Skip to main content

Wi-Fi and Programmable thermostat

By

Control your Home Comfort with a Programmable Thermostat

This past week I bought a wifi thermostat to replace the programmable thermostat that controls the first floor of my home. During installation I found out that currenting wiring is not compatible with my new wifi thermostat. This is going to become a common issue issue as wifi thermostats become cheaper and more common in homes.  The big question is what is the difference between a programmable thermostat and a wifi thermostat and what is the benefit.
Programmable thermostats are a great way to help you save on your energy usage and tailor your heating and cooling to your needs.  Most programmable thermostats allow you to schedule a week schedule with 4 time point throughout each day. This allows you to schedule when your heat or cooling will turn on for during the weekdays and the weekends and at what time each day. The best times for the schedule to run would be before you wake up, when you leave for work, before you return home, and before you go to bed. Programmable thermostats give you an added level of control over standard dial thermostats that have one static temperature unless you change it on your own. Having to change the temp on your own doesn’t let you wake up to a warm house in the morning or unnecessarily heat a home when no one is home.
Wi-fi or smart thermostats are part of the connect home or the internet of things (IoT). These allow you ask smart hubs like an Amazon Echo or Philips hub or Siri to change the temperature of the room without ever going to the thermostat itself. They have the same features as a programmable thermostat like scheduling but in some cases also feature geo-fencing and adaptive scheduling, where it learns your routine.  Geo-fencing allows the thermostat to know when you leave your home or a pre-defined area, this will force it into away mode where it’ll use less energy to heat or cool your home. Once you get back into that area your thermostat will go to your home temperature allowing you to step into a warm home.

Thermostats like the Honeywell Lyric, the Nest, and ecobee all require a common wire to help to power the thermostat. Most older heating and cooling systems don’t have this wire, some do but may not be used prior to your wifi thermostat needing them.  The wiring for you heating or cooling system will feature anywhere from 2 to 5+ wires that control whether heat or cool air is called. Each wire controls something, for a system that is just heating you’ll find two wires that are being used the red and white wire. For heating and cooling systems you’ll more than likely see four wires being used the red and white for heat and the blue and green to control fans and turning on the ac.  If there is a fifth wire, that is the common wire. The common wire is there to help with the add electrical need of the thermostat. In some cases you can move the fan wire which is usually yellow or green to the common but the fan will continuously blow. If you are worried about installing a new wi-fi give your heating and cooling company a call to have them install it.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being More Energy Efficient in the New Year

By
What is your New Year's Resolution? Many of us make resolutions to lose weight, get that promotion at work, find our soul mate, or to save or spend less money in the New Year. If your resolution is the later a great place to start is your home. Some of these suggestions might involve an up front cost but will save you money over several years. There are many appliances, devices, and products that we use on a daily basis in our home that could be eating up your money. From your water heater, to your heating system, light bulbs, tv's, and other electrical devices. Water heaters are a great place to start, with a lifespan of 7-9 on average and taking up 25% of your home's energy consumption, an update could help to reduce your monthly bills.  When looking for a new water heater it is important to take in consideration your needs or demands for hot water. How many people are in your home, what type of fuel source do you have in your home, how your want your water to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The C-Wire

By
Smart Thermostats almost always require them. The internet of things is on the rise and one of the easiest and most useful applications of this is the smart thermostat. Popular smart thermostats that come to mind at the Nest, Ecobee, and the Honeywell Lyric most of these and other smart thermostats that come with WiFi. Installing these thermostats can be tricky due to the C-Wire or Common Wire. For thermostat installations you need to have a set of wires that run from your heating and/or cooling system to your thermostat(s). In instances where you just have a boiler or furnace without the ability to cool you see a thermostat with just two wires, red and white. If you have a cooling system with your heating system you'll most commonly find the thermostats using 4 wires. If you add a smart thermostat you're going to need a fifth wire, the c-wire. C-wires help delivery more power to the thermostat to power the Wi-Fi functions. Adding this wire can be difficult as it requ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Boiler vs Furnace: What do I have?

By
Boilers use Water while Furnaces use Air to Heat Homes. When the cold air hits and the familiar sound of the heating system isn't heard, it's time to have your heating system looked at and possibly replaced.  A common issue that comes about is what kind of heating system do I have, a boiler or a furnaces and what is the difference? Well there is a big difference between the two, first is the efficiency and how the each equipment heats the home. Boilers use water or steam, while furnaces use air to heat the home. This is where the terms forced hot air or forced hot water come from, as the system will force heated water through base boards or radiators or heated air through duct work. Boilers traditionally are more energy efficient than furnaces due to the delivery of the heated source.  There is a lower amount of energy loss from piping involved with a boiler than the duct work that is required for a furnace.  The energy energy rating fo...
Post a Comment
Read more