E wrote:
Dear all programmable thermostat users/owners,

Hi, I am a college student who is doing a project about programmable
thermostats. I have difficulty to find people who use or own a
programmable thermostat, and I am so desperate that I am asking for
help in this group.


You'd find it easier to get responses if you had a webpage with the
survey on it where people could click of check boxes. Also, some of us
have more than one thermostat, which your survey doesn't accomodate. I
gave my answers for the one in my main location that I have used the
longest.



The questionnaire is mainly about your experience
and opinions about programmable thermostats. It won't take long to fill
out the questionnaire and I really really really appeciate your help.

Here is the questionnai

Programmable Thermostat Questionnaire (for users/owners)

1. What is the brand and model of your programmable thermostat? (You
can leave out the model if you do not remember)

LUX Ultra



2. How long have you owned or used a programmable thermostat?

20 years



3. What kind of features does your programmable thermostat have?
**Please select the following item(s) that are applicable by putting an
"X" at the end of the item.
(1) Ability to store and repeat multiple settings (e.g. weekends
and weekdays) X

(2) Manual override to allow you to change the current temperature
without affecting the daily or weekly program. X

(3) Ability to operate normally with a battery backup during a
power outage or a battery failure

(I've never seen one with a battery backup for a battery failure, nor
does the ability to operate normally during a power failure make any
sense, as if there is no power to the furnace the thermostat doesn't
need to operate normally) Some do have a failsafe mode, where if the
battery goes, it will maintain a fixed low temp, like 45, for heat
Mine doesnt have that.


(4) Ability to prevent unnecessary or unreasonable period of a
setting (e.g. a period of 1 minute)

(5) Digital Display X

(6) Keyboard Lock to prevent unauthorized changes to the
preprogrammed settings

(7) Multiple Temperatures Display (Fahrenheit or Centigrade)

(8) Multiple Languages Support and Display

(9) Low Battery Indicator that indicates whether the battery used
to hold the programmed schedule is low X

(10) Energy Monitor that keeps track of number of hours the
heating/cooling system has run for any selected time period

(11) Filter Change Indicator that goes on after a preset time
period to remind when it is time to clean or replace the filter X

(12) Temperature accuracy within one degree (plus or minus) X

(13) Instructions printed on the inside cover X

(14) Others: X

4. Please scale the satisfaction level of your current programmable
thermostat? (1 - Not Satified and 8 - Completely Satisfied) 6

5. What feature(s) do you like about your programmable thermostat? And
why do you like it or them? If applicable, please write the number of
the item in Question 3, and explain for each item.

Ability to set 4 periods that are independent for each day.



6. What feature(s) do you dislike about your programmable thermostat?
Why do you dislike it or them? If applicable, please write the number
of the item in Question 3, and explain for each item.

A little hard to program


7. If you think that your programmable thermostat needs to be improved,
what kind of improvements should be made?

Vacation hold. Some of the better ones now have this feature. It lets
you set a temporary temp that will expire in X days. So, if you are
away for a week, you can have the house come back to normal temps just
before you return. For an example of a really good thermostat that is
very easy to program and use, look at the Honwywell Vision Pro 8000.



8. Please scale (between 1 and 10) the importance of the following
requirements of a programmable thermostat: (1 - Least Important and 8
- Most Important)
** Please put the number at the end of the item.


· High Task efficiency No idea what this means BTW, is it 1-8, or 1-10?
· Low Error rates Not clear what this means either Errors programmingit, or errors maintaining temp?

· Fast recovery time This is a function of the furnace, not the thermostat, unless you mean if it supports aux heat for systems like heat pump.

· Easy to learn 10
· Easy to use 10
· Safe 10
· Good physical design 10
· Good interface design (software) 10
· Durable 8
· Ease of maintenance 8
· Others:

9. How much time do you usually spend at most to perform a task, e.g.
to set a weekday program? 2 mins

10. If you can recall, how much time did you spend on performing a
task, e.g. to set a weekday program for the first time? 10 mins

11. How well (a scale between 1 and 8) do you know about your
programmable thermostat in terms of features? (1 - not well and 8 -
very well) 8

12. How much time have you spent to learn to use the features of the
thermostat that fit your needs? 1 hour

13. How much percentage (between 0% and 100%) of all features of the
thermostat have you learned using the time that you answered in the
previous question? 100%

14. Where do you use your programmable thermostat?
**Please select the following items that are applicable by putting an
"X" at the end of the item.
· Home X
· Office
· Others:

15. Please indicate your age range
**Please put an "X" at the end of the item.
· 15-24
· 26-35
· 36-45
· 46-55 X
· 56-65
· Over 65

16. What is your occupation? (If you are a student or a professional,
please indicate your specific area) trader

***Thank you so much for your time to answer this questionnaire. I
really appreciate your help!

Estella