A Good Thermostat is worth it!

[Green Horn]

Just bought a new thermostat yesterday and I can already forsee it paying for itself. :cool:

The old one, which came with the house was some cheapo mechanical type with the mercury inside it and everything. Seems that I could never get it to work right. I'm not an HVAC/ heating guy so this was figured out by trial and error. Some of you may have already known my problem right away. Our heat would constantly run in the winter time yet the house always seemed cold. It would run for like 5 min, turn off, then turn back on in about another 1-2 min. I did everything I could think of...adjusted all the register vents for optimum flow(s), kept the filters changed etc... Finally the damn thing would just lock up in the middle of the night and wouldn't even turn on unless I got up and cycled the thing on and off. Enough was enough...I finally went out and bought a nicer electronic one and got it all set up. To my surprise, the heat doesn't seem to be constantly running like it was yet my house is warm as can be. I can't wait to see my gas bill in a month. I bet it'll be much better. Just learn from my mistakes fellers and don't wait 3-4 yrs before you invest into a nice thermostat. Just think of the money I could have been saving. I know for my next house I'll probably go ahead and put a new one in right off the bat. :cool:

 

[Papakeith]

I've been thinking on getting myself one of them there doohickeys. This might be just the thing I need to go out and get me one.
Any features I should be looking for?

 

[Green Horn]

PK, stick with a name brand ie...Honeywell is well-known. They have all different price ranges and all different features. The big things I wanted (aside from just working correctly) were having a 7-day programmable setup and a LCD panel that lights up (so I don't have to wake up the whole house at night flipping on lights to mess with it. LOL) The wife and I went to Home Depot yesterday and set 3 thermostats side-by-side and looked at the features vs. price. We wound up getting the middle of the road one which will do all we need it to. Some of them get pretty wild with features. Mine was $79.99 and with what we all pay for gas now, I can easily see it paying for itself after my next gas bill.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Nope, your bill is going to be higher because the house is actually wam, now.

You really should have known....

:p

 

[Green Horn]

Yeah, you're right. I think I'll put the old one back in. Just think of the money I'll save when it locks up at night and the house get down below 60 inside. :laugh:

 

[Patman]

So did you have to move the bike out of the way to get at the tool box?

 

[oldguy]

We moved in our new place in July and I noticed that one furnace/AC was on a nice new programable thermostat but the other unit was on an old one setting is it. Well the unit on the programable never ran becasue the old fashioned one was always kicking in. I also noticed that the house was always cool even during the period we set for the A/C to be off while we were out because the old one never shut down and that one A/C unit was working 2X harder trying to do the work of 2.
I went to HomeCheapo and for $40 bought a Honeywell 7 day 2 program and sincronized the 2. The house is now always a constant temp throughout and our bills are far less then what the previous owner had paid on average both heating and cooling.
I really like to have a nice warm room when I go to bed but have it cool down thru the night and then 15 minutes before the alarm goes off the furnaces start and I have a nice warm house to get ready in. By the time Trudy leaves the house is cooling down for the day while we are gone. Usually I get home around 3PM but am busy doing things so I don't even notice the house is about 60 until the furnaces kick it up to 70 at 4:15 again
Great cheap investment as far as I am concerned.

 

[Green Horn]

So did you have to move the bike out of the way to get at the tool box?

What??? You think the bike is blocking the tools? C'mon man, I use my tools like once a year which is a whole lot more than I use my bike. :laugh: