Customer Ratings: 
List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $34.80
Today's Bonus: 13% Off
I purchased one of these about ten years ago. I bought it because I wanted something simple and reliable that didn't need a battery. Nor did I want something that required me to spend an hour with the operating manual learning how to use it. Since I had no interest at the time in a programmable thermostat, Honeywell's classic round model was a good choice.
It served me well for ten years. But a few days ago (during the height of the scorching Texas summer heat I might add), I arrived home one evening to find my place a toasty 89 degrees. My first assumption was that the AC compressor had died. I soon discovered that the Fan Switch on the thermostat was intermittent when in the "Auto" position.
After jiggling the switch several times it seemed to be working OK. But I awoke the following morning to a hot room, and realized I was going to need a new thermostat. Since I still have no interest in a programmable thermostat (or one that uses a battery), I decided that the simplest thing to do was to replace it with the exact same model and be done with it (or so I thought).
Although the new Honeywell model looks the same as the old one, that's where the similarities end. The old model was completely mechanical and had a mercury switch. The new one doesn't have a mercury switch. But what it does have is a circuit board and a lithium battery. A battery? I thought I was purchasing a simple mechanical thermostat.
Honeywell's outer packaging fails to mention anything about a battery. The only reference to it is in the owner's manual. And that's only to warn you that the lithium battery may contain perchlorate material, and that special handling may apply. In fact, there's no battery hatch on the thermostat, nor any screws that can be unscrewed to take it apart.
Although it might be possible to pry the thermostat apart, it's obvious that Honeywell never intended the consumer to replace the battery. I can only conclude that when the battery dies, Honeywell expects you to throw the thermostat away and buy a new one (the people in the marketing department at Honeywell must absolutely love this).
Further research suggests that the internal lithium battery may last ten years. But even if this is true, does it make sense to throw away a functioning thermostat just because the battery died? I don't think so. Some people have a mechanical thermostat in their home that's over twenty years old and it's still working fine.
Despite Honeywell's logic regarding the battery, I decided to install the thermostat anyway to see how it worked. First of all, the thermometer that indicates ambient room temperature was off by almost five degrees. I know this because I compared it with three other thermometers I have (both analog and digital) that are all within a degree of each other. This wouldn't be so bad if Honeywell gave you a way to adjust the thermometer, but they didn't. Thanks a lot Honeywell!
Oh well. What's more important it how well the thermostat actually performs. Since I conducted my tests in the summer, I have no idea how well the heat function works. But I can tell you that in the AC mode the thermostat shuts off a full four (4) degrees before it reaches the preset temperature (and there's no way to adjust it).
For example: I set the thermostat to 74 degrees, but it shut off when the temperature in the room was 78 degrees. I eventually had to set the thermostat to 70 in order to cool the room to 74. As a comparison, my old Honeywell thermostat and thermometer was accurate within two degrees of the actual room temperature. So much for new and improved!
I returned the new Honeywell thermostat and purchased a mechanical model made by White-Rodgers (model 1F56N-444). This thermostat is also mercury free. But unlike the Honeywell unit I returned, it doesn't need a battery.
After installation I noticed that the built-in thermometer was reading about 3 degrees high. No problem. Unlike the Honeywell that couldn't be adjusted, White-Rodgers gives you an easy way to adjust the thermometer with a screwdriver.
As with the Honeywell, I wasn't able to properly test the heat function of the White-Rodgers thermostat in August. But the cooling is accurate within two degrees and it works like it should. Even better, the White-Rodgers thermostat costs about 25% less than the Honeywell.
Pros & Cons for "The Round" Honeywell thermostat:
Pros: It has that classic round look.
Cons:
1. Thermostat is not accurate (off by four degrees in AC mode, heat mode not tested).
2. Thermometer is not accurate (off by almost five degrees and is not consumer adjustable).
3. It needs a battery (Honeywell doesn't bother to tell you this on the package).
4. Battery not designed to be replaced by the consumer.
5. When the battery dies, throw the thermostat away and buy a new one.
Final thoughts: Would I recommend a new Honeywell "Round" thermostat to a friend? Absolutely not! By the way, in the past these were made in the USA. But the one I purchased was assembled in Mexico.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
Since its introduction in 1953, Honeywell has reportedly sold more than 58 million of these T-86 round thermostats. That's an amazing number. And there's a reason they're so popular: They work, they're simple and they'll last a long time.
