Honeywell Thermostats: How to Choose the Best One
for You
A thermostat is a device that controls how your
heating or cooling systems function in order to control the
temperature inside your home. When temperatures fall below a certain
set point, the heating device will be turned on and a cooling device
may be turned off. If the temperature rises above a set point the
heating device is turned off and a cooling device may be turned on.
The two set point temperatures are usually set within a couple
degrees from a desired temperature and should be far apart from each
other to prevent the heating and cooling devices from turning on and
off too rapidly.
Thermostats are the center of your home heating/cooling system. They
determine how much heating or cooling is produced in your home. They
seem complicated but they are simply temperature sensitive switches.
Honeywell thermostats are separated into three main categories.
These popular thermostat categories include:
Mechanical Non-Programmable
Non-programmable thermostats are designed to provide reliability and
accuracy and often feature simple, easy-to-use designs. One kind of
mechanical thermostat is a mercury bimetallic thermostat. These have
three major elements; a bimetallic strip or coil, a contact and a
heat anticipator. The bimetallic strip or coil moves as the
temperature increases or decreases. This element is simply two
pieces of metal joined together. The contact is the part of the
thermostat that opens or closes as the bimetallic strip moves. The
heat anticipator allows adjustments of when the thermostat turns the
furnace burner on and off. It is an electrical resistance wire
mounted on a center disc connected to the bimetallic strip. These
kinds of Honeywell thermostats have modes for heating and cooling
and fan positions for on/off and automatic.
Some mechanical non-programmable thermostats do not require the use
of mercury. Mechanical contact thermostats use simple mechanical
contacts instead of a mercury contact switch. The bimetallic coil
moves when the temperature increases or decreases and opens or
closes the mechanical contact points attached to a lever arm. A heat
anticipator is also used. These kinds of Honeywell thermostats
feature the same modes and fan positions as mercury bimetallic
thermostats.Digital Non-Programmable
 Digital non-programmable thermostats are designed to provide a
variety of features that improve the performance of the thermostat
and make them easy to use. On a digital thermostat, electronic
controls sense temperature changes instead of a bimetallic coil.
These Honeywell thermostats are much more accurate. They are the
perfect replacement for older mechanical thermostats and usually
feature large, easy to read displays. They feature the same modes
and fan positions as bimetallic thermostats.
Digital Programmable
 Digital programmable thermostats feature the ability to
automatically adjust for different lifestyles. A home's comfort is
controlled to the desired temperature at the desired time.
Programmable thermostats can also save you up to 33% on home heating
and cooling costs. When a Honeywell thermostat is digital and
programmable, it has essentially been given a "brain". User controls
are added that give you the ability to set the days of the week, the
time, the temperature. You also gain the ability to enact overrides
and temporary temperature holds. Other custom programming features
may also be available. By allowing you to set back your heat at
night or when you are away, digital programmable thermostats can
save energy. Certain programming options allow different heating and
cooling schedules on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays and will alert
you when your furnace filter needs to be changed. In addition to
having modes for heating and cooling and fan positions for on/off
and automatic, these Honeywell thermostats are usually equipped with
multi day settings, multi period settings, hold features and other
features specific to the model.
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