I don't understand the set-points on my programmable thermostat

My thermostat has "Heat" and "Cool" settings.

I want the thermostat to COOL the house when the temperature is above 80°.

I want the thermostat to HEAT the house when the temperature is below 70°.

What should the "COOL" and the "HEAT" set-points be?

GARYWC wrote :
I don't understand the set-points on my programmable thermostat

My thermostat has "Heat" and "Cool" settings.

I want the thermostat to COOL the house when the temperature is above 80°.

I want the thermostat to HEAT the house when the temperature is below 70°.

What should the "COOL" and the "HEAT" set-points be?

80 for cool and 70 for heat. You might want a two degree plus or minus
if it has that option so that the furnace or AC doesn't cycle on and
off too often.

Thanks. I had them backwards; I had "COOL" set at 80 and "HEAT" set at 90.

GARYWC brought next idea :
Thanks. I had them backwards; I had "COOL" set at 80 and "HEAT" set at 90.

Well, the furnace wants to heat if you're below a certain temperature
and the AC wants to cool if you're above a certain temperature. In
between those two extremes you don't want them fighting each other.

Why would you want either of them set to 90?

From therafters:

Instead of "Why would you want either of them set to 90?",
do you mean to say "Why don't you set them both of them to 90?"

GARYWC explained on 9/25/2016 :
From therafters:

Instead of "Why would you want either of them set to 90?",
do you mean to say "Why don't you set them both of them to 90?"

No. My themostat has a switch for either heat, off, or cool and cannot
be set for both heat and cool at the same time. If your system *can* do
that, having them set close enough to overlap could cause them to fight
each other so having them both set to 90 (always overlap) would not be
a good idea either.

There is usually some small range (+ or - 2) where, for instance, it
will heat until it gets to 72 degrees and shut off - then when it gets
to 68 degrees turn on again. If the AC does the same thing on the
cooling side you could waste a lot of power and get no benefit if
they're both set to the same temperature.

My comment was because you first stated 70 minimum and 80 maximum which
seems a good comfort zone to me. 90, not so much.

Heat 68F, AC 78F

On 09/25/2016 01:39 PM, GARYWC wrote:
Thanks. I had them backwards; I had "COOL" set at 80 and "HEAT" set at 90.


My thermostat won't allow the COOL setpoint to be lower than about 4
degrees above the HEAT setpoint.

--
91 days until the winter celebration (Sunday December 25, 2016 12:00:00
AM for 1 day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor
do I serve any." [Lao Tse, founder of Taoism]

On 09/25/2016 03:49 PM, wrote:
Heat 68F, AC 78F


Which is about what I have during the day. I like the heat lower and the
AC higher at night.

--
91 days until the winter celebration (Sunday December 25, 2016 12:00:00
AM for 1 day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor
do I serve any." [Lao Tse, founder of Taoism]

On Sunday, September 25, 2016 at 4:45:19 PM UTC-4, FromTheRafters wrote:


My comment was because you first stated 70 minimum and 80 maximum which
seems a good comfort zone to me. 90, not so much.

What a loon. Forget about comfort, there was only 70 and 80 mentioned
in the original post. So, where did 90 suddenly come from? And who
typically has 90 as a set point? I smell a troll.

On Mon, 26 Sep 2016 08:33:01 -0700 (PDT)
trader_4 wrote:

I smell a troll.

That is hillary's dirty britches you smell....LOL

My TOTALINE 5 + 2 Day Programmable Thermostat Model #P474-1035 has two switches:

The MODE switch has three positions: HEAT, OFF, COOL
The FAN switch has two positions: FAN ON, FAN OFF

These seem to be for manual operation.

If I want the thermostat to run automatically, which positions do I select?

On 09/26/2016 11:57 AM, GARYWC wrote:
My TOTALINE 5 + 2 Day Programmable Thermostat Model #P474-1035 has two switches:

The MODE switch has three positions: HEAT, OFF, COOL
The FAN switch has two positions: FAN ON, FAN OFF

These seem to be for manual operation.

If I want the thermostat to run automatically, which positions do I select?


No AUTO position for the MODE switch?

I found that mine (Honeywell touch screen, I don't know the model number
now) had one, but it was hidden behind a setting you had to read the
manual to find. AUTO selects either heat or cool as needed (separate
setpoints). That's often appropriate here in late fall or early spring.

--
90 days until the winter celebration (Sunday December 25, 2016 12:00:00
AM for 1 day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"Faith is an island in the setting sun, but proof is the bottom line for
everyone." ["Proof", Paul Simon]

On Monday, September 26, 2016 at 12:57:37 PM UTC-4, GARYWC wrote:
My TOTALINE 5 + 2 Day Programmable Thermostat Model #P474-1035 has two switches:

The MODE switch has three positions: HEAT, OFF, COOL
The FAN switch has two positions: FAN ON, FAN OFF

These seem to be for manual operation.

If I want the thermostat to run automatically, which positions do I select?

Set it to heat when you want the heat to work. Set it to cool
when you want the AC to work. Some thermostats have an auto mode
where it will switch between the two by itself, but I've never
had the need for it personally. Set the fan on if you want the
fan to turn on and run by itself, without heat or AC.

Here's the link for the owner's manual (see page 4 for the controls):

https://www.totaline.com/dl/P474-103...Thermostat.pdf

On Mon, 26 Sep 2016 10:21:49 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

If I want the thermostat to run automatically, which positions do I select?

Set it to heat when you want the heat to work. Set it to cool
when you want the AC to work. Some thermostats have an auto mode
where it will switch between the two by itself, but I've never
had the need for it personally. Set the fan on if you want the
fan to turn on and run by itself, without heat or AC.

