Greybeard Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 Last night my thermostat quit working. I really liked the one I had because it gave me a daily reading of how much time the furnace was on. It also gave me a reading for Sunday to Sunday. It was a Hunter Energy monitor II. It was at least 25 years old. So I am looking for a thermostat that does the same. Does anyone have one of the newer thermostats that communicate to your wifi or phone that gives this info? Thanks.
RochesterRob Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 1 hour ago, Greybeard said: Last night my thermostat quit working. I really liked the one I had because it gave me a daily reading of how much time the furnace was on. It also gave me a reading for Sunday to Sunday. It was a Hunter Energy monitor II. It was at least 25 years old. So I am looking for a thermostat that does the same. Does anyone have one of the newer thermostats that communicate to your wifi or phone that gives this info? Thanks. I know a few people who have them and the common theme is that they are away from their homes quite a bit. The systems seem to work fine but I don't have any details to pass along at this point. Probably like anything else man made in that it is not infallible. I know I would like the comfort in knowing something was wrong early on to either get home to fix it or call somebody in. I just went through having a cranky furnace to start the season but with a new transformer all is good now. Furnaces are one of the most simple devices in a home so they don't tend to be very expensive in terms of labor when needing attention. Part and labor was 180 dollars. Not bad for a unit that is 20 years old and to this point has only required routine maintenance. I have some small electric heaters for backups.
teef Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 whe had two of these nexia run bad boys put in a year or two ago when we changed out our furnaces. they're trane furnace specific, so i don't know how much that helps. you can go online and determine when the heat ramps up and down, set humidity, check the 5 day weather forecast, know if the filters are old, etc. well worth it.
CookieG Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 I have a Peter Griffin thermostat. Its a nightly occurence...my wife turns it up before bed, I turn it back down 5 minutes later.
DC Tom Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 Got a Google Nest recently. Pricey, but nice, and easy to set up. Might be too much for some people, though - I bought it because it had features that filled a specific need in my household.
Alaska Darin Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 Talk to a furnace professional. Nest is notorious for burning out motors on older furnaces.
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 I put a Venstar in a few years back. In the App, it shows energy usage. Will need a "C" (common wire coming off transformer, usually blue wire) to power it. It's WiFi. Got it for about $175... Actually came from place in BFLo... I wanna say they are out of NYC and distribute from BFLo. The T-Stat shipped from BFLo: http://hvacrpw.com Cool thing, it takes an SDCard, doubles as screensaver and mini-picture frame. Venstar is HVAC contractor parts, so don't expect DIYer type customer support. YET, they are very good with engineering, support via email... There was a technical issue with using their file upload site, SDCard formats... So have some tech, IT ability. Here are the ScreenShots of App, all from phone I post on. Sorry for the file compression quality to get under Board Limits... Will show you more compressed screen shots of App once I block out a few things...
sherpa Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 (edited) I run our church thermostats, seven of them, from my home. Six of them are Sensi, (an Emerson product), used in all spaces but the main Sanctuary. The Sanctuary thermostat is a Honeywell product that reports energy usage each month. It's interesting, but doesn't have any effect on how I schedule it, since the desired outcome of a thermostat is to make the space comfortable, but not wasteful. I think the wifi ability is extremely important, at least in our application, because we have a number of people who use the facility and "adjust" the thermostat, which I can monitor and overrule. The rest of the data, I'm not interested in. Late edit. By the way, wiring a thermostat is quite easy, if you you know the color codes, but not easy if you don't. I've wired all of our homes and churches'. Edited December 5, 2018 by sherpa 1
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 (edited) 32 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said: Talk to a furnace professional. Nest is notorious for burning out motors on older furnaces. My furnace is 22 years old. Rheem. I never heard this about Nest! Glad I went Venstar route! But it's probably BS, bad Nest Press from idiots??? Unless the Nest is doing something crazy with an AC fan or furnace blower motor... The run, start capacitor is key!!! Here is my logic. On that note: The capacitor is tied to motor. Synced in layman's terms. So whenever one is getting a new (blower or AC fan) motor ALWAYS GET A NEW RUN/START CAPACITOR! Not sure how the Nest is "blowing out" motors. Has to be something else... Like motor just went bad... Out of chance, old... Then they never replaced run capacitor. Doing that would make it seem like the new T-Stat was the cause! Most people if needing a new blower motor, will replace the T-Stat. Not replacing the run capacitor will make it look like the T-Stat wrecked new motor. Not true!! I am skeptical that the Nest is doing any harm! Edited December 5, 2018 by ExiledInIllinois
Alaska Darin Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 3 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said: My furnace is 22 years old. Rheem. I never heard this about Nest! Glad I went Venstar route! But it's probably BS, bad Nest Press from idiots??? Unless the Nest is doing something crazy with an AC fan or furnace blower motor... The run, start capacitor is key!!! Here is my logic. On that note: The capacitor is tied to motor. Synced in layman's terms. So whenever one is getting a new (blower or AC fan) motor ALWAYS GET A NEW RUN/START CAPACITOR! Not sure how the Nest is "blowing out" motors. Has to be something else... Like motor just went bad... Out of chance, old... Then they never replaced run capacitor. Doing that would make it seem like the new T-Stat was the cause! Most people if needing a new blower motor, will replace the T-Stat. Not replacing the run capacitor will make it look like the T-Stat wrecked new motor. Not true!! I am skeptical that the Nest is doing any harm! "Some furnace boards have a watchdog circuit (think nanny-state) that monitors the power sine wave & voltage entering it from the transformer. The Nest takes a small snippet bite out of the sine wave. Some boards malfunction randomly when the power comes back to the board on the G wire. Give the Nest a common and it will lay off disturbing the power it passes" 2
boyst Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 I just leave mine set to 62 in the winter and off in the summer save for the 3 weeks of hottest days which it sits at 78. I spend less than 100 on power utility. Everything is electric. My water is 13.25 every month because I never use enough.
