I live in the Houston area which means HOT & HUMID in the summer!
The digital thermostat (Honeywell) we have does not have a way for the ‘delta’ to be adjusted. If I set it at 75°, it will not kick on the AC until 77°. And, it does not shut off the AC until the temp is 73°. For this region, this is to large of a swing.
So, can someone recommend a digital thermostat that does allow for a ‘delta’ adjustment?
Thanks!
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Replies
What model do you have.
I have a couple of Honeywell CT3400A's which don't do that. Now the Hunters that I had was like that.
Now they have changed all of the model and names. But it had "smart recovery" or "adaptive recovery".
How this was a $80 setback and not just a "digital" thermostat.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I have just put in last fall a Honeywell th8321U and I have been just tickled with how versatile it is.
It is running a variable speed furnace and ac but it is intelligent.
Lot's of over ride ability to program whatever variables you like.
I don't like the screen intensity, getting old and creaky so I like bright light to read it but that seems to be about my only complaint.
Well, the manual on this one states "The termperature span is factory set and cannot be changed". It says it's set for 2° up and 1° down, but it acts like 2° up & 2° down for a 4° swing.
So, I want one where the 'temperature span' can be changed. I have always called this an 'adjustable delta'. Maybe that's the wrong terminology. Older thermostats had a sliding reostat inside to change the delta.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
The old adjustment was the "anticipation" adjustment. You might double check the manual for that term.
Here's the thermo s specs on this page http://customer.honeywell.com/honeywell/ProductInfo.aspx/TH8320U1008
It's showing 1 degree differential.
I'm gonna look a little deeper cause I have a old Jameson programmable? maybe 30$ at the time and it has adjustable differential of up to 5 degrees. It was a single stage.
Just curious now.
it does not shut off the AC until the temp is 73°. For this region, this is to large of a swing.
Sadly, too many of the stats will only say "in the fine print" that they work to 2º of indicated. Now, far too many of the Hunters will "go" ±2º in case you want "too wide a swing."
Almost all kick on early, and then "overshoot," as that's what the market testing tells them gets fewest complaints and/or returns.
Have you placed a (generally) accurate thermometer next to the stat? This can be fascinating to see the difference between even an $11 radio shack thermometer and the digital display on a high-dollar stat.
Wish I had better to offer you. I'm in very similar climate conditions, I find myself tweaking and over-riding the setbacks all cooling season long. I'm a tad inured to it, too.
One important thing is to make sure that there is no draft hitting the stat, and that it's not on a wall that has ductwork on the other side.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Yeah, I tested it with a mercury lab thermometer and with a digital thermometer with a probe. Both argeed at the +/- 2°. Thermostat sets in an interior room on an inside wall.
+/- 2° is fine for winter. Not worth a hoot for summer weather, at least here where the humidity is so high. And, lately we've been averaging about 200%! :(
Finally, after 18 years, I had to put a little F22 in one of my units. Bought the can 20 years ago and about half the freon has managed to leak out (of the can) in that span of time. Needed about 1 lb in the AC which ain't bad for an 18 year old unit.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
Yeah, I tested it with a mercury lab thermometer and with a digital thermometer with a probe. Both argeed at the +/- 2°. Thermostat sets in an interior room on an inside wall.
Doing better than mine--it reads 4º high; but is otherwise dead-on (luckily). Means having to have a "cheat sheet" handy.
Not much humidtiy relief only 90 miles from you, and maybe 150' in elevation change from Katy. Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Some of the fancier ones, such as the Vision Pro, you can program an ofset between what is displays and what is meausres..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Some of the fancier ones
Yeah, but never had a customer stiff me on a good one, just the cheap, if tough-as-nails, Hunter mounted on the hall wall . . . <sigh>Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Is the thermostat in a place in the house that gets a fair representation of the temperature? Not on an outside wall, not in the sun or a sun room, not being blown on by the HVAC, not in an area with poor circulation.
BTW, many thermostats stop working if the battery dies. If that happens during a freezing spell and you are away from home you'll freeze all your pipes. Probably not in Houston, but for others reading this, stay away from any thermostats that are battery powered.
This thermo I am talking about is the vision pro.
I sent of for a comment from Honeywell and this is the reply.
"Your thermostat is calibrated to hold temperature within one degree of your set temperature to maintain an even room temperature. Many people can feel a temperature change as low as two degrees. Since your Honeywell thermostat holds the temperature within +/- 1 degree, the room air temperature remains steady and comfortable. The accuracy of this thermostat is factory default set for +/-1 degree which cannot be changed or adjusted."
Also the response time on the reply was ? fast like less then 10 hours or so.
Another comment on this unit is when it cycles to hit the set point you can hear the contact being made, some might not like this but it doesn't bother me. And I find after some research that it's a heaver contact point that is necessary to prolong it's life. Which is part and parcel to the 5 year warranty.
Thanks Clay.
I guess they all want to save money by not building in a feature to change the delta. But, +/- 1° would work.
What's that old saying? Something about turning a bad feature into a good selling point?
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
Sometimes maybe but I would guess that with the new high tech equipment they would probably say we want it to stay in that supper comfort zone.
Cause with all the many ######s of code available to change stuff It would only have cost ? a couple of nano seconds of a programmer to click click.
As a nit nod mechanic that I am I would maybe not want it to cycle so much but they say? wear it out we've got more where it came from.