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Old 05-08-2017, 10:24 AM
 
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One can simply add a power supply to get the 24v to power it. LINK

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Old 05-08-2017, 12:50 PM
 
15,692 posts, read 20,188,881 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 399083453 View Post
One can simply add a power supply to get the 24v to power it. LINK

True, if they have an available wire in the current t-stat wiring.




My house only has 2-wire tstat wiring run, so in order to add the C wire, I had to run a new wire.
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Old 05-08-2017, 12:56 PM
 
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I heard a story that was pretty funny about the Nest. Apparently this guy had them in his house but later divorced as his wife was having an affair. Apparently in the divorce his wife got the house and the Nests...unfortunately she didn't change the passwords as she had no clue so he screwed with them by playing with the thermostat settings. Warm outside, turn the thermostat up to 90, cold, turn it down to 50. I don't know if this was true but it was pretty funny.
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Old 05-08-2017, 01:33 PM
 
Location: Columbus, OH
1,058 posts, read 1,237,676 times
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I have a Nest thermostat. A "C" wire is not required, but preferred. I didn't have mine hooked up to the C wire initially. I didn't know any better. I didn't have any problems, as the trickle charge was fine. But after reading about the problems that some people were having, I hooked up the C wire, just to keep constant charging.


Other than a few minor firmware hiccups in the first year, no problems with my Nest. Going on 3 years old now. My only issue is the $250 price. Not sure I would pay that much again. It should be $150.
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Old 05-08-2017, 01:55 PM
 
15,692 posts, read 20,188,881 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jbeechuk View Post
I have a Nest thermostat. A "C" wire is not required, but preferred. I didn't have mine hooked up to the C wire initially. I didn't know any better. I didn't have any problems, as the trickle charge was fine. But after reading about the problems that some people were having, I hooked up the C wire, just to keep constant charging.


Other than a few minor firmware hiccups in the first year, no problems with my Nest. Going on 3 years old now. My only issue is the $250 price. Not sure I would pay that much again. It should be $150.

Same here. I initially hooked mine out without the "C" wire, and it ran fine without it. No dead batteries, no wifi issues, no false calls for heat, really didn't have an issue at all for 2 winters like that.

Only issue I had was that in the summer, I couldn't turn the furnace "off" in the summer or when we went away for vacations without the C wire. The nests would detect loss of power and batteries would drain. I had to run new wires for the stats to add the C wire to keep them charged when the system was off.
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Old 05-08-2017, 02:07 PM
 
2,957 posts, read 5,866,275 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zelpha View Post
Our furnace is probably 20 years old and I can't afford a new one quite yet. It's doing all right for now.

In the mean time, I've got my sights set on a new smart-home thermostat, the Ecobee3 lite and a set of smart room sensors.

Since I know very little about household DIY, can you tell me if I could install these things by simply removing the old thermostat off the wall? Would this Ecobee3 be compatible with the current wiring in the wall that will be there when I remove the old thermostat? And would the Ecobee3 be compatible with the old furnace?
Remove your current thermostat and note/ take a picture of the wires. Email Nest/ Ecobee via their website and tell them the wire colors and send them a pic of your wiring. Also, send them the make/ model of your current HVAC system. They will confirm whether you can use their products. Any other answer is probably correct, but just a guess.
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Old 05-08-2017, 02:36 PM
 
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Check with people on an HVAC forum. Many of the HVAC people did not seem to be a fan of any "smart" thermostat when I was searching for a/c information.
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Old 05-08-2017, 03:03 PM
 
Location: The Triad
34,091 posts, read 82,464,944 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ihatetodust View Post
Check with people on an HVAC forum. Many of the HVAC people did not seem to be a fan of any "smart" thermostat when I was searching for a/c information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRNX6XJOeGU
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Old 05-08-2017, 07:41 PM
 
17,387 posts, read 14,919,159 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ihatetodust View Post
Check with people on an HVAC forum. Many of the HVAC people did not seem to be a fan of any "smart" thermostat when I was searching for a/c information.
I have a Honeywell and no problems. I had to run a C wire off the transformer as there's no option for power anywhere near the thermostat.

I don't use most of the functions for it. Mainly, I use it to adjust the temps if I forget to turn it up when I leave for work in the mornings and also to check the temp at home.

The best thing I bought was a solid state contactor. I have massive problems with fire ants and would have to clean the thing out 4 or 5 times a year.
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Old 05-09-2017, 08:19 AM
 
11,230 posts, read 9,161,362 times
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Lot of trouble for little gain, unless the wiring is already perfectly set up for it. I would pass, and just use a regular tstat and turn it up when you're cold and down when you're hot. I never have any trouble figuring out which is which, nor do I have any trouble remembering to turn it up/down when leaving.
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