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[Mark Turner <jmarkturner AT gmail.com>]

Yes, automated thermostats are great! I've put one in in every home I've 
owned.

I put on in at my new home a few weeks ago. I bought the Hunter 
Auto$aver from Lowe's and wound up taking it back. I didn't like that it 
required batteries while the Honeywell models I've always used can use 
the 24v power from the thermostat wiring. I believe the Hunter unit 
required you to replace the battery every year. A minor thing to most 
people, sure, but as a geek I thought it was dumb not to use power where 
its available.

One feature my old Honeywell model had that my new Honeywell model 
DOESN'T have is a vacation feature. This lets you program in that you'll 
be gone for x days and at the end of those x days, go back to the normal 
schedule. Thus, we could use the vacation feature to save money while we 
were away and still come home to a comfortable house.

I could not find a Honeywell model that still offers this feature. It 
may be on the Hunter thermostat but I wouldn't know.

I also prefer the models with 7-days programmable, as my schedule isn't 
simply a weekday-vs-weekend thing, which is what the 5-2 or 5-1-1 
thermostats are designed for. A 7-day model allows each day of the week 
to have its own schedule, where the 5-x day models lump days together.

Most thermostats will work with most HVAC units, but not all of them. 
Check carefully whether your HVAC is supported before buying.

Oh, and Honeywell has all its product documentation online in PDF 
format. It has a great support website. I noticed Hunter shipped a 
product manual with some pages missing. Only when I check their website 
did I discover an important wiring diagram missing from the booklet I 
bought.

Installing a thermostat is a snap. Cut the HVAC power, pop the cove ron 
your existing thermostat, carefully label the wires, hook them up to 
your new thermostat, and restore power. Total time: less than 20 
minutes. All you need is a screwdriver.

Hunter thermostat (the one I returned):
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=90432-79-44550&lpage=none

Honeywell thermostat (the one I bought):
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=39500-74493-RTH6300B1056&lpage=none

Hope this helps!

Mark Turner
www.markturner.net

Michael Czeiszperger wrote:
> Has anyone on the list installed something simple to control their 
> house's temperature?  I've found home automation gadgets, but I don't 
> need to control the temperature via a computer, just something to set 
> one temperature for the day and another for night...  Any suggestions?