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 7 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said: "Some furnace boards have a watchdog circuit (think nanny-state) that monitors the power sine wave & voltage entering it from the transformer. The Nest takes a small snippet bite out of the sine wave. Some boards malfunction randomly when the power comes back to the board on the G wire. Give the Nest a common and it will lay off disturbing the power it passes" Thanks so much!!!!! One thing that freaks me out with the new T-Stat... Power loses. Thanks for the info! 1 minute ago, Boyst62 said: I just leave mine set to 62 in the winter and off in the summer save for the 3 weeks of hottest days which it sits at 78. I spend less than 100 on power utility. Everything is electric. My water is 13.25 every month because I never use enough. My natural gas bill last month was 31 bucks. I set mine to 68-70. Will go up this month though!!! :-(
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 Greybeard: Here are more of the Venstar App shots. Blocked out user names, not that it matters. Screenshot above I forgot to redact it... LoL... Oh... My setpoint is 3° south (cooler) in winter heating and 3° north (hotter) in summer cooling. I totally love this T-Stat. Makes it a digital picture frame w/SDCard and pictures added! Can control from anywhere in world. EDIT: Forgot to add... Unlike Nest. There is no battery back-up with this Venstar. I keep the old T-Stat (digital) a few feet away as a "check" and during power outages. Moved it to tucked away location, ran wire to furnace and can switch in the event of breakdown with main T-Stat (now the Venstar). So, you will lose line power when there is an outage. Now... That does not mean I couldn't add a UPS some where... But why? WiFi router would go out anyway.
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 @Alaska Darin That's very helpful information! Again thanks... But it gets me thinking (yes, that's dangerous)... Isn't there a in-line fuse on the transformer to the control board?. I know there is one on my 22 year old Rheem. A small, slow-blow, 2amp in-line glass automotive type (Cooper Bussmann #229) fuse. That should protect the board and blower! Those fuses are hard to find so I keep a bunch on hand! I wonder if that fuse was popping. Or worse, no fuse at all in-line. Something isn't right here! The circuit board (& subsequently blower on through the checks) is protected!
boyst Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 27 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said: Greybeard: Here are more of the Venstar App shots. Blocked out user names, not that it matters. Screenshot above I forgot to redact it... LoL... Oh... My setpoint is 3° south (cooler) in winter heating and 3° north (hotter) in summer cooling. I totally love this T-Stat. Makes it a digital picture frame w/SDCard and pictures added! Can control from anywhere in world. EDIT: Forgot to add... Unlike Nest. There is no battery back-up with this Venstar. I keep the old T-Stat (digital) a few feet away as a "check" and during power outages. Moved it to tucked away location, ran wire to furnace and can switch in the event of breakdown with main T-Stat (now the Venstar). So, you will lose line power when there is an outage. Now... That does not mean I couldn't add a UPS some where... But why? WiFi router would go out anyway. Why re you afraid to tell your location?
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 1 minute ago, Boyst62 said: Why re you afraid to tell your location? I am not. My bad. It isn't location, just user name, etc... Who knows, can get hacked. I actually forgot to redact some info in first screenshot.
Alaska Darin Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 https://www.businessinsider.com/nest-thermostat-problem-2014-1 1
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 1 minute ago, Alaska Darin said: https://www.businessinsider.com/nest-thermostat-problem-2014-1 Yikes! I almost went Nest!
boyst Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 (edited) 5 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said: I am not. My bad. It isn't location, just user name, etc... Who knows, can get hacked. I actually forgot to redact some info in first screenshot. I'm not scared. Hell my IP address is 192.168.1.1 Edited December 5, 2018 by Boyst62
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 1 minute ago, Boyst62 said: I'm not scared. Hell my IP address is 192.168.1.1 /rolling my eyes. I am just a Rube. But aren't IPs dynamic?
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