Heating & Air Conditioning Electrical Wiring

Recommendations for electric programmable thermostat?

5 years ago

We need a programmable thermostat. Ours right now does not use batteries and I want to stick with that. I don't want anything fancy (wifi, etc.). Just something simple that will bring the temperature up a bit during the day and down at night. Our house gets too cold during the day but I need the temperature down at night! Any recommendations? Thanks!

Featured Answer

mike_home

5 years ago

There are many choices for programmable thermostats with no WiFi. I would recommend looking at the a model made by Honeywell. The Honeywell-RTH7600D is a 7-day programmable which support heating and cooling. The Honeywell Home RTH8560D is very similar for a little more money. I would avoid the cheap $25 thermostats.

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Comments (7)

wdccruise
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
The Honeywell Home RTH8560D (aka Honeywell T5) programmable thermostat is recommended by CR.

I have the similar but more sophisticated Honeywell TH6320WF2003 (aka Honeywell T6 Pro) which I recommend. Yes, it's a wi-fi model but I've found that feature very useful. When I'm away I'll typically lower temperature significantly in the winter, or raise the temperature (or shut off the heat pump) when I'm away in the summer. When I'm ready to return, I'll reset the temperature back to the normal setting.

This summer I was away for 24 days and I was able to shut off the heat pump for nearly the entire time. My heat pump raises or lowers the temperature very slowly so I need to set the temperature to normal a couple days before I return.
mike_home
5 years ago
Is this thermostat for electric base board heating, or something else?
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Dyan Weis
Original Author
5 years ago
Just regular air conditioner and furnace. No baseboard heating.
mtvhike
5 years ago
Do the wires from the AC and furnace already exist and do they have a "C" wire for power? When I installed a programmable thermostat for my boiler only (no AC), I discovered there were only two wires, so I had to use a battery powered one. If I had had time, I could have run a third wire behind the wall down to the boiler, but never got around to it.
Dyan Weis
Original Author
5 years ago
No idea - I will have to ask my husband!
wdccruise
5 years ago
The Honeywell Home RTH8560D does not require a C-wire as it can operate off a battery. However the fact that the current thermostat does not require a battery makes it likely that there is a C-wire.