Buy Honeywell RTH8500D 7-Day Touchscreen Programmable Thermostat

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List Price: $129.99
Sale Price: $129.00
Today's Bonus: 1% Off

I have both the Honeywell RTH7600D (bought at Costco for around $65 and packaged there as model RCT8101A) and this Honeywell RTH8500D. Both units are very good with the one major difference being the "Vacation Hold" feature; the 8500 has it and the 7600/Costco version does not. The programming interface is different as well, however, one is not necessarily better than the other. The 7600 unit is a little easier to program whereas the 8500 offers a shortcut that allows multiple days to be programmed at once. Since you'll likely program the unit infrequently, I don't think this should necessarily be a consideration unless you are an installer of these units where time is money; then the 8500 is the unit of choice.

The Costco version for me is going back because it lacks the Vacation Hold feature. If you travel or not at home frequently, the Vacation Hold feature allows you to hold the temperature, say, at 50 degrees for 10 days while you take off for a ski trip. With this feature, once the timed Vacation Hold is over, the thermostat resumes it's normal programming schedule. So, when you arrive home, the house temperature is at a comfortable level.

The Costco version allows you to manually override the program schedule, however, you must manually remove the override as well. Therefore, when you arrive home from your ski trip, you come home to a cold house and you'll need to manually reset the thermostat and wait for the house to warm up. If this is not an important feature for you or you're are at home most of the time, go for the Costco version and save about $40.

Otherwise, the RTH8500D is an excellent unit that has worked quite well for me over the past several years.

UPDATE: We recently (May 2011) installed the RTH8500D in our bedroom. The "click" of the relay contact when the thermostat calls for activation annoys my wife who has rather sensitive hearing. I contacted Honeywell and they said the clicking sound is unavoidable at the current time and suggested insulating the back plate of the RTH8500D with 1/8" Styrofoam to deaden the relay sound. I temporarily tried a thick folded piece of clothing material and I didn't notice any difference. After reading other Honeywell thermostat reviews, the clicking sound seems to be universal across many of their thermostats. So, if considering a bedroom application, you may want test the unit to ensure it's within an acceptable noise level .

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I had trouble finding programable thermostats that would control my split system Carrier heat pump. Honeywell has the installation manuals for every one of their units online ( I spent time looking at this unit's documentation to be sure it could handle my Carrier unit. Be careful, many Honeywell and other manufacturers have units that don't handle heat pumps, and some include "call a professional" in their instructions. Setup was a cinch and the ability to program temps for four times per day for up to seven days will save me money throughout the year. It's a simple unit, seems compatible with most systems, has some neat features like "vacation hold" where you can override all the programming and set a temperature to "hold" until you reset it for programming. You could be away for an evening or a month...it would honor the "hold" setting.

There are a couple of "if this...then that" instructions, but they're really well put. I did notice a poor rating on one of Honeywell's other thermostats because one purchaser didn't realize the difference between possibilities linked with "AND" vs. "OR". "And" means EACH MUST EXIST, "Or" means ONLY ONE OF THEM SHOULD EXIST. So, although the instructions are excellent, they must be read carefully before using the unit on a more complex system, such as a heat pump.

Only thing I'm not too happy about is the very short time the backlight stays on...barely five seconds. Unfortunately, in my house, the unit is mounted in an area with little natural or ambient light. I'm sure once the screen is totally familiar to me this won't matter much. But, learning the system and setting the various "System settings" takes reading along with the Installation Guide and the screen is constantly going black. Maybe I just haven't found the setting that lets it stay on longer...

I'm not experienced with HVAC. I'm a 62 year old woman/avid home "improver" and installing this in place of the 25 year old mechanical mercury stat was very easy...maybe 30 minutes.

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I wanted a touchscreen thermostat that accepted power from the furnace system so I didn't need to replace batteries every year. (It will run off of batteries if your system does not provide 24vac power to the thermostat; many were not originally installed to do so.)

This model has practically every feature you could want in a standard thermostat. It's easy to install with a bit of careful reading and looks great on the wall. I like that you can set a temperature range (disabled by default; must set an advanced option to enable) and the unit will automatically switch between heat and cool to maintain the set range.

