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I have a feeling this review may be quite tricky to write... or at least quite lengthy. Not only do I have to include all my own personal points, but I also have to reexplain all the incorrect information given in the only other review for this item.
To start off... I *love* this thermostat! I've only had it for two days and the only thing that would change my opinion is if it randomly broke or stopped working -and based on my past experiences with Hunter, that is unlikely to happen. I owned an older Hunter thermostat, the 44260, that I bought back in 2004. It worked perfectly, was reliable, and was exactly what I needed and wanted. I used that from the time that I bought it in 2004 all the way until I sold it to my housemate last year (2011) for use in the house we shared, and it is still currently in use. To me, that says something great about Hunter's quality and reliability.
Now that I have my own apartment, it was time for a new model. I was getting annoyed with my A/C cycling on and off every 10 minutes with the 30 year old thermostat that came with my unit, so I started looking into new ones. I bought one model before this, a LUX TX-1500E, because of the consumer best buy rating and positive reviews. Unfortunately, when an HVAC tech came out to charge the freon in my central air, he also discovered that the LUX was not always engaging the compressor for the A/C, leaving just the blower fan running. He also added that the LUX thermostat I had bought was "not a good thermostat". So, I returned it to Amazon, and began to research again. Well, for some stupid reason, Hunter thermostats aren't as widely distributed as Honeywell, so I didn't really notice this new, redesigned series by Hunter until I went to the Lowe's web site. I am very glad I finally became aware that they had new thermostats out because not only is it the quality I've come to know and expect (versus Honeywell, who's quality seems to be declining rapidly based on reviews), but it's the best value for the money by far. My LUX was $33 refurbished from Amazon, and the only feature it had over the Hunter was a relative humidity reading. This was only $29 brand new from Lowe's! Already a better value because it's new and not refurbished, not to mention the nicer look of the unit and having an actual brick and mortar establishment to return to if I encounter any issues.
So, finally onto the functionality! Hunter has really made strives in the ease of use area, because this thermostat is a breeze to learn. Fewer key presses, leading to easier schedule setting is near the top of my list of favorite features... along with being able to turn the schedule off (while still retaining the settings) to operate it like a basic, non-programmable unit without having to worry about Hold or Temporary Override settings. Installation was incredibly easy as well! No more tightening screws down on top of electrical wire, hoping the wire doesn't pop out... these new thermostats have levers that you lift up. You just slide the wire in, then press the lever down, and it's tightened! *SO* much easier. Not to mention it includes a built-in level on the wall mounting plate, so you just level your wall mount plate, screw in two screws, and the thermostat just snaps right on top of it.
The new way of scheduling on Hunter thermostats may seem foreign to some (like davidg, another reviewer), but once you understand them they are actually quite intuitive and much easier to program. On older thermostats, you only set the start time on each part of the day, and it runs until the start time of the next scheduled part of the day. Hunter has you set start AND end times for two of the schedules, Asleep and Away, and only temperature but no times for the Home setting. At first glance, it may seem as though Hunter has taken away one of your schedule settings and left you with three instead of four, because there are only settings for Asleep, Away and Home. What has actually happened is this... your thermostat runs on the Home setting anytime the Asleep and Away schedules are not applied. Example... if you set the thermostat for Asleep from 10pm-7am, and then Away from 9am-6pm, there is a a gap in scheduling between 7am-9am. During this time, the thermostat automatically reverts to your Home setting. When your Away schedule ends at 6pm, it does the same thing... runs the home setting until 10pm, when it switches to the Asleep schedule. This saves you from having to program your "awake" and "return home" settings with specific times, because the thermostat automatically does it for you. I definitely prefer it this way, because it leads to easier scheduling and less key presses. (I know this may be difficult for some to understand... feel free to leave a comment on my review with questions.)
Another fun feature is the Home/Done button. It is mostly used as a "Done" button that immediately saves your settings as you change things within the menu or schedules -hence the "Done" part of the button. My favorite part is that if you wake up early or return from work early, you can just press Home/Done and with one button click, it automatically takes you out of your Asleep/Away schedule and reverts to the Home setting, hence the "Home" part of the button. Genius!
However, since davidg incorrectly talked of an "Away" button, I need to clarify and expand on this issue. THERE IS NO AWAY BUTTON. There is a button called "Save Away", which is something completely different from "Away". "Save Away" is basically a HOLD feature that most other thermostats have, but Hunter took it one step further and gave it additional functionality. Instead of just holding the temperature you set indefinitely, "Save Away" also asks you to set the amount of time you would like the temperature held for. So if you are going to be busy after work and home in 12 hours instead of 8, you can set your Save Away setting for 12 hours and it will go back to the normal schedule after that. Or, if you go on vacation, you can set your heat to a very low setting for the next 7 days, and it will automatically go back to schedule after that. Another option for override is simply using the +/buttons without pressing Save Away... this will change the temperature until the next schedule period arrives.