In Summer 2007, we had central air installed in our old house and the dealer wanted to put in a programmable digital thermostat. I loathe digital thermostats for a whole host of reasons but in this case, I didn't want a beige, chincey-looking plastic box hanging on the wall in my beautiful upstairs hallway. The dealer brought out a couple of these T-86 thermostats and I opted for the white (as shown here) for a couple reasons.
One, the white casing makes it much less obvious on white walls. That's a plus. The bigger selling point is the size of the numbers on the dial's face. The numerals on this model (YCT87K1003) are dark, large and well-spaced, making it easy to read both room temp and set temp. In an upstairs hallway with minimal overhead lighting, that is very important. In a house where two near-sighted, bespectacled and middle-aged people live, that is very important.
Another plus is that many of these modern T-86 thermostats (unlike prior models) contain no mercury. Another nice feature is the trim ring, which is very forgiving for installing into existing buildings (where cutting into walls is required).
You can probably buy a knock-off product for less, but speaking as someone with a background in architecture, I'd stick with Honeywell. They've been making thermostats since the 1880s when they started with the "Damper Flapper," a primitive switch-type mechanism designed for coal-fired furnaces that used a motor to open and shut the damper.
In my downstairs foyer, I have one of the 1930s Honeywell Thermostats, complete with its solid brass housing and the words "Minneapolis-Honeywell" on its front. More than 70 years old and it's still a dandy!
I highly recommend this contemporary T-86 Honeywell Round. It's been an industry standard for more than five decades. And the best news? The most recent information I could find shows that this product is "Made in America".
Best Deals on Honeywell CT87N1001 The Round Heat/Cool Manual Thermostat, White
DON'T !!! I'm sixty four years old and have installed a lot of thermostats. This one is such a piece of junk that I almost threw it away. The screws that hold the wires are so small that I had to use a jeweler's screw driver. They aren't strong enough to hold the wires. There are are these small non tapered screws that hold the circuitry on that are a fingernail longer that the recessed holes they go in which keep falling out and disappearing. A real frustration piece. This is not the Honeywell brand that I grew up with. This one and my last one were cheap crap. I will change brands next time.
Honest reviews on Honeywell CT87N1001 The Round Heat/Cool Manual Thermostat, White
I have four of the round Honeywell thermostats in our house built in 2005, three for zone heat and one for A/C and zone heat (#T87F 2873 3). Ours has the mercury bubble unlike some of the newer ones that are mercury-free. None of them maintain the temperature settings very accurately. For instance there were times when the thermometer on the thermostat showed 3 degrees below the setting but the heat would not come on; at another time the temperature might be 3 degrees above the setting but the heat would not shut off. My main thermostat is off by about 6 degrees but that varies from time to time. Sometimes the heat or A/C comes on and goes off 6 degrees from the setting, other times it is just a couple degrees off. We had the builder replace the A/C thermostat but the replacement acts pretty much like the first one.
The list price of $70 (as seen on an Amazon seller site) for the non-electronic thermostat is very unreasonable. None of the parts are made of material worth more than a few cents. I may be showing my age but it doesn't seem like too long ago when the round thermostats sold for $5.
The round Honeywell thermostats do last a long time because there is hardly anything in them to go wrong. The electronic thermostats that I've had in former houses have nice features but seem to last only a couple years before malfunctioning. Lightning or power surges or poor design must do them in. I give the round thermostats 2 stars at least because they last a while, though in my case, not very accurately.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Honeywell CT87N1001 The Round Heat/Cool Manual Thermostat, White
I bought this for the ease of installation as I am not very mechanically inclined. The directions were easy to understand and I had everything done in under 20 minutes. One of the things I like about it besides its price was the wall cover that comes with it and hides all traces of the previous thermometer installation.
