We installed a new FA gas furnace, a Rheem 2 stage model. The contractor
installed a Honeywell digital, programmable Focus Pro TH6220 2-stage
thermostat.

We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room temperature.
Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the room temperature it
shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual room temp may be 70 but the
t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set to shut off at 74, the furnace
stops, although the room temp is only 70. It then keeps cycling on/off and
high/low until it reaches 74 degrees 2 hours later.

Honeywell has a good reputation. But, when I called them, the tech said that
it is normal for their t-stats to vary as much as 5 degrees from the actual
room temperature. He said this is normal for all Honeywell digital t-stats.
I told him this was ridiculous. The thermostat should show the correct temp
and it should not take 3 hours to bring my heat from 65 to 74. He said that
Honeywell digital t-stats do not have a heat anticipator.

Anyway, I was wondering if I can use my old single-stage thermostat with
this 2-stage furnace. I read somewhere that 2-stage furnaces have their own
circuit board and switch automatically from high to low heat, with or
without a 2-stage thermostat.

If this is correct, I could just pop in my old single-stage thermostat,
which worked fine with the old furnace. Why would anyone pay more for a two
stage thermostat for a 2-stage furnace, if the furnace will work fine with a
single stage t-stat?

Any input sincerely appreciated

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-

It's not a problem with your thermostat. There are things that can be done
to fix the problem. Call your installing contractor.

"Walter R." wrote in message
...
We installed a new FA gas furnace, a Rheem 2 stage model. The contractor
installed a Honeywell digital, programmable Focus Pro TH6220 2-stage
thermostat.

We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room
temperature.
Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the room temperature
it
shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual room temp may be 70 but the
t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set to shut off at 74, the furnace
stops, although the room temp is only 70. It then keeps cycling on/off and
high/low until it reaches 74 degrees 2 hours later.

Honeywell has a good reputation. But, when I called them, the tech said
that
it is normal for their t-stats to vary as much as 5 degrees from the
actual
room temperature. He said this is normal for all Honeywell digital
t-stats.
I told him this was ridiculous. The thermostat should show the correct
temp
and it should not take 3 hours to bring my heat from 65 to 74. He said
that
Honeywell digital t-stats do not have a heat anticipator.

Anyway, I was wondering if I can use my old single-stage thermostat with
this 2-stage furnace. I read somewhere that 2-stage furnaces have their
own
circuit board and switch automatically from high to low heat, with or
without a 2-stage thermostat.

If this is correct, I could just pop in my old single-stage thermostat,
which worked fine with the old furnace. Why would anyone pay more for a
two
stage thermostat for a 2-stage furnace, if the furnace will work fine with
a
single stage t-stat?

Any input sincerely appreciated

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-

"Walter R." wrote in message
We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room
temperature. Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the room
temperature it shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual room temp may
be 70 but the t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set to shut off at 74,
the furnace stops, although the room temp is only 70. It then keeps
cycling on/off and high/low until it reaches 74 degrees 2 hours later.

Honeywell has a good reputation. But, when I called them, the tech said
that it is normal for their t-stats to vary as much as 5 degrees from the
actual room temperature. He said this is normal for all Honeywell digital
t-stats. I told him this was ridiculous.

My Honeywell does not vary even 1 degree. If it is still under warranty and
is truly off, I'd take it back for a new one. 5 degrees is too much, IMO,
in the digital age.

OTOH, how about the location? Is it being affected by either a direct blast
of heated air or something else that is giving it a false reading? How are
you getting the 70 degree reading? Hang a thermometer right next to it and
see the reading at that location.

You must be doing well if you can afford to heat to 74 degrees.

Walter R. wrote:
We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room
temperature. Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the
room temperature it shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual
room temp may be 70 but the t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set
to shut off at 74, the furnace stops, although the room temp is only
70. It then keeps cycling on/off and high/low until it reaches 74
degrees 2 hours later.

Either warm air is blowing on the thermostat or there is warmed air
leaking into it from behind the wall.

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"Walter R." wrote in message

We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room
temperature. Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the room
temperature it shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual room temp may
be 70 but the t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set to shut off at 74,
the furnace stops, although the room temp is only 70. It then keeps
cycling on/off and high/low until it reaches 74 degrees 2 hours later.

Honeywell has a good reputation. But, when I called them, the tech said
that it is normal for their t-stats to vary as much as 5 degrees from the
actual room temperature. He said this is normal for all Honeywell digital
t-stats. I told him this was ridiculous.


