Hey guys welcome back to the top 50 tips, tricks, hacks features of thermostats and if you've caught this video, it's one of five - and this is the final one. So we're gon na go through 41 through 50.. Let's get started number 41 backlight. So, as digital thermostats started coming out, they started having the capability of being able to see them in the dark.

So that was something new, something that no one had seen before with the old mercury style or mechanical thermostats. Now, as time has gone on, you can actually control that backlight. So i just had a customer just the other day say that they actually enjoyed the light and they hated that they had to touch the screen just to get it to light up, and we were able to change the setting to where it stayed lit up. All the time some thermostats you can control how long it will stay lit once you touch the screen or touch something to get it to light up and then, of course, some thermostats.

If you just simply don't like the light, you can turn it off entirely and not have a backlight. Another thing is a lot of newer. Thermostats are starting to come out with, like accent lighting and things like that. Some of them make them more cosmetically pleasing, but some of them will actually tell you what mode it's in.

So if the light is blue, you know it shines, a little cool, little blue light on the wall or a red one down the wall. Then you know which mode that that thermostat is in number 42 during the making of this video. For the most part, most systems are either going to be communicating or 24 volt low voltage, ac voltage thermostat. So for the longest time it's been one or the other.

So it's communicating thermostats have been coming out. They are usually somewhat proprietary so, depending on what brand system you put in, you need to put in their communicating thermostat or if it's a low voltage, ac thermostat, then you could pretty much install just about any thermostat found at a big box store and they're. Pretty interchangeable, but now, as time has gone on, we're starting to see a little bit of crossover and i wonder, as time goes on, if we're going to see a lot more of that, and so what i mean by that is we're starting to see some brands. Make thermostats that can control different ones of their brands.

So what i mean by that is now you have carrier who also makes bryant carrier makes infinity. Brian has evolution, it's pretty much. The same thing, daikin is also making some of their thermostats that use the same technology across brands, and i think you're gon na see more of that. We also are seeing some systems on the market that they can do one or the other.

As far as the system itself, so, for example, i know daikin especially has certain systems on the market that you can install a communicating thermostat or you can change the settings and install just a regular 24 volt ac thermostat number 43. We kind of touched on this in the last video, a lot of brands are coming out with air monitors that can connect to the thermostat, and what that is is they can actually monitor the air and tell you if something is wrong and it will send you Alerts, if there's something wrong with the particulates or if there's high carbon monoxide in the air or whatever it'll, send you alerts based on what that air monitor is seeing in your system and during the making of this video there's really only a few air monitors on The market that work with only certain brands, but i think, as time goes on, if you see this video in the future, i think you're going to see a lot more of them on the market number 44. This isn't something that we're seeing a whole lot with newer houses, but i do know back in the day. This was sort of a thing, and that is, if you install a thermostat on the wall, but you're not getting the most accurate readings or it's kind of acting a little wonky some days you feel like it should be heating a little better than it is or Cooling, a little better than it is, and it's not necessarily accurate with the readings or it's giving you some sort of weird readings when it comes to the humidity and one thing that can sometimes fix.

That is, if you have a hole behind that thermostat, that the wire comes through. So you got this hole in the wall the wire pokes through, and then you install your thermostat. Sometimes, if you seal that hole and you can seal it a number of different ways, but if you seal that hole that can sometimes fix your issue. So, for example, if it's really hot in the room but for some reason that hole is connected to the cavity and the wall, that comes from, say the basement and you're getting a little bit of cool air coming to that thermostat.

It could throw your readings off number 45 if you have a loose thermostat on the wall. Sometimes that can be easily fixed just by tightening the screws or the fasteners that are holding it to the wall. But sometimes if the wall has seen better days, maybe they've installed a couple different thermostats and the you know with all the multiple holes in the wall and sometimes to fix that loose thermostat. You may actually have to go behind that thermostat and rebuild it out.

Some way shape or form, i'm not going to get into all the different ways that you can repair that just realize. There are multiple options out there that you can use to make that thermostat tight again one article. I read recently said that it can actually throw off your readings of your thermostat if it is loose. I'm not necessarily saying that that's 100 true in all cases, but i think there is something to be said for if you have a loose thermostat, maybe if you're pushing buttons and it's kind of rocking, it's not good, and also it's not necessarily cosmetically pleasing.

If you walk into a room and the thermostat's crooked right number 46, this is one thing: that's not necessarily talked about a lot in the thermostat market, and that is a lot of brands. Make retail residential thermostats that you can just kind of go to a big box store or a hardware store and buy, but then the same exact brand will make a pro series model. Sometimes the verbiage is different, but just realize a lot of the big brands out there do make two different types of thermostats, two different serieses. If you will - and you might say, what's the big deal what's the difference, sometimes there's not a whole lot of difference.

Sometimes the pro series will actually have features or added programming controls that you can adjust, that the retail side will not have, and sometimes the pro series they're just made a little better. I don't know that that's necessarily true with a lot of cases, but i do know a few years ago. If you bought a honeywell thermostat, there was a certain line that if you bought it in the store versus the one that we could get as pros from our suppliers, there was a significant difference. You could actually see it, you could feel it and it was a little bit better of a thermostat for not much more money.

Is it a real big deal, i would say across the board for the most part, it's not always necessarily a bad thing or a big deal. If you want to just get a regular thermostat in your local hardware store, it will usually serve your needs. Number 47. A lot of thermostats have multiple schedules or settings when it comes to the days of the week.

In some cases it may not matter to you, but if it does matter to you, just keep in mind when you're buying or you're shopping for your next thermostat that it may say five, two or five one, one or seven day programming, and so all that means Is if it says five and two that just means you get two options so you're gon na have your settings for the middle of the week and the two weekend days. Five one one would simply be your settings for the week saturday sunday and then, of course, seven day programming means you can have a different schedule for each and every day. Number 48. One of the questions we get a lot of times when we're talking about thermostats is a lot of folks.

