Quote:
Originally Posted by razor02097
The system is an air to air heat pump and is 11 years old. The furnace is almost 20 years old. Everyone I have asked has asked me back what is wrong with the mechanical thermostat.
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Well, obviously the fact that you can't do set-back is what is wrong with the mechanical one, what part of "set-back" do they not understand?
All the stuff that SH said is right, with the addition that heat pump thermostats will all have an automatic delayed-ON, so that intermittent power will not damage your heat pump equipment.
It looks to me like the least feature-infested model (AKA:"cheapest") is what you need. You do need the delayed-start feature, but the other features, probably not.
There is also the question of how do you use your furnace and heat pump?
I would guess that you give top priority to your heat pump because it is the cheapest to run, and if it can't supply all the heat you need when the temperature takes a serious dive, you switch on your furnace to see you through those extra chilly times... correct?
If that is the case, then getting a programmable set-back thermostat would be perfect... and keep the mechanical one for your furnace.
Or, another approach, if your heat pump has resistance wires for emergency heating, would be to de-activate the resistance wires (there's probably a switch), and use your furnace for that purpose (it would most likely be much cheaper), by using one of the thermostats that SH described in the third sentence of his last post, and using the "emergency heat" terminals to fire your furnace.
A pretty cool way to make heat, I think.
BTW, my experience with the programmable thermostats has been very positive, compared to the mechanical type. The first thing that I really enjoyed about them is that the temperature swings were much less noticeable on the programmable units. The set-back feature really does save money.
Oh, I almost forgot, a very important feature of the programmable thermostats is that if they fail, they always fail "OFF". There was a gal who lived down the street who came running over hysterically needing help with her furnace. Turned out that her mechanical thermostat failed, and failed "ON"... so her house had gotten heated up to about 120F degrees... everything was hot.... well, except for her.
-AC