Cheap Honeywell RTH6450D1009 5-1-1-Day Programmable Thermostat

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List Price: $69.99
Sale Price: $47.59
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This is a nicely designed unit, and the instructions are easy to understand and follow. However, the product description is missing an important fact in that this particular model cannot accept a power feed from the system, and therefore REQUIRES the batteries to function. If your home doesn't have a system power feed, this functionality is of course irrelevant; however for those of us with this feature, other thermostats are probably a better buy.

As of January 2011, the following Honeywell and LUX products on Amazon.com have the ability to accept system power:

Honeywell RTH7500D Conventional 7-Day Programmable Thermostat

Honeywell RTH7600D Touchscreen 7-Day Programmable Thermostat)

Lux Products TX1500E-010 Smart Temp Programmable Thermostat

Lux Products TX9000TS-004 Touch Screen 7 Day Programmable Thermostat

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I had to replace an older cheaper Honeywell that decided it didn't know what time of day it was.

I decided to go with this more expensive model-but I had reservations after having read some reviews and comments elsewhere where some people complained that the furnace was always on, or they were burning more oil or gas than before. . .

I found the reason--

It's called 'Smart Response Technology'

It's 'ON' by default if you do the quick DIY install.

To turn it 'OFF' you have to download the FULL MANUAL from the Honeywell site to see how to get into the ADVANCED Settings of the device. The pamphlet you get in the package is just your BASIC setup.

I bought the programmable Honeywell to control my oil usage and keep the furnace from heating the house in the dead of the night when everyone is in bed. And I would set the Program to turn the Furnace ON and reset the Temp back to 70 degrees at 7 AM. In short-The Furnace turns ON at 7 o'clock and in time, (20 minutes or so) the house gets warm.

What SMART RESPONSE does is uses an algorithm to attempt to get the house to the Programmed Temp BEFORE the Programmed Time. The result is the Furnace will turn ON an hour or more BEFORE the time you set to raise the temperature until it hits 70 degrees EXACTLY at 7 AM.

Okay-it's a nice, cute helpsy idea that I'm sure a Honeywell Programmer/Engineer is rightly proud of. Problem is, the Furnace is BURNING OIL when I don't WANT IT TO.

I didn't notice what the Thermostat was doing until late one night I was watching a movie real late-when I heard the Furnace go ON and STAY ON at 4:30 in the morning. And I was like: "WTF?" When I went to look at the Thermostat, it displayed: 'In Recovery Mode'

That was the Smart Response circuit attempting to ease the night-time temp back up to 70 degrees in time for 7 AM. Except that meant the thing was BURNING MY OIL AT 4 IN THE MORNING!! If I hadn't been awake, I would never have noticed this.

So disable "Smart Response". That way the Furnace only comes on when YOU program it to.

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I needed to replace my fifteen year old thermostat for one which was easier to adjust and change settings if needed. I chose Honeywell as they have always gave great life and service. I am using this on a steam heat system only, so I needed to connect only two wires. I did leave the jumper in as directed in the manual. I did power off my heating equipment (very important) we don't want surprises. This thermostat has a large display which can be back-lit simply by quickly pressing one of the control buttons. I only needed to program morning and night settings, you simply skip over the times you don't want to program. When in operation it displays both set temperature and room temperature. I would have to say it is accurate within +/1 degree as I compared it with three other thermometers. I installed the batteries before I attached it to the wall base and did all setting and programming ahead of time. The batteries are easy to replace when needed as they fit in a flip out holder from the side, no need to remove any covers or remove the thermostat from it's base.

Honest reviews on Honeywell RTH6450D1009 5-1-1-Day Programmable Thermostat

I replaced my RTH230B with the RTH6450D.

I have a forced air fuel oil furnace.

The old thermostat would turn on the burner and not turn it off

untill the air temperature rose one degree.

The problem is the burner heats the heat exchanger in the

furnace and the blower runs until it cools.

It would overshoot the desired temperature by 5 degrees.

This thermostat turns on the burner and turns it off even before

the blower starts. When the blower DOES start it blows over

a cooler heat exchanger. When the blower shuts off the

temperature is at the set temperature.

No temperature overshoot must mean I'm saving money.

PS: Backlit display (Push the left button twice to illuminate

the display without changing settings)

PS:4 programmable events each for Weekdays, Saturday and Sunday.

PS: Easy install... my setup needed only two wires.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Honeywell RTH6450D1009 5-1-1-Day Programmable Thermostat

The first RTH6450 thermostat delivered to my home would not let me enter the "auto" system mode. It would only switch from "off" to "heat" or to "cool". The programming menu skipped over this function (#12, auto change) during programming of the unit. The thermostat, although marked everywhere as an RTH6450, behaved like an RTH6350. It only showed weekdays and weekends in programming (Along with the "auto" function not working, it also didn't separate Sat and Sun like it was supposed to, per the package and the instructions).

After consulting Honeywell phone support and trying several things, I was told my unit was defective and to send it back to where I bought it.

The auto change feature is the main reason I purchased the RTH6450 instead of the RTH6350. Living in Tucson, AZ it's nice to have this feature in the spring and fall as you may need heat overnite and AC during the afternoon.

Update 2/23/12: I received the replacement unit from Amazon today and it works as advertised. I have weekdays, Sat and Sun to program and the auto function also was there when programming the unit. It would seem that the 1st unit that I received was mis-marked at Honeywell.

I have sent the defective unit back to Amazon using their return paperwork and mailing label that I did online. So...I'm not crazy...the thing was defective, whew.

FYI-I did all the programming of this 2nd unit, including the scheduling, while sitting in a comfy chair. All of the functions and schedules can be set once you put in the 2 AA batteries. Then after I was done, I plugged/pushed it onto the wall mount plate which I had already screwed to the wall and hooked up the wires.

Hope this helps.