Buy Touch Screen Thermostat Compare Prices

Review by S. Singh:

BOTTOM LINE:

Took about 45 minutes from removing old unit to new installation and completing programming. It works great!

SYSTEM:

4 wire Gas heating and electric cooling.

OLD UNIT:

Honeywell Electronic C9825 - bought in year 2000. Has weekday, weekend, 4 periods per day and adaptive recovery. Replaced as temperature override and 'Hold' features work erratically.

TOTAL EXPERIENCE:

1 Week

REVIEW:

The TX9000TS is the 3rd electronic thermostat I've owned and is probably the most intuitive of them all. Lux has provided a generous sized display and a very responsive touch-screen. The back light is a pleasing blue. The unit is 3 parts - the main unit, a back plate where you connect the wires and an optional accent plate that provides a .75 inch border to provide a finished look.

I had read the earlier reviews on Amazon and had decided that I will not read the instructions prior to the install to determine how intuitive this system really was? The only exception I would allow myself was if the wiring was significantly different from my old unit - which it was not!

The setup was relatively simple. Removed the old unit and replaced it with the new back plate and accent bezel. No new holes to drill. The accent bezel is the closest piece to the wall and is held up by the back plate. I straightened the old wires, inserted into the corresponding clamp and tightened the screws - Total time of 15 minutes.

I inserted 2 new alkaline batteries (And NO, I did not use the recommended Duracell or Energizer!) and the unit came to life. I clicked on the time and it started beeping. I could see arrows on the right and intuitively touched them to set the time. Did the same to set the day. Touching the 'Menu' got me into the programming mode for the unit. I touched "SCROLL" to skip to the next feature, and "NEXT" for the next step in the feature programming. I do admit I took a few iterations to get used to the programming logic. Also 'YES' to accept settings is a little different from the colloquial "ENTER" we are used to in a computer literate world!

This unit is programmable for every day of the week. I, at most, need one setting for all week-days and one each for Sat and Sun. While programming the days, I noticed that they had a "COPY" function. I was sure that this was to copy my settings - every time I touched it, it went over to the next day. I thought that the data was being copied over and I did verify it after I completed my first iteration of programming. By the way, once you are in the programming mode, setting the start time for any period and/or setting the temperature is as simple as touching the time or temperature and using the up/down arrows. Could not be simpler!

I was fortunate that I had the program settings available from my old unit - once I went through a few iterations of errors (not using "YES" to accept settings!) the unit was programmed - Total time of 15 minutes

I spent another 10 minutes setting the 'Filter Usage' and 'Swing settings' and reviewing the 'Temperature Calibration' and 'Energy Usage' monitor. The Swing settings only went upto 2.5 degrees in 0.5 degree increments (One of the other reviewer found that it went upto 3.0 degrees???)

I did not see the 'Smart Recovery' option and thought that it might be a switch on the circuit board like my last unit. It was 1.30 in the morning and I did not feel like reading the instructions. I attached the TX9000TS and it kicked off instantly.

The instructions did have the following options that can be changed with the small slide switches towards the back of the main unit -- 12/24 hours time format, Smart Recovery, Degrees in C or F, and 2 or 5 minute interval between restarts.

OTHER REVIEWER'S CONCERNS

Some of the other reviewers have concerns that the unit does not automatically switch between heating and cooling to keep the temperature constant. This is done intentionally!

In the summer, our ideal temperature is 74 degrees. When we leave for work, our "DAY" period is set to 82 degrees so that the AC does not cool the home while we're out. In an auto switch between heating and cooling, the heat would take over and get the temperature to 82 degrees and maintain it - which is NOT the intent!! We do not want the AC to cool any below 82. I can, of course, see the gentleman's point if one spends 90% of their time at home and is OK with the associated heating/cooling cost.

PROS:

* TX9000TS is rated #1 by Consumer Reports

* Cheapest in its class for display size and features

* Very easy to program

* Love the LARGE display and the accuracy of the touch zones.

* Very nice Backlight and fantastic positioning of the backlight switch.

* Like the "CHANGE FILTER" feature. I used to use a Sharpie on the filter and then try to read the date through the grill

* Like the "Low Battery" alert.

