List Price: $92.17
Sale Price: $38.67
Today's Bonus: 58% Off
I installed this thermostat to replace my Honeywell 5-1-1 RTH230B because I wanted a bit more flexibility in scheduling my Asleep and Home times.
This was super easy to install on my two wire system. Less than 5 minutes to get it up on the wall. A nice feature is that once the back plate is connected and mounted, you can just pull the thermostat off the back plate and sit in your easy chair to program. I also like the fact that the display is illuminated so you can see what's going on in the dark. I also like the look of the thermostat, grey face with white border, and soft blue illumination.
I initially set the following program based on my schedule-waking up each weekday at 6:30 AM and going to bed around 10 PM. On Friday's I generally go to bed around 11 PM. On the weekends, I generally get up around 8:30 AM and go to bed around 11 PM, except on Sunday night when I go to bed around 10 PM. Here's how I programmed that schedule into the thermostat:
Mon-Thu Asleep 9:30 PM to 6 AM, 69 Deg F. Away 8 AM to 5 PM, 69 Deg F. Home 71 Deg F (done by setting up Monday and copying to Tue through Thu, which was a nice feature). There are no times to set for the Home period, the thermostat calculates that automatically for you, you just set the desired temp.
Fri Asleep 10:30 PM to 8:30 AM, 69 Deg F. Away 8 AM to 5 PM, 69 Deg F. Home 71 Deg F.
Sat Asleep 10:30 PM to 8:30 AM, 69 Deg F. Away 8:30 AM to 10:30 PM, 71 Deg F. Home 71 Deg F.
Sun Asleep 9:30 PM to 6 AM, 69 Deg F. Away 8:30 AM t0 9:30 PM, 71 Deg F. Home 71 Deg F.
On Friday I discovered (at 1:45 PM) the thermostat was indicating Home instead of Away. So I called tech support. They had the same thermostat in front of them and got the same result. If I set Friday to match the Mon-Thu schedule, the thermostat then indicated Away at 1:45 PM as it should.
They're supposed to get back to me but this is what I figured out. 6 AM is some kind of demarcation line in the thermostat's programming. If you cross that line you get "overlap" (that's what tech support called it) and the thermostat puts the system into Home mode instead of Away. I even tried a factory reset (holding down the + and buttons for more than five seconds). The internal default programming uses 6 AM for every Asleep program.
I'm frustrated that I don't have real control over the programming but for < than $30.00 I guess I can't expect "real" control.
Laying in bed last night I had a vision. As long as I don't cross the 6 AM line with my Asleep times, it should function as I want to. Just have to be a bit creative with the programming.
Here's my current schedule:
Mon-Thu Asleep 9:30 PM to 6 AM, 69 Deg F. Away 8 AM to 5 PM, 69 Deg F. Home 71 Deg F.
Fri Asleep 10:30 PM to 6 AM, 69 Def F. Away 8 AM to 5 PM, 69 Deg F. Home 71 Deg F.
Sat Asleep 10:30 PM to 6 AM, 69 Deg F. Away 6 AM to 8:30 AM, 69 Deg F. Home 71 Deg F.
Sun Asleep 9:30 PM to 6 AM, 69 Deg F. Away 6 AM to 8:30 AM, 69 Deg F. Home 71 Deg F.
By doing that yesterday, at 2 PM Friday the thermostat indicated Away (like it should). I've been monitoring it today (Saturday) and so far so good. It's showing the correct mode and temp for the time of day.
I think I've won but I'll have to monitor each mode throughout the week to be sure. I firmly believe that if you don't cross the 6 AM demarcation with your Asleep times and set short Away times during the weekend, this thermostat will perform as expected. 5 stars for value and ease of mounting, 3 stars for programming. Overall 4 stars in my opinion. If tech support provides a magic answer I'll update this review and overall rating.
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Exactly what we needed. We wanted the heat to turn down Monday through Thursday because who goes to bed on Friday night the same time as Thursday night? Saturday and Sunday are different too. So this allows scheduling every day independently. Perfect!
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