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Forum Thread

Replacing the thermostat?

2,631 1,562 November 29, 2016 at 05:44 AM in Chat
Hi Guys,
I have the Honeywell Beutler 800 thermostat. Recently the screen said LO BAT. I have replaced the batteries w/ different ones. I read the notice inside the cover. The fuse is still intact. No matter what batteries I put in, nothing shows up on the screen. But the heater still seems to be able to be turned on (and off) manually. So I'm assuming the screen display has failed. So much for automated environmental controls.

So in researching online, I understand the thermostat can be replaced by one w/ "compatible wiring". Is this true or can it be replaced by anything? I'm wondering if anyone has ever replaced their thermostat themselves and which brand/models were used?
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Joined Jun 2006
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Zoe Moon
12-01-2016 at 10:56 AM.
12-01-2016 at 10:56 AM.
Quote from ikonoklast :
I have the ecobee3 and I like it a lot. 2nd sensor is a great feature if you have big difference in temperature floor to floor or similar. You can set it up to run your system based on one room temperature. I set mine up to run it based on the remote thermostat in my bedroom at night.

But I wish I went with the Nest because it looks cooler. laugh out loud

EDIT: Check with your utility if they provide any rebate for new thermostat install. Mine did but required professional installation.
We adjusted the Nest schedule to drop down at 9 pm then drop down even lower at 10:30 and have the temp come up again in the morning, before he gets up for work. DH keeps a tablet by the bed so if his schedule changes or he wakes early to go check a problem, he can adjust it from bed before getting up. It works really well for us. He also has the espresso machine on a smart timer, so when he does have to get up earlier than usual he can turn on the espresso machine to let it warm up earlier than usual. Glasses2
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Dr. J
12-01-2016 at 05:04 PM.
12-01-2016 at 05:04 PM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
We adjusted the Nest schedule to drop down at 9 pm then drop down even lower at 10:30 and have the temp come up again in the morning, before he gets up for work. DH keeps a tablet by the bed so if his schedule changes or he wakes early to go check a problem, he can adjust it from bed before getting up. It works really well for us. He also has the espresso machine on a smart timer, so when he does have to get up earlier than usual he can turn on the espresso machine to let it warm up earlier than usual. Glasses2

My Honeywell unit @ 1/3 the price can do 4 setpoints a day (for each cooling and heating); the same yours does.

How useful is remote monitoring REALLY? Also how is it important to fool with temperature from your bed? It's not like once you turn the heat up it happens immediately - still takes quite a bit of time for the heat to kick on, the room to warm up - do you wait 30 minutes for all that to happen after turning the heat up? How much does the NEST learning function really change once it's "learned"?
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Joined Jan 2004
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Iaaaiws
12-01-2016 at 05:19 PM.
12-01-2016 at 05:19 PM.
I remember when I was a kid if you wanted heat in the morning you had to get out of bed and start a fire in the stove and wait for the heat to spread throughout the house.
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Zoe Moon
12-01-2016 at 05:24 PM.
12-01-2016 at 05:24 PM.
Quote from Dr. J :
My Honeywell unit @ 1/3 the price can do 4 setpoints a day (for each cooling and heating); the same yours does.

How useful is remote monitoring REALLY? Also how is it important to fool with temperature from your bed? It's not like once you turn the heat up it happens immediately - still takes quite a bit of time for the heat to kick on, the room to warm up - do you wait 30 minutes for all that to happen after turning the heat up? How much does the NEST learning function really change once it's "learned"?
Clearly you don't know my husband. He wakes up and grabs his phone or tablet every morning before he even sits up in bed. laugh out loud

His job requires him to work some odd hours occasionally, which means he sometimes gets up earlier than normal or gets up during the night to check on things. It's nice for him to be able to bump up the heat from the comfort of bed before he checks his emails.

And our Nest can do as many set points as we want, it's not limited to four. Stick Out Tongue
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zzyzzx
12-02-2016 at 06:45 PM.
12-02-2016 at 06:45 PM.
I am on my second programmable thermostat in less than 10 years. When it breaks, the mechanical one that was installed in the house when it was new in 1950 is going back in. It still works, will probably never break, and doesn't require batteries.
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Bareborn
12-03-2016 at 04:15 AM.
12-03-2016 at 04:15 AM.
Quote from zzyzzx :
I am on my second programmable thermostat in less than 10 years. When it breaks, the mechanical one that was installed in the house when it was new in 1950 is going back in. It still works, will probably never break, and doesn't require batteries.

wow... that's not cool at all
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zzyzzx
12-03-2016 at 05:23 AM.
12-03-2016 at 05:23 AM.
Quote from Bareborn :
wow... that's not cool at all
What do you mean? I'm tired of having to replace my programmable thermostat every few years. One of them was an expensive Honeywell thermostat. At the GF's house a $200 Trane thermostat just broke, and it's maybe only 3 years old. I expect things to last longer than that.
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VorlonFrog
12-03-2016 at 07:15 AM.
12-03-2016 at 07:15 AM.
Quote from zzyzzx :
What do you mean? I'm tired of having to replace my programmable thermostat every few years. One of them was an expensive Honeywell thermostat. At the GF's house a $200 Trane thermostat just broke, and it's maybe only 3 years old. I expect things to last longer than that.
Iagree The old style mercury bulb thermostats [homedepot.com] worked for years and years and years. Then along comes technology, and it lasts about as long as an ice cream sandwich, but costs three-to-five times more. WTF is wrong with this picture?

