title says it all. I got an a/c and heating unit with a simple temperature controller, heat/cool switch, normal/emergency, and an auto/on switch. I'd like to install a programmable thermostat to save some dough on the electricity bill, since I am the only one in the place, and when I'm gone to work, there is no point in trying to keep the place a nice temperature.

how hard would this task be? What exactly do I need to get? I read somewhere that the number of wires is important, and I count 8 wires on the current thermostat, if that helps. I'm perfectly capable of reading and following directions, and I imagine this is a simple "insert tab A into slot B" kind of a job. Is that pretty much it?

5/9/2008 11:09:08 PM

Yup, just don't let the wires fall back into the wall. Then your life will suck.

[Edited on May 9, 2008 at 11:12 PM. Reason : hard]

5/9/2008 11:11:58 PM

its easy if you arent color blind

5/9/2008 11:21:00 PM

make sure you update your thermostat with the latest firmware before you do anything.

5/9/2008 11:40:15 PM

It's incredibly easy. Did it last year, took about 20-30 minutes.

5/9/2008 11:44:31 PM

Quote :

"Yup, just don't let the wires fall back into the wall."

agreed, other than that the wires are going to be the same, and if it isn't obvious the manual will tell you where to connect them.

5/10/2008 12:13:11 AM

well, apparently I have a weird as fuck thermostat. great

5/10/2008 12:20:43 AM

3 wire or 4 wire?

5/10/2008 10:47:51 AM

Consider marking your wires first, (i.e., RH, etc) - just in case. Sometimes the color coding to location is, shall we say, poor.

Otherwise, it's a pretty trivial task.

Edit: If you have a "weird" thermostat, are you sure you don't have a heat pump? You can't put a standard thermostat replacement on one of those - you'd need one designed for a heat pump.

[Edited on May 10, 2008 at 11:29 AM. Reason : .]

5/10/2008 11:29:00 AM