A must have thermostate for Phoenix homes...

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Well...what other option is there for that kind of scenario, which is exactly what the purpose of the remote sensor.

In our situation, we work out of the front room which faces east and get very warm during the day compared to the rest of the house. The main thermostat will show 76 degrees (with the AC at 77 for example) yet the front room will read 80-81 degrees.

With the remote sensor, I can set it on my desk and it will keep it at 77 in the room I'm in. Sure the rest of the house will be colder but at least it's doing it in an efficient manner vs me going and guessing what the rest of the house should be at so that the front room is comfortable.

By the way, it's $69 for the new thermostat and remote sensor.

I've often wished I could move my thermostat to another location more representative of the living area of the house and this device would take care of that. It will however overcool areas that were cooler before while lowering temps in the warmer spots.

A possible alternative that could achieve more uniform temps would be to run the fan on the ac full time instead of only when the compressor runs. APS recommends this as an energy saving idea, but believing them is like believing Capt Bill about the direction of the home market (just kidding, Bill!). I tried running mine full time last year for a while and it did make temps more uniform, but I worried about fan wear and what running it 24-7 would do to the bill.

[Woody7]

Great find, Thanks!

[HX_Guy]

Yea, the idea of running the fan full time just doesn't sit right with me...I don't know why, just seems like that would need a rest too.

[intmd8r]

Thanks for posting this; I agree it's a great find!

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Like you guys have determined the thermastat is placed in a central location of a home, if you are in a 2 story you may have one on either floor. Your AC will run up to the point that the temp is affected at the T-stat. The remote device sends a signal that the room the remote is sitting in is now at that temp. Kind of like an override for the wall mounted unit. Depending on your home this may or may not be the most efficent way to cool your home. Especially if you do have seperate t-stats on each floor and decide to move the remote device to another floor.

In comercial buildings cooling systems are more advanced. I can cool a floor or a single office if I choose. Control devices can now direct air to where you want it to go. In addition the systems are computer controlled. Many facilities use ID badges that have proximity cards letting the system know that the employee is on site and adjusting the temp for that employee.

WIth the cost of energy esculating this type of system may become more prevalent on new homes. Many current systems can be modified in a similar way.

[KK85297]

This is very cool! I was just thinking how much I hate the location of the thermostats on both floors of my home. Both seem strategically placed in the most cool, shaded portions of the entire house. It can be BLAZING in the kitchen and cool as can be in the foyer (where the thermostat is located) and similarly, the master bedroom which is the hottest room in the house, is on the opposite end of the upstairs from the thermostat- tucked in a little nook near the linen closet that sees zero sun and zero activity. How hard is it to replace the thermostat yourself? Do you need to hire someone to do it?

[HX_Guy]

It's very simple to replace yourself. Ours had 4 wires that were all labeled so it was a piece of cake.

[MalteseJane]

I don't think that the difference in temperature between rooms has only to do with the thermostat. It depends also on the number and size of the duct outlets in each room. One of the bedrooms in our Houston home was always warmer. When we had the a/c replaced, we also replaced the ducts and after this was done that particular room was cooler too.