Each of the 7 days of the week is individually programmable with up to 4 events (wake, leave, return, sleep). It offers advanced hold modes: 1) hold override temperature until next program event; 2) hold override permanently until canceled; 3) "vacation hold" for a number of days before automatically resuming the normal program.

Another advanced feature is the "recovery" mode, where the unit learns how long it takes to heat/cool the living space and it can turn on the heater or air conditioner early so that it reaches the set temperature at the set time. Cheaper thermostats only turn on *at* the set time and then the temperature has to catch up to the program. This unit can anticipate your needs, so if you want it to be 75 degrees when you wake up at 7:35, set the wake-up event to 75 degrees at 7:35. It takes care of the rest.

Highly recommended! I have three of these in my home, one for each zone.

Honest reviews on Honeywell RTH8500D 7-Day Touchscreen Programmable Thermostat

I replaced a 20 year old thermostat with this model. I have a simple gas heat / air conditioner. It took me longer to find he scissors to open the box than it took to actually install. I love that is actually comes pre-programmed with suggested times and temps. In fact, I left the Monday Friday settings as it. I did however purchase the oops-plate for this unit since the older one was larger than this one. Excellent product.... quite happy.

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I have a bunch of these installed in my rental properties and my primary residence.

Unlike the VisionPRO 8000 series, these lack the ONE feature that make this more useful than a much less fancy thermostat automatic air circulation.

In addition to the "AUTO" and FAN ON", the VisionPRO model has a third option called "CIRC", which cycles just the fans periodically. This allows multiple level houses to keep consistent temperature at all levels of the house instead of the basement being cold and top floor being hot without out turning on the heat or AC.

Another drawback is that the touch screen usually goes bad in the second year. I'm not talking about the LCD breaking, but losing touch sensitivity with certain areas of the screen where you can no longer get any response from a more frequently used button such as the "hold" button.

Other minor, but important features missing on this consumer version are the following:

Lack of remote sensor support useful if your thermostat hits the Sun light and falsely runs the AC.

No option to lockout the touchpad. Most residences won't use this, but a great option for public spaces or if you are sub leasing.

Lastly, the warranty is 1 year for this item through Honeywell. The VisionPRO model has 5-year warranty, but REQUIRES installation by Honeywell HVAC dealer to get warranty service.

Recommended if you just want a fancier thermostat, but buy with Amex card for 2nd year protection. Better yet, buy the VisionPro model using Amex and deal with Amex for warranty service for the card's maximum 3 years.

--- Update ----

More of my thermostats lost the touch sensitivity, but was able to fix it by taking the case off and re-inserting the thin/flat cable that connects the screen to the main board. For some reason, this reinserting reset the touch functionality and everything returns to 100% operations.

Dial 7625 - Ezi-Stat Evaporative Swamp Cooler Thermostat Controller Reviews

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List Price: $46.99
Sale Price: $32.21
Today's Bonus: 31% Off

I researched all of the available thermostats and controllers for swamp coolers and this particular model seemed to be the best solution for my "new" 1970s home. Installation was a bit tricky because the unit is pretty bulky and needless to say, there are a lot of wires coming into that single gang electrical box and this adds even more wires in addition to the included wire nuts. The electrical connections were easy to make but shoving it all back in the box takes some careful arrangement of wires. This thermostat works great, even though mine is mounted in a less than ideal location directly below the swamp cooler vents. I find that I can thermostatically control the cooler but have to set the temperature lower than what I want the room temperature to average. It favors low fan speed for economy, only rarely running in high speed for short periods of time. We are now comfortable and saving a lot of water and energy since even on 90+ degree days so far this year, the swamp cooler only cycles on for a few minutes at a time several times per hour, and we now just leave it on round-the-clock for comfort and convenience. My next task is to add adjustable "Up Vents" to each bedroom and the kitchen so I can control air flow to each room and keep my windows closed and locked.

Note that there is an automatic 2 minute pre-wetting of the pads before the fan kicks on but this only seems to occur when the swamp cooler is started up after being shut off for a period, and not when cycling on and off under thermostatic control. The pre-wet delay can be overridden too. The thermostat has a timer which allows for the swamp cooler to be either turned on or off 2, 4, or 8 hours in the future. This has little value for me, but I would have paid more to have true programability based on a weekly/daily clock.

