I need to replace my Central A/C Thermostat (controls the Central A/C) only. I’ve got a Honeywell non-digital type and it doesn’t seem to be very accurate. I was looking at some in the Big Box stores and I can’t get a handle on quality etc. From experience I know that some of their products have major brand names but aren’t of the best quality. What’s a good brand and where to buy it?
Thank You
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Replies
The last two of mine have been Carrier and I like them a lot.
Thank You.
Can you tell me where I can purchase them? I didn't see them in HD or Lowes.
I didn't see them in HD or Lowes.
And you won't, the big box stores only stock Hunter or Honeywell, or who ever wll sell at the price point demanded by the national buyer at the big box stores.
What you will likely need to do is to check with an electrical supply house, or an hvac supply house. You could also check with local hvac service outfits, too. They can occasionally surprise a person. Sure, you are looking at a 'service call; charge, but, that might only be $30-40 plus the stat. The stat used might still be a c-note like the 'high quality' jobs at the big box store, but it will be a better $100 spent than the markup needed for all those aprons . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
"Sure, you are looking at a 'service call; charge, but, that might only be $30-40 plus the stat."More common is a $75-100 for a service call, plus maybe $20-40 for labor, plus a markup on the thermostate.But looking at a BRAND is meaningless.I have seen some crappy mechanical with the Carrier name on them.I think that in this day any mechanical thermostat would be suspect and they are available through the supply houses for cheap installations.For example here is a White Rogers mechanical.4 degrees differential on cooling, 2 on heating.http://www.white-rodgers.com/wrdhom/pdfs/06_Cat_pages/Cat_06_pg0023.pdfAnd I doubt that this RoberShaw is much better.http://www.icca.invensys.com/robertshaw/900.htmBut they don't spec differential.That said I the 3 Honeywell units that I have gotten from the BB stores have worked very well. They ran about $80-90, but they are older units and the model numbers are differnt.I have had good luck with.
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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.
Thank You for your response.
My HVAC Oil Dealer installed a couple of Robert Shaw programmable thermostats for me Heating system several years ago and they have worked fine with the exception of the clocks that seem to loose a small amount of time over several months. They would provide the A/C thermostats too but I figured I could do it myself and save the service call $ and the time I'd have to be home to let them in. But I've procrastinated this long so I could just have them install it when the come for the annual furnace cand A/C tuneup and cleanout.
Thanks again.
You used the term thermostatS so I am an assuming that an hot water heat system that is zoned.But with AC it you might only have one and it might cover a house differently than the heat.But if you have one of the thermostats in the same general area as the AC thermostat in most cases the same stat that you now use for heat can also control the AC.Some of the cheap mechanical stats only do heating or cooling. But most of the programable ones have lots of options. To control both they might need to remove or add a jumper on the stat. And they might need to install a additional or new transformer and/or relay.But in many cases it all that is needed is to look up the wires.
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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.
Hello,
The Heat is forced hot water and is on separate thermostats ( one for the firsr floor and one for the second floor). The central A/C was installed after the Heating system and the A/C Thermostat is not located near the Heat thermostat. So unless I re-route the wires, which I don't want to do I'll leave the A/C on its own. The manual A/C thermostat seems erratic (maybe an adjustment problem) so I figure I'd just replace it. The HVAC folks that have looked at it say it looks OK to them.
I picked up a White Rodgers at an electrical supply store for around $44. Installtion was quite easy and it's working great. Temp seems very accurate when compared to the other thermosats in the house.
Thank You for your input.
More common is a $75-100 for a service call, plus maybe $20-40 for labor, plus a markup on the thermostate.
Places vary. Most of the HVAC guys here in the county also run a service side of things. The service side often will make cals ona T&M basis (the scheme being to get good work into the mind of the customer to "sell" other services like pre-heat/pre-cool inspections and the like). So, a $100/hr service call that only takes 15 minutes might get a person a $25-30 charge, plus materials. Or, does for me.
But looking at a BRAND is meaningless.
Well, that's the rub of it. I'm just not convinced the big box store buyers are getting better product. Servicable product, probably; higher quality? Dunno. Some make come down to what we want to describe as "higher quality" in a stat. I know plenty who are happiest with a round stat they can fuss with (since the entire family dials the stat to a differnt value as they walk by).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
"I know plenty who are happiest with a round stat they can fuss with (since the entire family dials the stat to a differnt value as they walk by)."Some of the digital ones have a lockout function. And some of them you can program in in a offset between what it measures and what it displays.Then there are alwasy the causes where the REAL thermostat is someplace else..
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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.
Then there are alwasy the causes where the REAL thermostat is someplace else
Ah, the callback-reducing "psychostat" <g> . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Slightly off-topic...Years ago I was flying 727s, there were a couple of flight attendants that would always be whining over the cabin temp. Frequent calls to the cockpit of "too hot" soon followed by "too cold."One of the guys I used to fly with finally got an old honeywell and stuck a piece of velcro on the back of it, the mating piece, alonmg with the t-stat, was stuck on the wall in the flight attendant's forward galley.No wires, not doing anything, just a dummy head.You guessed it, now that they had "control" of the cabin temp it was perfect all day long.CapnMongo
My first I got at a local harware store in the 1990's. The next was supplied by the dealer when my house was built, and the one in my current house I ordered off the internet.
What I like about them is they don't use batteries, so there's no risk of loosing heat and freezing pipes in the winter just because the thermostat battery dies. (I know you said you will be using yours for cooling only.) I also like that I can read the temperature without having to don my glasses.
Historically, I've sworn by Honeywell digital stats ... user friendly is the big reason. I've seen others that took a damn rocket scientist to figure out.
Forget 'accuracy' ... it means little. Any basic sensor will have a degree of inaccuracy of temperature. If you set yours at 70 and are comfortable and I have to set mine at 72, it means little.
Go for convenience of programming and day to day user friendly; if they aren't forget them. They aren't worth it for any savings in the world.
Mark Williams, HR,OR