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Last edited by VorlonFrog December 3, 2016 at 07:19 AM.
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ikonoklast
12-03-2016 at 08:29 AM.
12-03-2016 at 08:29 AM.
Old thermostats are great in terms of longevity, the one in my parents house is great because it is programmable with pegs. BUT you are throwing away money if you don't have a programmable thermostat. Sure you can adjust a non-programmable thermostat every time you head out the house but who does that, you are going to forget.

I had a simple on/off thermostat and I saw what the previous owner was paying for electricity in the summer (he had 3 years of bills in excel sheet). I think I cut that that bill in half if not more with an ecobee. It has already paid for it self which was $200 with tax.
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Dr. J
12-03-2016 at 11:27 AM.
12-03-2016 at 11:27 AM.
Some studies show that programmable thermostats actually save between 6.2 and 6.8% while a Florida study showed that people who had programmable thermostats used an average of 12% more energy.

http://www.norbord.com/na/blog/pr...save-money
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zzyzzx
12-05-2016 at 06:28 AM.
12-05-2016 at 06:28 AM.
My general impression of programmable thermostats is that they default to comfort over energy efficiency, and cycle my furnace way more often than I would like no matter how I change the settings. Even expensive programmable thermostats do not last very long, so price has nothing to do with lifetime. I also hate dealing with batteries. I only heat or cool my house when I am home so an on/off switch would work for me.
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Fallacy
12-05-2016 at 06:52 AM.
12-05-2016 at 06:52 AM.
Quote from Dr. J :
My Honeywell unit @ 1/3 the price can do 4 setpoints a day (for each cooling and heating); the same yours does.

How useful is remote monitoring REALLY? Also how is it important to fool with temperature from your bed? It's not like once you turn the heat up it happens immediately - still takes quite a bit of time for the heat to kick on, the room to warm up - do you wait 30 minutes for all that to happen after turning the heat up? How much does the NEST learning function really change once it's "learned"?
The Nest has some cool features, and some useless features.

Cool features:
-Remote monitoring. If I'm out of town, I can turn on the AC/heat when I'm about 2 hours away from home.
-Control from app or smartwatch (3rd party). I can be upstairs and too lazy to walk down to turn it on
-Auto away detection. Since it has a motion sensor, and I also have a Nest protect upstairs, if it detects someone home it turns on, if no one has walked by either sensor in some time it goes auto away

Useless features:
-Auto learning. It didn't learn my schedule well, I had to re-adjust it later anyways
-Filter change reminder. It doesn't work. It reminds me like 6 months later, when the filter does in 2-3 months

It's a cool toy/gadget. If the goal is to have the cheapest possible thermostat, don't get a Nest. If you like toys/gadgets that have some useful features, a Nest is awesome.
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DC
12-05-2016 at 08:10 AM.
12-05-2016 at 08:10 AM.
Quote from Dr. J :
Some studies show that programmable thermostats actually save between 6.2 and 6.8% while a Florida study showed that people who had programmable thermostats used an average of 12% more energy.

http://www.norbord.com/na/blog/pr...save-money
It's too bad that they didn't reference any studies in any other locations.

FLA is a hot and humid state as is the majority of the South.

A Survey of New York, CA and Washington would represent the 4 corners of the USA.

Throw in a southern and northern Midwest state for total of 6 different regions for a better comparison.

bulb
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Zoe Moon
12-05-2016 at 09:02 AM.
12-05-2016 at 09:02 AM.
Quote from Fallacy :
The Nest has some cool features, and some useless features.

Cool features:
-Remote monitoring. If I'm out of town, I can turn on the AC/heat when I'm about 2 hours away from home.
-Control from app or smartwatch (3rd party). I can be upstairs and too lazy to walk down to turn it on
-Auto away detection. Since it has a motion sensor, and I also have a Nest protect upstairs, if it detects someone home it turns on, if no one has walked by either sensor in some time it goes auto away

Useless features:
-Auto learning. It didn't learn my schedule well, I had to re-adjust it later anyways
-Filter change reminder. It doesn't work. It reminds me like 6 months later, when the filter does in 2-3 months

It's a cool toy/gadget. If the goal is to have the cheapest possible thermostat, don't get a Nest. If you like toys/gadgets that have some useful features, a Nest is awesome.
IIRC, you have the option of setting up the frequency of filter change notifications, we had to adjust it when we bought the nest as the reminder was too far out.

We turned the Auto away detection off but our situation isn't the norm. Since I have health issues I don't work and spend a lot of time at home on bad days and don't follow a routine while home it means I don't have a set schedule for it to learn from.
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Joined Jul 2003
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DC
12-05-2016 at 09:16 AM.
12-05-2016 at 09:16 AM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
IIRC, you have the option of setting up the frequency of filter change notifications, we had to adjust it when we bought the nest as the reminder was too far out.

We turned the Auto away detection off but our situation isn't the norm. Since I have health issues I don't work and spend a lot of time at home on bad days and don't follow a routine while home it means I don't have a set schedule for it to learn from.
DW is a SAHM and the MIL lives with us as well...so the learning when we leave (never) feature that some of the T-Stats have would be fairly useless as well.
From a Tech standpoint, I think it's a cool feature, but if you take 5 minutes, you can read and program your T-Stat and save the cost of the feature.
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