Will ask us hey what should i set my thermostat at you know what what's the right temperature what's the right scenario, what should i set my temperature at? If i'm not home, i think the answer. The first question is: there's no actual real answer to answer that question. When you're talking about comfort, every house is different, every thermostat is different and every market is different. So, for example, there are parts of the usa that are more drier than other parts that are more humid well.

72 degrees in a real dry area does not feel the same as a humid area, the more humid it is. Typically, it feels a little more warmer in that area. Now there are articles all over the internet. You can google it where it talks about if you're used to this temperature, but it's winter time.

If you were to just get used to one degree less, you could save this much energy per year. If you'd set it two degrees, lower, you'd, save even more. I think, for the most part, if you are keeping in mind that there are backup heat sources and you're doing your best to not adjust the temperature with huge swings. Even with the programming, you could actually save a little bit of energy still be comfortable and not have to worry about some of the other things we've talked about in our other videos, meaning heat, droop and backup, heat sage, timers and things like that and then.

Finally, what should you set it at when you're not home, for us people in my market? I typically tell them if it's winter time don't set your thermostat any lower than 60 degrees, and that's just something that i got years ago when i was dealing with a lot of apartment complexes that was kind of the temperature that they would usually tell the tenants. They would say: hey if you leave your apartment, if, like, if a college kid goes home for christmas, they would say: leave your heat on, don't turn it off and don't set it any lower than 60.. I think the main thing or the thought process there is just because it's 60 degrees in that room where the thermostat is. There are other parts of your house when we're talking about under your kitchen cabinet, where there's plumbing lines or even the crawl space or inside your walls.

There are chances for those areas that are not necessarily conditioned to get even cooler, and obviously you don't want them to get below freezing and bust a pipe and then, as far as summertime goes, i usually don't set a thermostat any higher than 80.. If your house were to get above 80 degrees, i've heard horror stories where folks have horrible things happening in their house, paint peeling problems with their hardwood floors and things like that. If it gets super super hot in their house, so i would say 80 degrees. I wouldn't really set it any higher than that and that's pretty manageable right.

So if you keep in mind most air conditioning systems have a delta t temperature, meaning it goes in the return and comes out a 20 degree, 20 ish, sometimes a little higher but ultimately 20 degree difference. Well. If you had that thermostat set even higher than 80 and then you come home and you're trying to get it down to you know a manageable, you know a 72 degrees. You know just a comfortable temperature and you've got it now.

It's way up above 80, it's going to take a long time to get all the way back down to a comfortable temperature. Why? Because everything in your house holds heat, your floors, your walls, your furniture, you everything like that holds heat, so you're, not just cooling, the air in the space you got to cool all that stuff down too number 49. I've touched on this in some of my other videos, and one thing that is kind of controversial is, i believe, as a homeowner. If a contractor sells you a thermostat really if he sells you anything, but let's just say he sells you a thermostat whether it was with a new system or just because he just sold you a new thermostat for one reason or another.

A lot of pros. Think you're too dumb as a homeowner that you're not qualified that you're not allowed to have the manual that comes with that thermostat. I don't subscribe to that belief. I personally think if you bought the thermostat, it's your thermostat and you want the manual my gosh.

You should have the manual, that's my personal opinion and i don't think i'm smarter than every homeowner out there right. I think there is something to be said for if you don't know what you're doing and you're in the programming. Yes, you could create more problems, but i think if you're watching this video and you're one of those homeowners, that's kind of handy and you actually can go in and adjust the programming or adjust this or adjust that, then you should have the manual. So what do you do if your pro did not give you the manual, so your pro came in he put in a thermostat for you and now you got this new thermostat, but no manual, sometimes thermostats will come with two manuals: they'll have the installation or troubleshooting Manual and then they'll have a user manual and the difference is the user manual is more for the homeowner to be able to set their own schedule or how to operate it.

You know what buttons mean and things like that that would be the user manual. So the pro might give them that, but then they still keep the manual that has all the goodies in it. So what do you do if he did that a lot of thermostats can be found online and if you can't find it online, you can approach the manufacturer. If all else fails, if you're one of the subscribers to our website new newhvacguide.com, you can actually message us and we will send you the manual and then finally, number 50 we've gone through all 49.

If you've watched all the videos and we're now to number 50 and i've saved the best for last - and that is, if you don't know what you're doing with that thermostat, please call a pro if it's above your knowledge, you're not really sure what you're doing you're, Not really sure what to set this at or how to wire it or whatever the problems you could create. If you don't know what you're doing would not be worth the couple dollars that you would save by doing it yourself, i know that's kind of a little backwards from the last step that i said, but i think in the grand scheme of things, if you get To something and you're not sure and you're, just trying to save a dollar or two just realize you could be opening a whole can of worms. You could be creating more problems for yourself just by saving a couple dollars from hiring a pro just hire the pro avoid the headaches all that said, if you've watched this series - and you have any comments or questions - please comment down below that said. If you are in the market for a new heating and air system before you spend thousands go to our website newhvacguide.com, this website has so much information.

I basically wrote a book, but i put it on this website, so it can never become outdated and my goal is to help you as a homeowner. So you don't get scammed, so you don't have the same headaches that a lot of other homeowners have. If you follow this guide, my hope and dream is that everything goes through smoothly. A lot of information on this website.

Manufacturers and contractors. Don't even want you to know, i've got a whole page called no knows. I've got a whole page for good and bad heating and air brands so again before you spend thousands check out that website, but that's all i have thanks for watching. Please hit that subscribe button.

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