I did some research and was about to buy another Car***r brand touchscreen, but there were several concerned reviews, most notably regarding the lack of 'deadband' programming control (more on that below in this review) which led me to have second thoughts.
I studied many brands, and determined the Venstar 5800 was the way to go. Using their downloaded manuals and software I was able to learn how to operate & program this thermostat, save the settings and schedule (as well as screensaver images) to an SD Card before the arrival of my thermostat in the mail. It came within 3 days, which is faster than the 7 days estimated when ordering.
Touchscreen thermostats need a 'common' lead from the furnace/air handler unit transformer, to power the device, which I knew ahead of time. I also purchased 50 ft of Southwire 5-lead wire from Amazon. After turning off the furnace & AC power at the breaker panel, I ran the new lead wire from the attic unit, matching the colors. Using my existing 4 lead wire, I was able to pull the newly installed 5 lead wire down the wall from the attic. (If you cannot run new 5 lead wire, there is a Venstar Add-A-Wire 5 wire to 4 wire adapter sold separately only recommend the technical savvy individuals should install).
After a 5 minute swap of the old and new thermostat, by the time i returned from turning the breaker back on the thermostat was illuminated and ready in the OFF mode. I inserted the SD card, went to the "Menu>(page down)> Settings> SD card > Import settings from SD card" and selected all items. It recognized that a newer firmware was used to create the SD card program, and I had to accept to install new firmware before it would load the schedule and settings. It took a few minutes to verify, erase old and write the new operating system firmware.
To see something other than a thermostat box on the wall, it is a nice touch having the available screensaver photos. Plus the benefit of seeing at a distance what the set points, unit mode and if unit is operating or off. Brightness levels when not in use can be dimmed to not be annoying, particularly with a separate setting for night.
I am impressed with the smart fan feature, which makes it nice in a home with teenage kids who sleep with their doors closed. The fan can be set to run 5 minutes per hour (at the top of each hour). I started with mine set to turn on between the 9pm to 7am times, if the unit is not already running. This turns on only the fan to circulate air for 5 minutes, preventing a closed room from being stuffy or having an aroma from being closed up all night. I am sure in winter modes this is something I may turn off, but in the Gulf Coast regions of Texas it is 95% cool and only 5% heat over 12 months.
Back to the Deadband, it is the number of degrees that the thermostat waits before it initiates the stages of heating or cooling. Simply put, this is how sensitive you want the thermostat in responding to temperature changes to turn on or off the unit. In the other touchscreen Car***r brand it, was only offered in a FIXED deadband of 1ºF (+0.5ºF / -0.5ºF), which means my unit would cycle more times per hour than I feel necessary. Venstar comes with a default deadband of 2ºF (+/1ºF) which cycles the unit less frequently per hour. Extremely few individuals are consciously able to distinguish one degree difference in air temperature anyway. This deadband is user adjustable between 1º to 6ºF.
Other key features:
you can adjust the number of cycles per hour during the schedule, and
program a minimum compressor "off time" before it allows to restart. This saves your compressor from being hammered when trying to start too soon after being turned off. It's hard to start a compressor with pressure remaining in the lines from the unit being run recently. (This pressure bleeds off internally through the cooling lines over a 5 minute time span allowing the compressor to start without any 'load').
I am adding the optional outdoor temperature sensor soon, so it will also show the hi and lo outside temperatures on screen.
**Update **
The outdoor thermostat shows current, and then the hi/lo temperatures for the present day,
I also bought the $53 Venstar Wifi Internet Key For ColorTouch Thermostats that plugs in the side of the theermostat. It is nice to monitor & adjust home temperature remotely on iPhone. Simple setup and makes this much easier to adjust the preset program temperature if coming home early.
Also while away on travel, if freezing weather is immenent before you'll coming home, you can raise the temperature to protect pipes from frost.
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After using a Honeywell product on a new system I've got the 5800 up and running. The Honeywell with its "precise comfort control" was killing my compressor with too many start stop cycles per hour. With this unit I've programmed in a deadband of 2 degrees which has lengthened the on cycle.
Besides the functionality of the 5800 this thing is beautiful. The imported slide show is awesome. I had most of the configuration done and exported to SD card so by the time the stat arrived all I had to is wire it and insert the SD card and test the unit. I don't see how it could get any better....oh wait....Sky Port is coming online to allow for the the user to control the 5800 with an app from anywhere with internet access. an additional accessory to purchase.
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I have owned this for a month and the A/C does not kick on as much it used to. It is easy to adjust once setup. The setup could be refined but once you figure it out there is not much to it. Alot of reviews the people had issues with the common wire. Alot of installed HVAC units have extra wires on both ends. I used one of the spares and had it installed in 30 minutes.
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It is a very neat thermostat with some draw backs. It works great, is very easy to set up, and looks good on the wall. The screen is a little smaller than I thought, which is on me for not researching better, and is a little on the low res side of things. Also, in the six months I have had it, it's screen froze up and wouldn't accept new commands. The programming continued on however. I pulled the face plate off and reinstalled it and all work great. It has some big bonuses, including being recomended #1 by CR. Its easy to set up, and works as promised. The screen is disappointing though.
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After the purchase and install of the first Venstar, I was very pleased with the product and install. I purchased a second and, when copying the original settings I incurred a setup problem. I sent email for assistance and included my inquiry and phone number. As it was in the evening, I hoped for a prompt email the next day and was amazed to receive a phone call,within minutes. A very knowledgeable, friendly representative quickly diagnosed that the residential copy would not work for the second commercial setup and advised the change necessary. And, the rep stayed with me while the change steps were made. I was up and running in minutes after receiving the best support I have ever received. Wow!
