Sunday, December 22, 2013

Buy Lux WIN100 Heating & Cooling Programmable Outlet Thermostat

Lux WIN100 Heating & Cooling Programmable Outlet Thermostat
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $37.97
Today's Bonus: 37% Off
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I use this thermostat to turn on and off an attic fan when temperatures get too high. I've found that every few months mine needs to be turned off and reset, or the fan will just run continously. This is no big deal for my purposes, but if you use it for applications where temperature control is critical for keeping animals or plants alive, check it periodically or buy a more expensive unit.

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I recently purchased two of these units to regulate the temperature in my bedroom and my living room. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment. The temperature readout is spot on and it's easy to program. However I do have two complaints:

1. The unit can only program weekdays and weekends. That means you can't choose a specific day of the week to program. For example, I am never at my apartment on Saturdays, however since Saturday and Sunday must have the same schedule, as well as monday-friday, I'm wasting energy.

2. In order for this unit to work, there MUST be a ground plugged into the outlet. I bought two "DeLonghi HHP1500 Mica Panel Radiator" heaters (they are amazing, I highly recommend) which don't have a ground. In order for it to work, I had to plug in an extension cord into the thermostat to trick it into thinking the ground was plugged in, then I plugged my heater into the extension cord and it worked.

Overall, I recommend the thermostat.

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I bought this for use in my garage workshop, to control a small gas wall furnace/space heater. The heater has its own thermostat, but it's not programmable and it's terribly inaccurate, prone to wide fluxuations in temperature. This device does a lovely job of keeping the shop comfortable when I expect to be there while letting the place cool off at night to save energy. It's lovely, and such a simple idea that I wonder who no other thermostat manufacturer seems to offer an equivalent product.

Honest reviews on Lux WIN100 Heating & Cooling Programmable Outlet Thermostat

The LUX WIN100 Heating & Cooling Programmable Outlet Thermostat is the perfect solution for heating or cooling one room. I purchased three (3) units: one for each bedroom hooked up to a small oil-filled radiator to heat the bedrooms in the winter. I don't like forced air heating because it dries out the air too much. This has not only allowed us to breath comfortably at night, but also cut my electric bill. Although we broke record lows this fall (avg of 30-40 degrees every night for the month of November), my electric bill was the no higher than an avg November. I was expecting a $200-$300 electric bill and it was only $150 for Nov. Not bad for an all-electric three bedroom home.

With the ability to program the temp for each day (four time settings for M-F, and four times for S-S) The Lux WIN100 Heating & Cooling Programmable Outlet Thermostat takes all the work out of remembering to turn on or off the heat (or air). For example, you could set the thermostat to 68 degrees at 9PM, 65 at 3AM, 72 at 6AM, and 60 at 8AM. This could be the M-F setting. You could set the temp for four different times for S-S as well.

Another nice feature is the ability to program the unit without having to be plugged in (armchair programming) thanks to the backup batteries, included. They are of the button cell type, and are supposed to be replaced every year, but I think I will just wait until they die. And last but not least is the "hold" button, which allows you to manually adjust the temp and keep it there, thus overriding the programmed temp settings. It will stay at that temp until you press hold again, thereafter returning to the programmed setting.

The thermostat is rated at 120VAC, 15A -enough power to run most space heaters or A/C units. The unit will operate manually operated heaters (not digital) and manual or digital A/C units if the digital A/C unit has auto on capability after power failure. The thermostat works by cutting the power to the heater/AC unit once the desired temp has been reached.

Thanks, Lux, for a great product!

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I installed 2 of these in bedrooms and plugged in electric heaters. They maintain the room temperature +1 degree even though I lower the central heating temperature to save money. Previously I used the thermostats built into Delongi oil filled electric radiators to control the room temperature. The best I could get was maybe +3 degrees. The WIN100 completely solved the temperature stability and targeting problems I was having!

The thermocouple and electronic thermostat in the WIN100 is much more accurate than the built in bi-metalic mechanical thermostats in most portable electric heaters. The bi-metalic thermostats had a scale of 1-6 and I had to set each heater to a different number to get the right room temperature. Also I had to bump the set point up and down depending on how cold it was outside. Probably something to do with varying thermal gradient inside the heater housing... anyway, inherent problem when the temperature sensor is next to the heater.

After installing the WIN100, the room temperature was completely stable!

Programming is straight forward. Typical for an electronic thermostat.

Heater set up suggestions:

1) Use oil filled radiator heaters for bedrooms. They are SAFE, QUIET and don't make drafts.

2) Set your heater for medium power, not high. Long, low heat input keeps the room temperature more stable. Lower power reduces the chance of overheating and fire if you have a slightly damaged wall receptacle. (If your receptacle is very warm to the touch, replace it with a new spec grade receptacle.)

3) Place the WIN100 on an outside wall. This is opposite what the user manual says, but it will give you a more stable room temperature. The apparent temperature for a person is a function of the air temperature (conduction & convection heating) and the wall temperature (thermal radiation heating). When it is really cold outside, the walls get colder and you need to bump up the air temperature to keep the room "feeling" the same temperature. Putting the temperature sensor on the cold wall gives you an automatic bump in air temperature as needed.

4) Put the heater away from the WIN100 temperature sensor. Put your hand by the WIN100. If you can feel the heat of the heater, it is too close.

5) Put the heater under a window. That's where most of the cold comes into the room.

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