I want a programable thermostat, what do I get??

[John]

Hey everyone,

I have a simple single zone forced hot air heating system with a mechanical thermostat. I believe it is low voltage. I have no AC.

I want to get a programable thermostat but don't understand the lingo. On this site:

talk about single stage, two stage, multi-stage etc.

What's a good thermostat to buy?

Jeff

[Travis Jordan]

No problem - it sounds like you have the most common of systems - single stage heat only. In this case you can use any number of programmable thermostats. For your application consider the new Honeywell RTH7400 /

7500, available at most HD/Lowes/Menards, etc.

[trader4]

I'd get one of the new adaptive types. With regular programmables, you set the time for the temp setting to change. How long it takes the system to get the room temp to that point varies depending on the current temp, the outside temp, whether heating or cooling, etc. So, if you want it to be 70 at 7AM, you have to set it earlier, like

6:15AM.

You set the adaptive ones for the actual temp you want at the given time. So, in this example, you'd simply set it for 7AM. The thermostat then calculates when to raise the setting based on the recent history of system performance.

[PJX]

Almost 5 years ago, I bought a cheapo Robertshaw 9600 programmable thermostat. It was dirt cheap and has performed perfectly and I love it. Therefore, I think that the cheaper thermostats will do fine and the others have 'sucker' written all over them.

If I were to shop for another, some things I might change:

1. Slightly larger LCD display.
2. 7 day programmable instead of 5/2 . That's all I can think of. I love it and it has saved lots of money or made my home so much more comfortable than it was before.

PJ

[Travis Jordan]

Most Honeywell thermostats including the RTH7400 / 7500 allow you to turn adaptive intelligent recoveryT (or Smart ResponseT as it now called) on or off. The default is on.