+1 My HVAC is off now. Sometime in late November I'll turn on the
heat. About March I'll turn off the heat until around mid-June, then
turn on cool for summer.

On Mon, 26 Sep 2016 10:28:17 -0700 (PDT), GARYWC
wrote:

Here's the link for the owner's manual (see page 4 for the controls):

https://www.totaline.com/dl/P474-103...Thermostat.pdf

....so set it to AUTO mode, if you prefer.

On Monday, September 26, 2016 at 1:44:53 PM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
On Mon, 26 Sep 2016 10:28:17 -0700 (PDT), GARYWC
wrote:

Here's the link for the owner's manual (see page 4 for the controls):

https://www.totaline.com/dl/P474-103...Thermostat.pdf

...so set it to AUTO mode, if you prefer.

From his manual there is no auto mode, you have to select either
heating or cooling. Also, he said that the fan was on or off,
but it's actually on or "auto", which is what I figured. For Gary,
"auto" means the fan will come on automatically whenever heating
or cooling is active. If you want the fan on independent of that,
you move it to fan "on".

On Mon, 26 Sep 2016 10:58:20 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Monday, September 26, 2016 at 1:44:53 PM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
On Mon, 26 Sep 2016 10:28:17 -0700 (PDT), GARYWC
wrote:

Here's the link for the owner's manual (see page 4 for the controls):

https://www.totaline.com/dl/P474-103...Thermostat.pdf

...so set it to AUTO mode, if you prefer.

From his manual there is no auto mode, you have to select either
heating or cooling. Also, he said that the fan was on or off,
but it's actually on or "auto", which is what I figured. For Gary,
"auto" means the fan will come on automatically whenever heating
or cooling is active. If you want the fan on independent of that,
you move it to fan "on".

Thanks. You explained it better than I did.

trader_4 pretended :
On Sunday, September 25, 2016 at 4:45:19 PM UTC-4, FromTheRafters wrote:


My comment was because you first stated 70 minimum and 80 maximum which
seems a good comfort zone to me. 90, not so much.

What a loon. Forget about comfort, there was only 70 and 80 mentioned
in the original post. So, where did 90 suddenly come from? And who
typically has 90 as a set point? I smell a troll.

I think he mistyped 70 as 90 when he wrote about having them set
backwards.

Message ID :

"Thanks. I had them backwards; I had "COOL" set at 80 and "HEAT" set
at 90."

No need to call anyone names, but thanks for not using 'village idiot'
again - variety is the spice of life.

GARYWC explained on 9/26/2016 :
My TOTALINE 5 + 2 Day Programmable Thermostat Model #P474-1035 has two
switches:

The MODE switch has three positions: HEAT, OFF, COOL
The FAN switch has two positions: FAN ON, FAN OFF

These seem to be for manual operation.

I probably don't have the same thing as you do, but...

I think you are correct.

When it is hot outside you manually set it to the COOL position and it
automatically uses the settings as below for the cool settings.

When it is cold outside you manually set it to the HEAT position and it
automatically uses the settings as below for the heat settings.

If I want the thermostat to run automatically, which positions do I select?

If it's anything like mine:

HEAT uses the heating settings that you program in
COOL uses the cooling settings that you program in
OFF is just using the off setting where it is off

On mine, an abbreviated set of instructions are pasted on the inside of
the front cover (escutcheon) and you can choose what time of day
(morning, daytime, evening, night) and what temperature range you
desire for those times as well as what exact time (in increments of
some size I forget) you want M,D,E N to mean.

We write down the settings in a notebook because the battery runs down
and the setting go wonky. It's easier to load them back in if you have
them written down. I use the plus or minus two setting for wider
sensitivity so that the furnace doesn't have to fire up and shut down
as often as it would at the narrower setting.

I'm guessing that you don't have the booklet called "Owners Manual". It
might be available online somewhere if you use Google and the model
number you may find one.

GARYWC presented the following explanation :
Here's the link for the owner's manual (see page 4 for the controls):

https://www.totaline.com/dl/P474-103...Thermostat.pdf

Different from mine, but has some similarities.

Do you need help reading the manual?

On Monday, September 26, 2016 at 4:06:42 PM UTC-4, FromTheRafters wrote:
trader_4 pretended :
On Sunday, September 25, 2016 at 4:45:19 PM UTC-4, FromTheRafters wrote:


My comment was because you first stated 70 minimum and 80 maximum which
seems a good comfort zone to me. 90, not so much.

What a loon. Forget about comfort, there was only 70 and 80 mentioned
in the original post. So, where did 90 suddenly come from? And who
typically has 90 as a set point? I smell a troll.

I think he mistyped 70 as 90 when he wrote about having them set
backwards.

Message ID :

"Thanks. I had them backwards; I had "COOL" set at 80 and "HEAT" set
at 90."

No need to call anyone names, but thanks for not using 'village idiot'
again - variety is the spice of life.

I never call anyone names unless they've more than earned it. Only
a few here have.

GARYWC posted for all of us...



Thanks. I had them backwards; I had "COOL" set at 80 and "HEAT" set at 90.


Keep it frosty...
--
Tekkie

On 09/30/2016 04:40 PM, Tekkie® wrote:
GARYWC posted for all of us...



Thanks. I had them backwards; I had "COOL" set at 80 and "HEAT" set at 90.


Keep it frosty...


I just watched a movie called "Brewster's Millions" where a man has to
spend 30 million dollars in 30 days, and have nothing to show for it.
Maybe he would have set his thermostat like that.

--
85 days until the winter celebration (Sunday December 25, 2016 12:00:00
AM for 1 day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"Sin: A system devised by the sadistic to manipulate the brainless"