* Power Usage also seems like a valuable feature...will find out in the near future! I did manage to find it by pressing menu and scrolling

CONS:

* Lux could have done a better job with the programming terminology and could have improved the user experience with regards to the programming. For e.g., if you had to program day and time, it continues to loop when you click "NEXT"...to exit the programming you need to use "MENU".

* Another feature I miss from my old Honeywell is the "RUN PROGRAM" button which when pressed would clear the "OVERRIDE" functions and run as per the program. The TX9000TS unit achieves this either by touching the temperature and using the arrow keys to bring the temperature to the programmed value, OR, by touching "HOLD" twice. Minor inconvenience.

* The tabs, on the top of the base plate, that hold this unit are very small and I am in constant fear of breaking them off. My old Honeywell had a very robust design.

CONCLUSION:

I do agree that the TX9000TS is not completely intuitive, but it is nowhere as unintuitive as others claim. I do like to play around with stuff that I get...if it were all super-intuitive and easy then it'd be no fun! ;o)

Review by Robert Newby:

Really simple to Install with just a screwdriver. Wiring made simple by good instructions. The product itself comes with a size increase backplate to avoid having to redecorate if size does not correspond to old unit. Now onto the functions, really simple easy to program with smart copy function. Large display and numerals can be read from 10 feet away. Touch screen is a pleasure to use. Backlight is bright and clear and makes this unit an absolute dream do adjust in the night time or as you walk into the house.

Review by Ahmed:

Before I bought this product, I was kind of hesitant because of the not so good reviews but I decided to go ahead and give it a try.

After trying it, I am more inclined to think that most of the negative reviews are because the reviewers did not know how to operate the device.

For example, some complained about the temprature override requiring you to set an ending time. In fact the unit allows you to set either a temprary hold until a certain time, or a permanant hold which will take effect indefinately or a vacation hold. Yes, it will require an extra click but it is a useful feature which is better than forgetting your system on and leaving.

You also do have control over the fan. Some other reviewer complained that the fan would go on and off during the night. When you program the time periods, you do have control over the fan mode. You can set it to on, auto (which turns on only when the compressor is running) and refresh which is the same as auto but also turns the fan on if the system is idle for more than an hour to keep the air fresh.

Some complained about the fan turning on without the compressor.. Sounds to me like the recircuilation mode. This mode runs only if the system is idle for an hour and it lets the fan run for 10 , 15 or 20 minutes to bring fresh air. This was quite helpful when I set my temprature to 85 and the air used to be not so fresh by the time I got home because the ac never had to work. With this feature the air is fresh again by the time I got home. I believe this saves more energy than if i kept the temprature at 80 just to maintain freshness.

On the negative side, installation did not go as smooth for me. The manual mentions some labels that you are supposed to find on the old unit which were labeled differently on my old white-rodgers. There was an o/b unit on the old and there was an "o" as well as a "b" on the new. With trial and error, i connected it to "o" and it worked. The manual mentions removing the jumper in case of a 5 wire connection. That jumper is important if you want the system to automatically switch over to using the furnace if the heat pump cannot keep up with the temprature. If you don't connect the jumper, the heat pump will work and you have to set it to emergency heat to use the furnace if you need to.

One of the reviewers mentioned, you need to connect the wire to W1 and not W2 if you have a one stage system. You should not need to do that if you have your system type set correctly. I had a heat pump and it works fine when connected to W2. Also make sure your furnace type is set correctly (Electric or Gas).

After you install the system, make sure you test both heating and cooling functions to avoid unpleasant surprises next season. ALSO, if you have a heat pump, make sure it is the heat pump that is running normally and NOT the furnace! If somehow you get the furnace to run all the time, you will get a HUGE electric bill. The compressor on the heat pump takes a lot of current to start. So if you see your lights flicker when the heat starts, that is a sign that the heat pump is starting and not the electric furnace. Also, the air from a heat pump is not super warm, it should be about body temprature compared to the toasty air from an electric furnace. Also if the heat pump is working, the air coming out of the fan of the outside unit will be cooler than the surrounding air. These guidelines applies to any thermostat and not just this one.

