Thermostat Review - Hilarious

rooftop59

WHile looking at programmable thermostats I can across this review, very funny:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3IMEYJFO6YWHD/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00FLZEQH2&nodeID=228013&store=hi#wasThisHelpful

By the way, any one own a wifi programmable thermostat that they are happy with?

nspindel

I own 4 TCP/IP programmable thermostats, but they are not wifi. I've had them for many years, and am quite happy with them. They are from a company called Proliphix.

I had to run Cat 5 to each of the thermostats, and the ethernet runs all terminate at a Proliphix punch panel that supplies low voltage power over the unused pair (Power Over Ethernet). So the thermostats have no batteries that drain down to power wifi.

There is a web-based interface to program all the setbacks, home/away schedules, etc. My favorite feature about them is I can power down the AC completely if we're away from home for an extended period of time (e.g. a vacation) and then I can turn it on from my phone a few hours before we get home. I'd never power down the heat entirely because of the danger of the pipes freezing.

nspindel

http://www.proliphix.com/Collateral/Documents/English-US/NT20e%20Product%20Brief.pdf

rpf65

Recommend you look at the honeywells. They are pretty good at dehumidification, and much easier than the Nest to set up for on line use. Have been removing a lot of Nests lately from unsatisfied customers

thsmith

My god, could the Nest be any simplier?

JerryR1verz

I own a nest and I like it. I did have to work through a few small issues/ challenges but I am happy with it and plan to keep it. I have not heard of proliphix but will check them out. Thanks for sharing that. What are some of the complaints about nest/ why are customers asking to have them pulled out?

rooftop59

nspindel wrote: »

http://www.proliphix.com/Collateral/Documents/English-US/NT20e%20Product%20Brief.pdf

Thanks Neil I am going to look at them.

oldmodman

What's a thermostat?

When it's hot I turn on the window AC. When it's cold I put on a sweater.

We have no seasons here in Los Angeles.

pitdogg2

oldmodman wrote: »

We have no seasons here in Los Angeles.

sure you do its called fire season, rain season, mud slide season and then once in a while earthquake season....

nspindel

Hahahahah!

rpf65

JerryR1verz wrote: »

I own a nest and I like it. I did have to work through a few small issues/ challenges but I am happy with it and plan to keep it. I have not heard of proliphix but will check them out. Thanks for sharing that. What are some of the complaints about nest/ why are customers asking to have them pulled out?

One reason is they can't be used with certain systems, and a non-ac person put one on and decided a wire really wasn't that important. They can't be used with 2 stage gas furnaces, 2 seed condensers, or 3 stage heating systems. So we get called when the system isn't heating/cooling like it should, and replace the thermostat.

Another reason is people don't want to read the instructions and set it up for internet use on their own. The company that I work for has a policy of don't set it up at all. My job is HVAC, not internet support. We set it up, some lawyer will say we are responsible. It usually gets to them when they have to use the dial to highlite the thermostat name, and want something easier to get internet control.

Still another reason is these thermostats are really accurate. I've probably installed, or properly set up 100 of these things, and they are usually within a degree of being correct. You would not believe how many people think their $30 wireless thermostat isn't really accurate.

Another reason is it has no dehumidification capabilities. A lot of people in this area really like that feature, and when they find out the can't see a 50% humidity displayed, they want something different. The above covers about 20% of the complaints.

The biggest reason is because this thing actually does what it is advertised to do. It learns how you want your home conditioned. Believe it or not, many people hate this feature. They program it, and it ignores their program, because it figured out that they really didn't know what they wanted. These are the people who usually keep adjusting the thing because they're hot after working out at 8 AM, and at 8:22 they turn it down 4 degrees, and at 9:00 they put it back.

When they go to adjust the thing, it is already cooling, even though it is programed for a temp a few degrees warmer. They think it's broke, but it is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

I've personally been involved in all these examples, and get the same question. What other brands would I recommend. I say Honeywell. It's about $80 cheaper, easy to set up for the internet, and won't freak people out by figuring out what they really want. The added bonus is it has dehumidification capabilities, and they are 2nd best in this area.

Most people love this thermostat, but a few hate it. Part of my job is letting people know about other options, and this is probably the best that I know of.

Phatattack

Omg I'm going to purchase one tomorrow....... As if I should trust her! Lol

JerryR1verz

Many good reasons to pull them out rpf.

The issue I ran into was that I didn't hook up the common wire (potentially not needed). But the furnace wasn't running long enough to keep the battery charged. the result was that it didn't have enough power to run the wireless network in the device and it wouldn't light up as you came near it. I did wire the common connection to overcome this issue. ver 2 of the nest does have the ability to connect the * connection to a humidifier, de-humidifier, and some other features.

I did notice tho that when I hooked the * up to my whole house humidifier that when the thermo called for heat, the fan on the furnace came on right away as apposed to letting the burners heat the heat exchanger, theeen start the fan.

