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Unfortunately, with the decision to purchase a programmable thermostat comes the obligation to learn how to program that new thermostat. It's like buying a clock radio and going online to find someone to help you figure out how to set the alarm time on it.

Every digital thermostat is different, and you need to find a 1-800 number in the literature that came with it to determine how to program it correctly.

Also every thermostat, whether digital or analog will have an "heat anticipator" setting that needs to be set. A heat anticipator in an analog thermostat is nothing more than a small electric heater that fools the thermostat into thinking the room is warmer than it really is. The reason for having a heat anticipator is that some forms of heating have a long residual heat time. For example, cast iron baseboard radiators will continue to convect heat into the room long after the boiler shuts down. The purpose of the heat anticipator is to heat the be-metallic coil inside the thermostat to fool it into thinking the room is warmer than it really is. That shuts off the boiler early so that the temperature doesn't overshoot the set point be as much as it otherwise would.

Another reason for having a heat anticipator in a thermostat is that the thermostat is typically centrally located in the house or zone being heated, whereas the radiators or heating ducts are located around the perimeter of the house or zone being heated. If the boiler were to continue firing until the temperature at the thermostat was at the set point, the room temperature between the thermostat and the perimeter of the house or zone being heated would be well above the set point. Consequently, the heat anticipator is set to shut the heating system off early so that the average temperature in the house or zone being heated fluctuates about the set point.

Now, your literature will tell you to add up all the amperage draws on all of the thermostats zone valves and everything on the 24 volt AC loop the thermostat is on to determine the heat anticipator setting. As of now, I have yet to find anyone who can explain why the heat anticipator setting should be equal to the current draw of the thermoatat 24 VAC loop. You're best bet is to simply set the heat anticipator setting lower if you find that your furnace is cycling too frequently, and to set your heat anticipator setting higher if you find too long a time between your furnace cycling on and shutting off.