Swtich to programmable thermostat bad for oil furnace?

[Charles Martin in Seattle]

I have an old White-Rodgers thermostat for our oil heating system, which works fine. However, I was thinking of replacing it with a programmable one. Queries for the accommodating and expert people here:

1. Will that generally save oil? (I realize if I program it to 80 degrees

24 hours a day it won't, but in general, do people tend to save money because of the greater accuracy and flexibility?)

1. My oil furnace serviceman was against them -- he said they can mess up oil furnaces. I'm suspicious -- his company also sells me oil, so perhaps he's steering me away from greater oil efficiency?

1. As to brand - I heard good things about the Honeywell Chronotherm thermostats. Are they the one to buy?

Thank you,

o-------= Charles Martin =--o

[Joe Bobst]

Absolutely.

>

[willshak]

Yes, for the same reason that you go around at night and lower the thermostats manually, only this way, you don't have to remember to do it.

More than likely, he doesn't have them, so he doesn't know. He probably gets his oil cheaper, being an employee of the oil company. I doubt whether he gets a commission on delivering oil.

All three of my zones have programmable thermostats. 1 is a Honeywell, the other two were from Sears. Programmable to 4 settings per day (morning-day-evening-night), and different settings for Mon-Fri and Sat-Sun. They are about 16 years old, and they all work equally well. I saved a couple of hundred dollars the first winter after I installed them.

[Joseph Meehan]

I am personally a fan of programmable stats. Not only do they save me money, but the make my home more comfortable.

I am going to assume you are talking about a hot air oil furnace as opposed to some form of heated water. That said, you should save money based on your plan. It would appear your serviceman has some sort of ax to grind. That said, I don't know oil, equipment well and I will defer to someone who does.

[David Wilkinson]

Charles Martin in Seattle wrote in news: [e-mail]:

You don't say where you've looked for T'stats. But I purchased online from

I believe that they are refurbished, but the one that I got has been working fine for about 2 years.

The T8602D Chronotherm is selling there for $125.