied," I assume they figured you'd bump it up if you were still in the office at 6PM, but then forget to turn it down when you leave, and didn't really want to heat the place all night long until the next program change at 8AM.

So you'd bump it up temporarily, and it would revert to the normal program after an hour. Made a lot of sense for an office with fairly regular hours most of the time.

[Stretch]

On most programmable thermostats, if you turn it up, that is called TEMPORARY OVERIDE. It will hold that temperature for 1 HOUR, then revert to program. Program to 65 degrees during day, then quit playing with it.

Stretch

[trader4]

I have to disagree with that this is the way most work. I've had several, and all would hold the temporary overide until the next programmed changed occurs. It's relatively uncommon to find ones that will change on there own before the next change is due. And I think for most home users, it's a good way to get thermostats returned, cause if I bought one that worked like that, I'd take it back.

[trader4]

On most thermostats, when you manually change the temp, that temp will be maintained until the next scheduled programmed change, without doing anything else. If you press hold, it will maintain that temp indefinitely. Some also have a vacation hold mode, where you can specify how many days you want the hold to last, which is a feature I like.

[Al Moran]

Then you have not seen many thermostats. There are several models that do just that.

[KLS]

Or, in the case of my White Rogers, turning the temperature up or down (also known as temporary override) sets the temperature until the next programmed temperature change. There's no one-hour temperature hold feature on my thermostat, but there is a HOLD feature, where you can set the temperature and then tell the thermostat to hold it indefinitely, until you change the settings again or return it to the program.