Thermostats
A thermostat is not done until someone can drive it
Simple programmable models to advanced smart thermostats that learn your schedule and can be controlled remotely, installed and wired for the equipment you actually have, then explained before we leave.
Chapter 01
A smart thermostat on a two stage system, and why the wiring matters
A two stage furnace or heat pump asks a thermostat to do more than turn a single relay on and off. It has to know the difference between a mild call for heat and a real one, and stage the equipment accordingly, which only works if the wiring behind the wall plate actually supports it. A smart thermostat dropped onto two stage equipment with single stage wiring will run, but it will not do the job it was bought for.
That is the part of the install that does not show up in the box or the app. We confirm what the equipment can actually do before the thermostat goes on the wall, so the staging, the humidity control and the remote scheduling all work the way the thermostat's own marketing says they should.
Honeywell Home ProSeries smart thermostat mounted on a wall with the screen lit
Zoning is a duct problem before it is a control problem
A homeowner who wants one room warmer and another cooler usually starts by asking about a thermostat. Most of the time the real answer is in the ductwork, not the control on the wall. Dampers, duct sizing and how the runs were laid out in the first place decide whether zoning will actually work, and a thermostat cannot fix a duct run that was never going to deliver enough air to a given room.
We look at the ducts first for exactly that reason. A zoning system installed on top of a duct layout that cannot support it just moves the complaint from one room to another instead of solving it.
Chapter 03
What we set it to, and why
The Department of Energy suggests 68F through the winter months and 75F through the summer, and that is where we start most programmable and smart thermostats unless a homeowner has a specific reason to run differently. On a two stage system or a heat pump, the bigger saving usually comes from leaving the setting alone rather than swinging it up and down through the day, since the equipment works harder to recover from a big swing than it does to hold a steady setpoint.
One of our reviews describes exactly this part of the job: an air to air heat pump went in, and Levi and Corey stayed afterward to walk the homeowner through her new thermostat so she actually understood how the equipment worked, not just how to change the number on the screen. That walkthrough is the last station on the install, not an optional extra tacked on if there is time.
Free quotes on thermostat and zoning work, and we walk you through it before we leave. Call (231) 888-0293.