My Honeywell does not vary even 1 degree. If it is still under warranty and
is truly off, I'd take it back for a new one. 5 degrees is too much, IMO,
in the digital age.

OTOH, how about the location? Is it being affected by either a direct blast
of heated air or something else that is giving it a false reading? How are
you getting the 70 degree reading? Hang a thermometer right next to it and
see the reading at that location.

You must be doing well if you can afford to heat to 74 degrees.




My thermostat is in the living room. the house temperature was varying
strangly and I couldnt pin point the pattern. You can imagine me trying
to find the right face to hide my feelings when after this hard
diagnostic work my wife pointed out it was not a good idea to have the
TV right up against the thermostat...

--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16

On Fri, 03 Feb 2006 22:01:06 GMT, "Travis Jordan"
wrote:

Either warm air is blowing on the thermostat or there is warmed air
leaking into it from behind the wall.

When I changed to a digital thermostat I found a huge hole, obviously
more than was needed for a simple wire. The manual pointed out that
hot air from the wall will affect the thing, so it was patched.


Oren
"My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland
and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore
excused from saving Universes."

"Travis Jordan" wrote in message
...
Walter R. wrote:
We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room
temperature. Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the
room temperature it shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual
room temp may be 70 but the t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set
to shut off at 74, the furnace stops, although the room temp is only
70. It then keeps cycling on/off and high/low until it reaches 74
degrees 2 hours later.

Either warm air is blowing on the thermostat or there is warmed air
leaking into it from behind the wall.

LOL. Reminds me of a call I went on one time:

Guy decides to move thermostat because he rearranged his living room
furniture and he has to lean over the couch to adjust it. So he moves it to
the end of the couch (he did a good job of rerouting the t'stat wire in the
attic). We get called out because it's not working right. It SAYS 72 degrees
but it's freezing (60 degrees) in the house. Round Honeywell. He has a
contract that covers t'stats. Our guy tells him that it's bad, so they put a
new one on. 3 different guys. 3 different times. 3 new thermostats. It's
OBVIOUSLY way off. "Must be a bad batch from the factory".

I got sent out. I took the took the t'stat off and notice a big hole behind
the sub-base. The guy tells me "I had a helluva time fishing that wire down
to the hole!" Then I noticed something metallic in the hole....

It was the damn DUCT!!! An inch away from the thermostat! Furnace would heat
up, fan come on, and the t'stat would jump 15 degrees!

DUH!!!

and I say DUH to the guys changing the t'stat, too! (2 of them are no longer
with us).

Most all stats you can calibrate the temp to your room-actual temp, and
calibrate temp swing. This is an installer issue , he should set you
happy, then you pay.

I was on call one night when a customer called and said the heater hasn't
come on in 3 hours. He said and parts of the house were really cold and he
has a contract, so I better get my ass out there. Drove 1-1/2 hours in heavy
fog. Get there and find 6 really fat people sitting around watching TV. It
had to be 85 in the living room. Turned the thermostat up, the heater came
on, told him there was nothing wrong, and if he has anymore problems to call
back.

"Dr. Hardcrab" wrote in message
news:HRQEf.987$xs4.333@trnddc01...

"Travis Jordan" wrote in message
...
Walter R. wrote:
We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room
temperature. Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the
room temperature it shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual
room temp may be 70 but the t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set
to shut off at 74, the furnace stops, although the room temp is only
70. It then keeps cycling on/off and high/low until it reaches 74
degrees 2 hours later.

Either warm air is blowing on the thermostat or there is warmed air
leaking into it from behind the wall.

LOL. Reminds me of a call I went on one time:

Guy decides to move thermostat because he rearranged his living room
furniture and he has to lean over the couch to adjust it. So he moves it
to
the end of the couch (he did a good job of rerouting the t'stat wire in
the
attic). We get called out because it's not working right. It SAYS 72
degrees
but it's freezing (60 degrees) in the house. Round Honeywell. He has a
contract that covers t'stats. Our guy tells him that it's bad, so they put
a
new one on. 3 different guys. 3 different times. 3 new thermostats. It's
OBVIOUSLY way off. "Must be a bad batch from the factory".

I got sent out. I took the took the t'stat off and notice a big hole
behind
the sub-base. The guy tells me "I had a helluva time fishing that wire
down
to the hole!" Then I noticed something metallic in the hole....

It was the damn DUCT!!! An inch away from the thermostat! Furnace would
heat
up, fan come on, and the t'stat would jump 15 degrees!

DUH!!!

and I say DUH to the guys changing the t'stat, too! (2 of them are no
longer
with us).

