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I bought two of these--one to control heat and air (upstairs) and one to cycle the air in the house when downstairs gets too cold--the downstairs unit just controls the fan. They are easy to program and work well. When I got them and I found out they weren't tall enough to cover the junction boxes on the wall, I e-mailed the manufacturer from their website and they sent me two wall trim pieces at no charge.
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The Lux 500E thermostat is easy to install and easy to program. Can readily change set temperature, without opening cover, by pressing exterior up or down arrow [1 degree per click]. I rate it only 4 stars because it does not have a light and some display wording is too small, i.e., difficult to read. The wall plate cost only $2.00 and gives a nice appearance. I purchased both the thermostat and wall plate at same time from Amazon, but they were shipped from different locations; wall plate arrived a few days after thermostat.Best Deals on Lux Products TX500E Smart Temp Programmable Thermostat
These are great thermostats, however; I like the previous TX500 (no "E") models better as they toggle back and forth with a digital readout of the programmed temperature as well as the actual room temperature. My experience with Lux Thermostats is that they are easily programmed and are very affordable. You may also want to note that a thermostat with a back light might be handy which these do not have. The readout window is also kind of small so if you prefer large, you may want to consider this when making your purchase.Honest reviews on Lux Products TX500E Smart Temp Programmable Thermostat
I bought my first Lux 500 thermostat on a Sunday morning in January 1999 when it was 30 degrees outside and the existing Honeywell digital/programmable thermostat (roughly six years old) had failed. I was waiting at Home Depot when they opened their doors at 7 am, and choose the Lux 500 from their available inventory. The house has no A/C, only a forced air gas furnace. Installation was simple and, within an hour of leaving the house for Home Depot, the furnace was working again and the house was warm. Programming is easy: you turn a dial to select day of week and time, and programs for weekday, Saturday, and Sunday. Vacation Hold and override functions are easy to program and operate. The device uses AA batteries which I change out once per year in the fall.My only qualm lies with the issue of durability. After several years, the units seem to develop either short circuits or worn-out switches, in particular the on-off switch (which basically remains in the "on" position for the entire heating season and is switched back to "off" only once each spring, then back to "on" in late fall). The original unit began acting erratically after about five years of use. At that point, I found the Lux 500 offered online from an Ace Hardware Outlet store (roughly $26; Amazon did not yet sell them) and purchased TWO of them: one to replace the existing Lux 500, and one to keep on hand as a spare, having learned my lesson after my 7 am trip to Home Depot. Last year, I had to install the spare, since unit #2 stopped working reliably, so each of the first two units provided 4-5 years of service.
The current (third) unit, the former "spare", has been in place for nearly two years and the on-off switch is starting to "act up": you have to push it up and "jiggle" it to get the unit up and running, which makes me wonder if the switch contacts are wearing out, and/or not well made at the factory from the outset. One advantage of replacing with the same model--assuming it meets your needs--is that there is no learning curve, and installation is simply a matter of removing the screws that hold the base to the wall, and reconnecting the wires on the new unit in the same configuration (duplicating the original installation).
My only other hesitation about the Lux 500 is the lack of a backlit display. Outside of daylight hours, I have to turn on a nearby overhead light fixture to read the display or adjust the programs.
The bottom line: a good and easy-to-use thermostat for the price, as long as you don't expect 10-15 years of service from it. And given the reasonable price, if you buy one and like it, you may as well buy a second unit to keep as a spare, in case your original unit stops working at an inconvenient time. Just as people keep spare light bulbs and batteries on hand. That way, you can fix the problem instantly without having to learn a new system. In my case, since I've used a total of three units of the same model, even the holes in the base of the unit matched the drywall anchors on the wall. Installation was simply a matter of removing two or three screws, removing the old base, and inserting the new base using the same screws. Ditto for the control wires, which simply connect to the same terminal screws in the new base. After adding batteries, the front (display/control) portion of the unit then snaps on top of the base, and you're in business.
Four star rating, with one star deducted because neither of my first two units lasted longer than roughly five years.
Note for "green" customers: the battery bay has a warning sticker to use only alkaline AA batteries and not rechargeable batteries. So once or twice a year you will have to recycle or otherwise dispose of a pair of AA alkaline batteries. The owner manual specifically advises use of alkaline batteries only.
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