List Price: $583.30
Sale Price: $429.99
Today's Bonus: 26% Off
There is a lot to like about this thermostat. The display is bright, easy to read, and most functions on the unit are quite simple to program. The thermostat offers many different ways to be customized and it will likely will meet all of your needs. However, before you buy the thermostat, be sure that you feel confident programming it yourself. Honeywell explicitly will NOT provide any customer support for this thermostat, as it is supposed to be a trade-only thermostat. That is, only the trades are supposed to install this unit and hence there is NO customer support at Honeywell for this unit.
To reinforce this message, Honeywell ships the unit installer settings locked by default so to get to the installer settings, you have to enter the date code into the installer-menu lockout (see the manual). Working your way through the many installer menu options is actually quite simple, so I was left scratching my head why Honeywell wants to restrict this unit to the trade-only. It probably has to do with profit margins since Honeywell also advertises that this unit is so simple to set up that the installer will save hours on the install and Honeywell encourages contractors not to pass on that time savings to the customer but to increase their profits instead. Not everyone wants to call in a professional for $$$ every time that they have a small question on the product. If Honeywell can provide support for $30 thermostats then it would seem reasonable to provide support for thermostats that cost 10x also.
For the 93% of the US that uses air-based heating and cooling (heat pump or furnace), this unit works great right out of the box. However, if you happen to have a water-based heating system (i.e. radiant, radiators, steam, etc.) and also AC, this thermostat requires more work to set up, and the approach is not intuitive. Why? Well, there is no installer setting for "hydronic heat and AC". Instead, you are limited to choosing among a conventional furnace, a heat pump, or a heat-only approach. A strange limitation on a premium thermostat that targets premium heating systems...
Anyhow, to make the thermostat work automatically with AC and a hydronic heating system, select the "conventional" system setting, declare two-stage heating system (even if it doesn't have two stages) and finally program the fan to only come on with stage 2. Otherwise, your AC fan blower will come on every time there is a call for heat. If you have a whole house humidifier, you can elect to have the fan come on with the humidifier, but not with every heat call. If that sounds like a bit of a workaround, it is, but at least there is a workaround. Plus, you can download your menu settings to a USB memory stick once and then upload them around the house, eliminating the need to program every thermostat.
Besides handling multiple stages of heating and cooling, the thermostat also offers a Wireless Outdoor Temperature Sensor, which works well over long distances and is easy to install. The many ways in which the thermostat can be controlled are quite nifty among them a portable handheld controller and the "TotalConnect" system. The latter is part of a Honeywell suite of home automation / security tools that, once again, only trained Honeywell professionals are meant to install. While that aspect may be annoying, I suppose a whole lot of people may like the convenience of being able to use a Apple/Android smartphone/tablet applications as long as they can stomach the monthly subscription model that Honeywell is using right now. If I needed that kind of connectivity, I'd probably opt for something like the Ecobee Internet Thermostat instead since that unit does not require a $$ monthly subscription.
The installation of the Prestige HD thermostat is a breeze thanks to the easy-to-wire base that can be affixed to the wall before snapping the thermostat in place. The terminals are easy to use and well-labeled. These thermostats can also interface with humidification systems, dehumidification systems, etc. but you are locked into a proprietary wireless communications format (Redlink, a Honeywell-only technology) so you better like the external interface and/or units that Honeywell offers if you go wireless. But, I hold out hope that Honeywell will not only see the light and change its attitude towards the hands that feed them (i.e. customers) but that they'll also offer firmware updates so that these great thermostats can meet the needs of more customers. After all, there is a USB port to upload installer-menu settings, images, contact information, etc.
Update on 11/21/11: Honeywell has released a new Prestige series thermostat, the Honeywell YTHX9321R5079 Prestige® 2.0 HD which allows for more heating systems to be specified up front. Hence, if you go for that thermostat, you will not have to engage in the work-around I did. This is especially helpful for those who use deep setbacks since such setbacks may in fact trigger the Prestige to engage the 2nd stage heating system, turning on the fan potentially when you don't want it to. What is a bit ironic to me is that many vendors here and elsewhere are still hawking first generation Prestige HD thermostats for more money than their more capable 2.0 replacements.
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Bought this unit from another supplier about a year and a half ago. There are many things that I love about this thermostat. Easily read, great programming options, wireless remotes, and more. Recently the temperature readout has become erratic making the thermostat useless. Honeywell advertises a 5 yr warranty on this unit and provides a number to call for service. I called and was told that the unit can only be returned to the contractor that installed it. Even though the warranty specifically states that one can call the 800 number and have the unit replaced, Honeywell refuses to replace it. I informed them that I bought the thermostat on line and thus had no contractor. They are adamant about this item being a contractor item saying that only a certified contractor can install it. Garbage! I installed and programed this unit in 10 minutes. There is nothing different about installing this thermostat over a retail model. Just a marketing ploy! No where on the warranty does it state that the unit must be replaced by a contractor if defective. I have a useless $400 thermostat! My advise DO NOT BUY!!!!Best Deals on Honeywell THX9321R5000 Prestige HD Color Display Thermostat
Great overall thermostat, very full featured. Looks great on the wall as well. Nice bright color display, and easy to operate. Includes many programing options and even shows a picture depicting the temperature conditions.Honest reviews on Honeywell THX9321R5000 Prestige HD Color Display Thermostat
I've had nothing but problems with the unit. It looks great but can't keep a schedule without removing the unit from the wall and pulling the backup battery to clear it's cock-eyed scheduling. I've had to do this many times now. The problem is its internal clock and scheduling keep going way off. For example, it runs the schedule 12 hours off sometimes. Like when it's 4 pm and it's running the schedule for 6 am. I've confirmed the clock date/time and the am/pm times as correct. But internally it thinks it's another time other than what is displayed in the unit. And sometimes it doesn't clear old schedules. When you change a schedule, let's say from your Winter to Summer schedule, sometimes it's running the old schedule that no longer appears in the unit. I'm looking at what it's running at and wondering where are these temperatures coming from? There are no temps like this scheduled. Then I remember, that temp was from an old schedule that is no longer in the unit.Here's what I think is wrong:
1) The time you see displayed in the unit is NOT the time it uses to run the schedule. It must use a separate internal clock that isn't always the same as the time you see. When the internal clock is out of sync with the time displayed, you can't adjust it, except to kill the power to it to wipe the time, then input the date/time again.
2) The schedule you see is NOT the schedule it uses. It must use an internal schedule (same as the date/time problem above) that you cannot see and it isn't always the same as the schedule you can see or adjust. It seems to run old schedules that are no longer displayed but somehow are still in memory and you can't delete them. The best you can do here is pull the unit off the wall to kill the hardwired power and then pull the backup battery and let it sit for awhile. The unit still has the schedule in memory but this seems to help. But there's nothing else you can do.
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UPDATE
Still the same problem as above. And now it runs off schedule for no reason. For example, I have it set to turn on the air conditioning from 11 am to 5 pm seven days a week for the Summer. But the air turns on after 10 am (instead of 11 am) and shows the air conditioning temp I set for 11 am. I kept fiddling with this and can't seem to change this. I can't figure out why it's going off an hour early. I also confirmed the thermostat is off by 2 degrees. So if it's set for 71 degrees for air conditioning, it'll really be set for 69 degrees.
I really regret paying this much for a thermostat that can't keep such a simple schedule with an inaccurate thermostat to boot. It looks great with its HD screen, but that's all it does well.
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