Walter R. wrote:

We installed a new FA gas furnace, a Rheem 2 stage model. The contractor
installed a Honeywell digital, programmable Focus Pro TH6220 2-stage
thermostat.

We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room temperature.
Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the room temperature it
shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual room temp may be 70 but the
t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set to shut off at 74, the furnace
stops, although the room temp is only 70. It then keeps cycling on/off and
high/low until it reaches 74 degrees 2 hours later.

Honeywell has a good reputation. But, when I called them, the tech said that
it is normal for their t-stats to vary as much as 5 degrees from the actual
room temperature. He said this is normal for all Honeywell digital t-stats.
I told him this was ridiculous. The thermostat should show the correct temp
and it should not take 3 hours to bring my heat from 65 to 74. He said that
Honeywell digital t-stats do not have a heat anticipator.

Anyway, I was wondering if I can use my old single-stage thermostat with
this 2-stage furnace. I read somewhere that 2-stage furnaces have their own
circuit board and switch automatically from high to low heat, with or
without a 2-stage thermostat.

If this is correct, I could just pop in my old single-stage thermostat,
which worked fine with the old furnace. Why would anyone pay more for a two
stage thermostat for a 2-stage furnace, if the furnace will work fine with a
single stage t-stat?

Any input sincerely appreciated

Hi,
You should be mad at your installer leaving the 'stat like that.

"Walter R." wrote in message
...
I told him this was ridiculous. The thermostat should show the correct
temp and it should not take 3 hours to bring my heat from 65 to 74. He
said that Honeywell digital t-stats do not have a heat anticipator.

Some of their programmable t-stats sure do have an anticipator circiut in
them. Mine does, a CT3500. The morning "wake" program isn't scheduled to
start until 7am, but the thing starts heating the house at about 5am (I'm
guessing) to get from the "sleep" temp of 60 to the "wake" temp of 70 by the
start of the wake program time. This feature can be turned off too.

I have a hot water heat system, FWIW.

Walter R. wrote:

We installed a new FA gas furnace, a Rheem 2 stage model. The contractor
installed a Honeywell digital, programmable Focus Pro TH6220 2-stage
thermostat.

We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room
temperature.
Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the room
temperature it
shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual room temp may be 70 but
the
t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set to shut off at 74, the furnace
stops, although the room temp is only 70. It then keeps cycling on/off
and
high/low until it reaches 74 degrees 2 hours later.

Not being familiar with that thermostat I can't say anything intelligent,
but Does it have an anticipator? Most thermostats have a tiny heater
inside to heat the thermostat so when the furnace turns on, it can
"anticipate" the rise in temperature without waiting for the air to heat it.
They are adjustable for different situations.

Al

Some electronic thermostats have a fixed, non-adjustable anticipator, and
some can be adjusted by entering the installer setup.

"Big Al" wrote in message
...


Walter R. wrote:

We installed a new FA gas furnace, a Rheem 2 stage model. The
contractor
installed a Honeywell digital, programmable Focus Pro TH6220 2-stage
thermostat.

We hate this Honeywell T-stat: When it comes on in the morning, the
temperature at the t-stat rises much more quickly than the room
temperature.
Because the thermostat is usually 4 degrees ahead of the room
temperature it
shuts the furnace off too quickly. The actual room temp may be 70 but
the
t-stat reads 74. Since the t-stat was set to shut off at 74, the
furnace
stops, although the room temp is only 70. It then keeps cycling on/off
and
high/low until it reaches 74 degrees 2 hours later.

Not being familiar with that thermostat I can't say anything intelligent,
but Does it have an anticipator? Most thermostats have a tiny heater
inside to heat the thermostat so when the furnace turns on, it can
"anticipate" the rise in temperature without waiting for the air to heat
it.
They are adjustable for different situations.

Al

What you describe is not the heat anticipator. The heat anticipator shuts
the heater off a little before the thermostat reaches the set temperature.
This happens every time the thermostat is calling for heat.



"Bob M." wrote in message
. ..
"Walter R." wrote in message
...
I told him this was ridiculous. The thermostat should show the correct
temp and it should not take 3 hours to bring my heat from 65 to 74. He
said that Honeywell digital t-stats do not have a heat anticipator.

Some of their programmable t-stats sure do have an anticipator circiut in
them. Mine does, a CT3500. The morning "wake" program isn't scheduled to
start until 7am, but the thing starts heating the house at about 5am (I'm
guessing) to get from the "sleep" temp of 60 to the "wake" temp of 70 by
the
start of the wake program time. This feature can be turned off too.

I have a hot water heat system, FWIW.