Thermostat question

[rpddesign]

I recently bought a home with a Honeywell Chromotherm III (T8600D) model thermostat. My home has a natural gas burning furnace and an a/ c system, both operating off of a single transformer.

I am going to replace the thermostat myself and am considering either the Honeywell RTH8500 or the TH8110. The RTH8500 is the "retail" version of the thermostat and the TH8110 is the "professional version".

The main differences I see between the two are:

1. The retail version runs exclusively off of batteries. The pro version also takes batteries but can optionally run off of the 24vac "common" connection.

1. The pro version has a lot of installer options.

I read through all the different installer options for the pro and it appears to me that given my setup I will be leaving them at the factory default settings.

Also, I don't today have a wire coming from the common side of the transformer into the existing thermostat, so I don't think I'll be able to take advantage of the 24vac option to power the TH8110.

So if I am going to rely on batteries either way, and if I have no reason to change the factory defaults, is there any reason to get the TH8110 instead of the RTH8500?

Do the "pro" versions of the thermostat have any other advantages over the comparable retail model (like quality of construction or anything)?

Thanks

[PaPaPeng]

These are my personal preferences. All I want in a thermostat is a very basic no fuss instrument. Just a set point and and ON - OFF. If I need more heat I turn it up. If I think the furnace is giving more heat than I need at a particular time I turn it down. Otherwise it is set at 68 deg F thereabouts, my idea of a comfortable temperature. No batteries. No program buttons to press multiple times to get to a long forgotten function. I love it. My house plants thrive in it.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Pro version does not have wake, leaven, return, sleep mode. Instread it's called occupied, not occupied something like that. If you want to use 24V source for power then you can't do arm chair programming(I mean off the wall). Either one will work fine, it's just your choice. I used both of them and now I switched to wireless one to relocate the 'stat without messing with rerunning wires. One thing, make sure you turn off power when you work on 'stats. Go to

forum. There are many helpful techie folks. Good luck,