I also disagree with davidg on the readability of the display. I find the screen easy to read with an appropriate amount of contrast. I can stand in my living room and read it quite clearly on the wall, without any lights turned on and just the natural light from one small window about 10 feet away. If I sit down at my dining room table and I'm looking at the mounted unit from an angle, it is STILL fairly readable. The only time I would need to turn a light on to use this unit is if I wake up in the middle of the night when it is pitch black. (Even in a dark room with the TV on, I can still read it!) However, if you know you have difficulty reading displays that are not backlit, or if your vision isn't that great to begin with, spend a little extra money and get the next model up. The Hunter 44272 model is a mere $10 more expensive, and gives you a backlight as well as the ability to schedule Saturday and Sunday independent of each other, instead of grouped together. I don't even use my schedule on the weekends and a backlight isn't worth $10 to me... so I stuck with this model and I am extremely happy with my purchase. In the event I can't read it on the wall, it easily detaches from the wall mount, and can be programmed while you are holding it your hands and returned to the wall after. (These instructions are detailed in the owner's manual -they call it "Armchair Programming". Old people must love it! Haha)
Finally, you don't have to hit Home/Done every time you finish setting something, as davidg implied. If you are overriding the temperature, just use +/buttons and you will see the "Set To" temperature blinking. Once you stop adjusting, it will blink for another 10 seconds so you can review your setting, and then save automatically. Pressing Home/Done simply saves it immediately without waiting 10 seconds. While you are scheduling, it works the same way, with a longer delay. If you are programming your schedule settings and stop midway through, it will wait for 15 minutes and then automatically save your settings.
Another feature that I love, but not everyone may be looking for, is called Span. Similar to a Swing setting on LUX products, this tells your thermostat how much you want the temperature to change before the unit engages your HVAC system. It has settings for 1 (default), 2 and 3. It comes default to a Span setting of 1, which means that if your unit is to 72, it will engage the A/C when the room is 72.5 degrees, and turn off when it reaches 71.5 degrees. The manual says that a setting of 2 will impose a 1 degree variance, which is what most people are used to. (When your unit is set to 72, it will turn on at 73 and turn back off at 71.) However, it doesn't say exactly what happens with a Span setting of 3, but I am assuming it's 1.5 degrees -since the other two settings are .5 and 1. In any event, I love having this functionality because in my poorly insulated apartment, the A/C turns on and off constantly. It's a small apartment, so the A/C cools it down fairly fast... but then because it's lacking insulation, it warms back up fairly quickly as well. Now with the Span setting, I set it to 3 to have the largest amount of temperature variance before it engages, and I don't have to listen to the A/C cycling on and off as much as it used to. (This applies to your heat as well.) If you are the opposite of me and would prefer your HVAC to cycle often to keep a more consistent temperature, than you can set it to 1. (Or just not change it at all, because 1 is the default setting.)
Overall, this unit is fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone. Hunter is a great brand and has been around for many years, and I have had very positive experiences with their products in the past. This thermostat seems to be no exception... it has a nice, quality, solid feel to it. It is easy to use and operates the way I expect it to. Not to mention it is very nicely designed and has an attractive, sophisticated look to it. For $29, you will be hard pressed to find another thermostat that is brand name and has all of these great features! (As of 5/25, this unit is cheaper at Lowe's. $29 as opposed to the $37 on Amazon!)
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Well i must say the review written By B. Matthies sums it up. They explained it very well and in detail. I myself was tired of the 10+ wall unit with 1/2 inch of dust caked on it making my AC kick on and off every 10 mins and then also not being able to have an accurate temp reading. Took a little long than 5 mins to install but actual work was probably 5 mins. lol. as of 6/17/2013 this unit cost me 25 w/shipping. cheaper than going to lowes to get it. great buy great product!!!
Best Deals on Hunter 44132 5-Minute 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat, White
This thermostat worked great on my rudd heat pump system. Rudd wires up different from most thermostats and I couldn,t get some other brands to work, but this one is working great. Easy to wire up and easy programing.
Honest reviews on Hunter 44132 5-Minute 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat, White
I purchased to two more of these on Amazon after purchasing one from a home improvement store and liking it. Considering I had to purchase 3 all together Amazon's prices made it very reasonable. These thermostats are very easy to install and if you have a heat pump it is one of the cheaper programmables on the market. My thermostats are all programmed and working like a charm.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Hunter 44132 5-Minute 5-2 Day Programmable Thermostat, White
Thermostat is $29 for a programmable thermostat which is fairly inexpensive for what it does.
The good:
1) installs easily, the wiring connectors make quick work of the connection.
2) the removable thermostat body is handy for both installation and allows for programming the thermostat while sitting at your desk.
3) the dedicated buttons for "home" and "away" allow for one button when your schedule changes. so if you heat the house until 9am, but one day you leave at 7am, you can hit the "away" button on your way out the door and the heat will follow the "away" temperature program. likewise, if you arrive home early from work, during the normal "away" program, you can hit the "home" program and it will follow the home temperature and heat the house accordingly. one easily accessible button for each is the best thing about the thermostat.
The not as good:
1) the lcd screen is fairly small and dim, so some of the settings can be difficult to read
2) there are multiple programs per day (good) but there are only two different temperatures for "awake" hours. so if you like the heat really cranked in the morning to take the chill off, it will be the same after you get home, rather than being able to set it for say, 70 when you wake up and shower, and 66 in the evening when you're home. it's limited to one temperature each for the following: away, asleep, and home.
3) changing the temperature should be easy with the plus and minus buttons right out front, but the extra step of having to hit "done" after adjusting the temperature is not intuitive and parents and housesitters are likely to be shivering and frustrated if you aren't there to remind them of the extra step.
Overall for $29, it's a fairly nice set of features, with some idiosyncratic features that you'll need to keep the manual handy for, even if you're quite accustomed to programmable thermostats.
