As for my review:
My heat system is a heat pump system from the 80's add it was time to update the thermostat so i got on of these, it took me no more than 12 minutes to change the Thermostat. The little instruction stickers this one comes with are clear and easy to follow. . And the "alternative wiring" chart is really helpful since some of the wire names have changed but their function hasn't.
It is worth mentioning that there are default programming settings, based on Energy Star recommendations. I'm sure the summer settings would save energy, but they would not make for the house being very livable for us, as we prefer a summer temperature in the 70s, not 80s. I'll try the heating settings come winter, as they may be more realistic.
Once installed and working, the thermostat has a feature that ensures it reaches the right temperatures *at* the times I specified. It got it wrong the first day (it was a little warm when we came home), but by the second day it had adjusted itself to the conditions of our house, and now the temperature is very reliable, and very constant (does not swing at all). The thermostat does an EXCELLENT job of regulating temperature.
The touchscreen is crisp and responsive. I agree with other reviewers that the backlight needs to be activated by a touch anywhere on the screen, and not just on a button. (Doing so requires you to undo whatever your touch did.) Still, there really isn't much need to play with it once you've got it programmed.
On the whole it's a good unit. Honeywell's been in this business for a long time.
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Where this thermostat shines is its accuracy; it will hover more tightly around a given temperature. Example: say you set the A/C to 76 degrees. My old thermostat would let it warm up to 77, then cool it down to 75. Not this one. It keeps it on 76.It has one cool feature that many other thermostats lack: If you have the A/C on at night and a front comes through and the temperature in the house drops SEVERAL degrees lower than your pre-set temperature, this thermostat will fire up the furnace to keep you from waking up too cold. This is a separate setting, and you have to search for it in the manual, but it's there and it works.
The touch screen is decently sensitive and quick to take a setting change. As one other reviewer pointed out, it will light up when you touch it, but only if you touch it in the right spots (as opposed to anywhere on the screen).
4 stars and not 5 (2 reasons):
1) The user interface is a bit '90s/primitive, but definitely usable. But I'm a tech-type so I can deal with it, but this thing still confuses other users in the house.
2) It's a little too smart for it's own good: If I program my A/C to 70-degrees at 10:30PM, it's because I want to have the house warmer right up until 10:29 and 59 seconds. Well, this thermostat figures out how long it takes your house to cool (say 2 hours), and then it begins at 8:30PM trying to cool your house to 70 (so that the house temp. is 70 by 10:30 PM). That's not such a subtle difference. It means the A/C's cranking, freezing me out, 2 hours earlier than I'm ready for it. Maybe there's an override for this, but I haven't dug out the manual to research it yet. Workaround: Set it to 70 for a later time.
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The only installation issue was finding a short piece of wire to jumper the 'AUX' & 'E' terminal together and some start-up aggravation. I would look at my existing thermostat wiring and prepare better if I had to do it again. "The clarity of hindsight is blinding"When I first tried to program it, it would keep going on and off, resetting, etc; and then it just wouldn't work. I removed the thermostat to check the wiring, which was per the instructions. I remounted the thermostat and it's been fine ever since. Like one other reviewer stated, the interface is a bit archaic.
The instruction book and installation manual is for this model and the RTH7600D.
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This thermostat is a huge improvement over my old programable which was dying after ten years. Very easy to install with excellent directions even though the instruction sheet appeared to be from the previous years thermostat.The touch screen is bright and saves the turning on of lamps to view or change vs my old one that many times i used a flashlight to view or make changes.
It keeps the house right at the selected temperature as opposed to a +/1 degree.
It is so easy to use and make changes whether you want to change the program or turn it off or raise or lower the temperature.
I'd highly recommend this thermostat.
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