Is it difficult to replace a thermostat? I have hot water baseboard heat and was thinking of replacing the thermostat in one room with a programable. I have three zones but this one zone is the one I need to change the settings on the most. Thanks.
What is the make and model of your current thermostat, and how many wires are connected to it?
In most cases it is rather simple One of the best brand is Honeywell. There are instructions in the package. Chances are, you have two wires to the present Tstat. If so, just attach them as the instructions say, mount the base and then mount the unit.
9 of 10 times it will be a no brainer - easier than replacing a light fixture - same degree of difficulty (2 of 10) but much safer because it's low voltage.
What I would recommend is this: take off the old t-stat and remember which wires go to which terminals. Likely you'll see them connected to the terminal which is marked for that color (e.g red, green, brown, yellow, etc. wires; terminals marked r, g, b, y, etc.). If so, you'll likely have no problem with new tstat. If not, just be sure to remember which goes where. Like if you have a black wire that's connected to the terminal marked "g", remember that because you'll want to connect it to the "g" terminal of the new t-stat.
Then, look at the instructions for the t-stat you're thinking of buying. Open the package and look at the instructions. You're just looking to see if it makes sense for the way your old one was wired. 9 of 10 times it will be that the old tstat has colored wires connected to the same designated termila and if the new tstat requires the same number of wires as the old one (e.g. two or three). Or, many/most? have instructions or two or three wire installation and various combinations of heat and cool. Just make sure that it makes sense ahead of time, I'm almost positive it will.
I once ran into a difficulty because my old tstat (IIRC) was two wire and the new one was three and I had to figure out which should carry voltage at what time, etc. There were three wires running up to the t-stat but only two were connected down at the furnace / zone valve/ transformer area so I had to figure out how to connect it down there. It took a while with a multimeter to figure it out but was not brain surgery. My wife thought I was gold-bricking because I've actually changed t-stats a bunch of times (to replace worn ones and then to switch over to programmable). and it always took just a few minutes.
Camilo
FYI - your situation is similar to what I had. I bought a Honeywell
7500, which works for my gas boiler/hot water fin-tube system. With a little help from some friendly people in this forum, I was able to change it out in a few minutes.A couple of notes:
- the temperature of the digital thermostat varies by as much as
5degrees from my old mercury one (and several other non-digitals that I had in the house)- it took the unit about a week to really get a handle on adaptation. It didn't help that the temps fluctuated quite a bit, so just note that the first few days may differ from what you see thereafter.
- the difference in my first month's usage from previous months was about 6% using a 5 degree adjustment at night (wife is home during the day).
I am very happy with the purchase so far and would recommend contacting vendors to make sure you get the right type of stat for your home. I chose the 7500 on various advice I had received, reputation of Honeywell units, and the fact that I may replace my heating unit in the future and it can handle different types of systems. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Honeywell.
Dave
That's O.K., Dave. I'll second you on it.
Honeywell is probably THE best there is. But it won't work worth a sh*t if you don't install it correctly.....
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