One piece of advice I was given was to double check that the needed common white wire is present in the electrical box. The common wire is not connected to the typical rotary switch which I was replacing, but fortunately it was present in the electrical box, so I was able to easily connect it to my new thermostat.

This thing is nice! As a life-long AC user, maybe I can live with a swamp cooler after all!

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this unit arrived very quickly it was very easy to install even a beginner could install this controller I

would recommend it for anyone

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I decided to automate our Swamp Cooler(s) and found the Dial 7625 on Amazon at a good price.

Even though the unit is almost beneath the cooler outlets and therefore doesn't accurately control the temperature, it is still valuable as it pre-wets the cooling pads and detects if it needs to go on full or half power to cool.

It is easy to select "cool" instead of "auto" once the unit has done an initial cool down and in fact "cool' can be selected, then the timer set to run for an additional two hours. Although not fully automated, this process works well for us and is easier than clicking the previous manual switches. Nice product that fully met my expectations.

Best Thermometer Min / Max with Magnet | Sper Scientific | 736680 Deals

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The Sper Scientific thermometer is a 'recording minimum maximum' device in that the highest and lowest temperatures experienced by the unit are set by little 'floats' inside the glass tube. As the temperature rises, the mercury climbs (in the right leg of the U-shaped tube) and the float is pushed higher. The float remains in the highest position as the temperature, and the mercury, fall. The mercury retreats to and rises in the left leg to indicate the lowest temperature... and the float in that left leg will be remain at that lowest temperature reading.

The included magnet, attached by a cord to the thermometer, is used to reset the floats--hopefully after the user has marked down the readings.

This is solid instrument and I recommend it for back-yard weather enthusiasts.

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This is a clever device that uses two thermometers to record the high and low temperatures in a space like a greenhouse, or a garage, or a hen house. Little floats inside the columns are reset with a magnet on a string. I like it especially because it is such an elegant low-tech time-tested solution. It looks terrific and if you think you need one, get two, because you will want another one for sure.

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I chose this "old school" version over the many digital varieties because there's not much that can go wrong with it. The housing is fairly study plastic, so unless you hit it with a hammer, it's likely to last a long time. It's simple, easy to read, and it helped me get my plants in the ground earlier than if I had just listened to the weather reports, since it gave me a reading at the level of my raised bed garden soil. Since I'm planning on setting up a hoop house, this will be a great tool, not only for monitoring overnight frost, but also for peak temperatures in the summer when extra shade and ventilation will be required.

For more detail, check this blog post at The Zone 3 Gardener. Link:

zone3gardener.drupalgardens.com/content/min-max-thermometer-good-investment-your-garden

Honest reviews on Thermometer Min / Max with Magnet | Sper Scientific | 736680

the first did not have the reset magnet. i called the company and had a replacement within two days. excellant service

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After reading the poor reviews on the electronic remote sensor types, and experiencing disappointment with one I purchased, this seems to be an accurate though less convenient alternative.

Sometimes 18th century technology still serves well.

Review of Dimplex GDS20-1101MA Traditional Electric Fireplace, Mocha

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List Price: $459.00
Sale Price: $406.10
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

the mantal part of it is actaully solid wood, you do have to build it together but once its up its looks great and its very stable. comes up to about your mid waste, not very tall but it looks great for where i put it.

the heater works excellent. it says it heats to 300square feet and i agree with it. it literally will heat the whole house by itself. i live in a townhouse and it keeps the whole thing warm, especially the living room is nice a toasty while we watch TV.

also it is very presentable (the flame). its not over baring fire but its a nice decent little fire.

It makes our house look great and feel great.

recommend this item.

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This wonderful mantel fits perfectly within any living space. The simple design and finish makes a statement in a minimalist decor. The Mocha finish looks and feels like it should be sold in a high-end furniture store. The value and quality of this unit far exceeds my expectations.

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Nice looking fireplace and firebox flame was very realistic but didn't throw much heat. Two weeks later the firebox quit working completely. Not sure if the firebox not throwing off much heat was normal or if it was just on its way to quit working all together! Amazon arranged UPS pickup next day and refund was very fast. I ordered the SEI Cartwright Espresso/Slate should be here soon. Hopefully better luck with this brand!