Thanks for the details and other thoughts!
JR

villian

Personally I would stay away from the Nest. They use FET (Field Effect Transistors) which are pretty susceptible to damage. Go with the honeywell from the review you posted, or something else along those lines. Also, make sure you can actually upgrade your thermostat to a more advanced one before you go buy it. Thermostat wiring is not standardized and comes in many forms.

thsmith

So, are the HW's learning like the NEST or do I have to program it?

I had a NEST in my last house, which oddley enough was a selling feature. It was just a standard AC and heating system.

WHen we moved to KS I bought another NEst (Gen 1) but I now have a new house with a Heat Pump with Gas emergency heat with an outside temp probe and the Gen 1 would not work.

I think the new Gen 2s will work but I open to trying something new as long as it learns like the NEST.

rpf65

thsmith wrote: »

So, are the HW's learning like the NEST or do I have to program it?

I had a NEST in my last house, which oddley enough was a selling feature. It was just a standard AC and heating system.

WHen we moved to KS I bought another NEst (Gen 1) but I now have a new house with a Heat Pump with Gas emergency heat with an outside temp probe and the Gen 1 would not work.

I think the new Gen 2s will work but I open to trying something new as long as it learns like the NEST.

Start with your heat pump. Your describing what we refer to as a duel-fuel system. When the outside temp gets to somewhere below 40-50 degrees, your home will heat with gas. Above that temp, and the heat pump will heat it. Heat pumps are actually more efficient at heating above 40 degrees than a gas furnace.

There are only 2 companies, that I am personally aware of, that make learning thermostats. The best known is Nest. The other is Carrier, who actually pioneered them under both the Carrier and Bryant badges. The better of the 2, beyond any reasonable doubt is the Carrier Infinity or Bryant Evolution versions.

The reason Carrier is less well known is that it only works with one series of furnace and one series of air handler. Air handlers are the inside unit in a heat pump system. If you happen to have one of those guys, and it will say on the front cover, keep it. The newer version is wi-fi capable, but you think Nest is expensive, your in for a shock.

The company I work for has not yet decided to become an authorized Nest dealer, so I will only confirm my personal experience. I have never seen/installed a Nest on a duel-fuel system. This is a completely soft ware based thermostat, so it may work, but I won't say absolutely. I will say that when the company I work for installs a duel-fuel system we will only install a Infinity/Evolution system.

If I find out about duel-fuel systems, I'll make another post on this thread.

thsmith

Thanks, DO not recall thinking the NEst was expensive. It paid for itself in one year in our house in Texas. I find I fiddle too much with a programmable thermostat and Nest really cut down on that learning my habits.

When I use the Nest compatibility guide based upon wire colors it says the Gen 2 is compatible.

PolkieMan

If I got a learning thermostat my wife would teach it how to waste more energy.

mark090852

I have two Nests, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. I love 'em. They both work as advertised. As an added bonus, they look very cool on the wall!

obieone

I work in commercial HVAC/R, and think the HW FocusPro6000 is pretty much the duct tape of controls. I can use these to get around any EMS/ OEM controller that is jacked up, and get the unit running, until proper parts are available.
Bullet-proof, too. I've had mine installed for 7 years, no issues. I can't say the same, for White-Rodgers, and the other brands.

rooftop59

obieone wrote: »

I work in commercial HVAC/R, and think the HW FocusPro6000 is pretty much the duct tape of controls. I can use these to get around any EMS/ OEM controller that is jacked up, and get the unit running, until proper parts are available.
Bullet-proof, too. I've had mine installed for 7 years, no issues. I can't say the same, for White-Rodgers, and the other brands.

That's good to hear. I ended up purchasing one of these to try: Honeywell RTH7600D http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FWZ7IW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I got an open package for about 40 bucks. I will hopefully get it installed sometime this week and report back.

rpf65

thsmith wrote: »

Thanks, DO not recall thinking the NEst was expensive. It paid for itself in one year in our house in Texas. I find I fiddle too much with a programmable thermostat and Nest really cut down on that learning my habits.

When I use the Nest compatibility guide based upon wire colors it says the Gen 2 is compatible.

Checked on the compatibility of Nest with Duel-fuel system. It is not compatible. The upgrade for the Gen 3 nest will make it compatible with most duel fuel system. It will say up to 3 heat/2 cool on the Gen 3. Again with Nest, it is always compatible with most type of systems described.

Again, one of the draw backs of the Nest, just because it looks like it will work with a given system does not mean it will. I know a cond complex that it will not work in, about 50 units, but the equipment makes them go crazy. The wiring compatibility chart says they should work, but they don't.

thsmith

Thanks rpf65! I will have to research when Gen 3 is available.

billbillw

I have a Honeywell VisionPro to control my variable speed blower and control humidity. It works great, but the one that my contractor supplied relies on some damn proprietary network interface called Redlink. So unfortunately, I haven't been able to network it in yet. I'm hoping to discover some kind of hack to allow it to hook up to my wifi.