Honest reviews on Dimplex GDS20-1101MA Traditional Electric Fireplace, Mocha

It was pretty much what we expected, except there was a good size dent in the front right side. We did not see this until we put it together and did not want to dismantle it to send back. It would be nice to hear from you to see if we can get some sort of compensation for that.

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I was amazed to find this fireplace at this price and ordered it right away. The finished product is beautiful! The color is rich and with the remote that's included it's so easy to operate! I put it together myself with my handy drill in about 2 hours. This is the best addition to my livingroom so far and I'm thinking about getting another one for my basement!

Reviews of Vinotemp VT-BC34 TS 34 Bottle Touch Screen Beverage Cooler

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List Price: $499.99
Sale Price: $455.99
Today's Bonus: 9% Off

I use this at my boutique and it serves its purpose. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 is because it takes a long time to cool the drinks. I have it set at 56 F but the drinks still seem closer to room temp than your avg cool.

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Cheap Sunbeam Microplush Throw Camelot Cuddler Electric Heated Warming

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List Price: $69.99
Sale Price: $54.48
Today's Bonus: 22% Off

I bought two of these for night-time television viewing.

One for him, one for me. He was reluctant at first. But with the three levels of heat, (mine always on high, his on low) it really made us feel cozy. And they fold up neatly and easily when you're done.

I know this kept us from turning up the heat on a few cold nights, they paid for themselves already.

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This is a very nice and plush blanket. It was packaged well and delivered on time. I washed and tumble dried immediately with no issues or complaints. Confident this will pay for itself in decreased heating bills. I recommend this product as well as seller.

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I really like this blanket because it is really soft and comfortable. However, it doesn't get as warm as what I had expected, even when it is on the highest setting...not sure how good it will be when Winter arrives (my house gets really cold)...

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My wife (and daughter) stay cold throughout the winter, so anything that helps keep the thermostat below 75ºF during the winter gets my wallet's seal of approval! It's so popular, on several occasions they have both tried to use it at the same time, so we bought a second (pink) one for our daughter. It's really cute seeing them both wrapped up for a night of movies.

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I bought two of these warming throws for my husband and me. His quit warming within a few months but we did get it replaced after shipping it off to the tune of $15 cost. Now that it is October, I got my throw out (the one that didn't break) and it won't warm. what is with this product?? They cost too much, cost too much to send back and they will not last!!!!!!!! Really disappointed.

Reviews of ProCom Radiant Vent-Free Natural Gas Heater - 6000 BTU

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List Price: $84.99
Sale Price: $79.99
Today's Bonus: 6% Off

This heater was purchased to replace a ProCom blue flame heater for a very small bathroom in an off-grid cabin. The previous heater did a great job for several years, and when it needed replacement parts, we decided to try the more efficient and safer version. It heats instantly and thoroughly in the 10/10 foot room. The low O2 safety switch works. We plugged the gap under the door, and after about twenty minutes it clicked off on it's own, which is an important factor for me. My only negative comment is that I miss the therostatic control we had on the other one. If that is important to you, I think the next model up has one.

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I had bought a bigger one and had nothing but problems with it! This one worked perfect from the first night, the circulation fans move the warm air around and my greenhouse stayed well above freezing. Very pleased with it!

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We needed something to keep the pipes from freezing in our basement when we went away and temperatures dropped. This was easy to install, is easy to use and the price was right.

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This little heater does a good job of heating our newly renovated bathroom with 12ft.ceiling.. There is no central heating system in this old house in New Orleans, and we rely on gas heaters to warm the house in the cold months. This heater is pretty, easy to light, and warns the space quickly. I am completely satisfied with. this order. I forgot to mention that I found the best price and the color I was looking for on Amazon.com. Local stores were selling 6,000 btu gas heaters for over $100.00 and only in beige.

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I orderede the Natural Gas heater but was sent the propane gas heater of this version. It seemed well constructed. So I ordered the Natural gas version again and I will return the propane version.

Review of DuraHeat DFA125T 125,000-BTU Kerosene Portable Forced-Air Heater

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List Price: $349.00
Sale Price: $302.34
Today's Bonus: 13% Off

i bought this heater to give my shop a quick warm up on the really cold days. after 15 minutes im warm and toasty. thing to remmber is make sure you have good ventilation when using this product. i would recomend this product to anyone who looking for a good dependable heater

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i bought this heater from a local dealer for more then i could of gotten it off here, my bad oh well its a great heater i run k1 kerosene in it and i have No problem with it stinking the shop up. works awesome, takes about 10 min to heat the 3 Stall garage up to 70 on a 15-20 degree day here.

Buy SpeedHeat Rugbuddy 370 Under Rug Space Heater, 5' X 7'

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I bought one of these early in the year & it has been a blessing in my old, drafty, under-insulated house. I don't need to crank up the expensive gas heating, but I stay nice & warm in my family room now. I am saving up to buy 2 more in smaller sizes for other rooms. The increase in my electric bill has been slight, but the decrease in my gas bill has been noticeable!

Plus my older cat loves it too! She just lays right down & goes to sleep!

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We bought our first rug buddy (5x7) for our baby's nursery and love it! It keeps his room warm (with a programmable outlet thermostat we also ordered) while we can keep our bedroom and the rest of the house cool. We loved it so much we bought a second one for our drafty living room. Guests always comment on how great it feels!

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This has saved my life. I live in a split-level house, and my entry levels are always too cold while my upstairs are always too hot. Speedheat has saved me by allowing me to just heat one room at a time...and you don't have to rip up your floors to use it either! just throw it under a rug, plug it in, and go!

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I have a large room on a lower floor that is always freezing. The mats really help. They do the job unless it's really cold and then I need a space heater as well. But it does a great job and exactly what I was looking for, I have 2 under a big rug.

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Since I live in apartment wanted floor heating I could take with me. This was as easy as lay down add rug, plug in.Waterproof makes it save for spills. Love it

Review of Friedrich Kuhl SS10M10 Window and Thru-Wall 9500 BTU Commercial

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There are two similar units that Friedrich introduced this year-see the review for the SS12M10 done by "obmot" and the review for the SS08M10 by "dub". Both of these reviews are detailed and reflect my personal experiences with the SS10M10. Now here is what I have to say: I bought two of these. One came with the compressor ripped off the mounts and had to be returned. The packing experts at Friedrich decided to skimp on the protection for shipping. Whoever was responsible for this packing problem may be unemployed. Judging by the few reviews that I have read the problem is persistent and will probably be corrected so Friedrich doesn't have to deal with so many returns. Because the A/Cs are very heavy and packed in a huge box returning the unit was not fun. I had to take the old unit in a taxi and it barely fit (even though I used a smaller box). One of the batteries that operates the controls died after two weeks; Friedrich was very nice and sent me a replacement for free and a back up for the non-dead unit. The unit is large and heavy for 10,000 BTUs but this can be considered a "good thing" in that the air throw is superior to smaller units and I intend to leave these monsters in my NYC apartment "forever". Also, the unit is very nice looking. The fan cycles on and off too much on auto. A steady noise is less distracting to me then an intermittent one. I switched to "continuous" mode and probably pay a few extra dollars in electricity. Both units cool very well and the EER is excellent. Both units are noisier than one would expect. You may have to shove additional foam to seal noise that leaks from the cracks in between the unit and chassis. While this is really no big deal, most people may not pay attention to this need and would expect such an expensive unit to have the noise better controlled by design and not by consumer intervention. One unit had a rattle problem with the plastic air vents. I solved it by damping the vent with a two small rubber pads that I had to stick in between the vents. The controls are good and extensive programming is possible-more than a normal person would ever need. The ability to shut out the display light is nice. The ability to dim the display to 20% is a good feature but not properly implemented because when the unit changes its cooling mode (automatically) the display brightens to full--try sleeping with the flickering between dim and full in a dark room-not very user friendly. I hope Friedrich learns from these new consumer reviews and improves the units as they are very handsome and have, for the most part, good build quality.

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the a/c works great , and most of all its very quite , and the energy saver is fantastic ,uses less volts & wattage , a very good buy