Things that I noticed about heat pumps that i found confusing are: 1. If you start the heat pump then stop it, then start it again shortly, it might take a little bit of time to start to protect the unit. This can be particularly confusing when testing a thermostat and can lead you to believe that your connections are wrong even though if you wait for 5 minutess or so, everything will work as it should. 2. Heat pumps can freeze and they tend to reverse their cycles to defrost. You can tell if it is defrosting if you feel warm air (steam) coming out of it.

The other thing that I did not like is the auto recovery. It means that when you set the A/C to 75 at 6pm, the system will start running earlier to make sure it reaches 75 degrees by 6pm. The manual did not mention how early. Calling the customer service, they mentioned it will start running 30 minutes before the time period which made sense to me. The only way to get around that if you don't like the feature is to adjust your times. There is not a disable option.

The interface is not intuitive but it is not hard to learn. It takes about 5 minutes to get the hang of it after that it is just as easy to use as the old thermostat.

BTW, I do like the red/blue backlights.

Review by DH:

While the product itself is nice, the installation was less so. I had the hardest time getting this thermostat to turn my heat on. My heat would only come on if I plugged the white wire into the W2 slot.

After a few long and fruitless calls to customer support, I started scouring the internet, and found that this was a common problem. The solution to my woes, though, was to be found here on Amazon: As one other reviewer below mentioned, the proper W1 terminal is on the right hand side of the base, not the left - where the manual indicates it to be (and where there's an unlabeled terminal above the W2 termina).

So yeah. W1 is on the right.

Review by SirWired:

Honeywell makes a very large line of programmable electronic thermostats. At first glance, this particular thermostat has nothing to distinguish it from any other programmable tstat from your local hardware store. (7-day programming, +/- 1 degree accuracy, etc.) However, this thermostat has some functions that make it quite a bit better. I've had RiteTemp's and Lux tstats, and this one is much better.

Most electronic thermostats kick on the system when you are one degree under, and then run it until you are one degree over. This (and all Honeywell electronic tstats) instead target a certain number of cycles per hour (based on system type), and try and hold the temperature as constant as possible. Since I installed this a few days ago, it has not budged off of the setpoint.

Another cool feature is the recovery feature. Basically, it measures how quickly your house is losing heat (or warming up, in the summer), and kicks on the system at the correct time so it is at your setpoint right at the time you program. This eliminates guessing how long it will take your house to heat so it will be toasty when you get home at 6PM. Instead, you just set the tstat for 6PM and let it figure out the rest.

The install guide is clear and presented me with no problems. Admittedly, I don't have a complicated system (1-stage heat/cool.) It tells you how to properly wire it, and is fairly straightforward on when you need to call for help. Most folks shouldn't have any problems.

IMPORTANT: Use the included wire stickers! Some installers do not attach, say, the white wire to the "W" terminal. Depending on whim, they can completely attach the wires at random. Bad things happen if you plug the wrong wire onto the wrong terminal. If a wire was on the "W" terminal before, it needs to go on the new W terminal, even if it is bright yellow.

I didn't have any trouble at all programming this one... in a few easy steps:

1) Hit the "Schedule" button.

2) Use the arrow keys and the "select" button to select which day(s) you want to program. Hit "Next Step".

3) Use the arrow keys and "Next Step" to go through the setpoints and times.

4) Hit "Done" when finished.

If you need to set any advanced options (like changing to a two-stage furnace or A/C, setting heat pump options, etc.): Hit "System", then hold down "Fan" for five seconds. Use the table in the manual and "Next Step" to pull up the option you need to change and use the arrow keys to change it. I set up the Filter Change Reminder that way. The fact you have to refer to the manual isn't that bad since they are options you won't have to change more than once.

Review by D. Compton:

I had bought this for use on my Carrier Heat Pump with Auxiliary heat. I had a hard time figuring out if it was compatible with this configuration but this is the unit you would want. It was only a couple of bucks more for the touchscreen so I went for it.

Amazon shipped it out to me from a warehouse that is only about 20 miles from my home in Indy and for some reason it took 10 days from the time of shipping! That was a disappointment but once I got it here it was easy to install and setup even for my complicated setup. I read some reviews that complained about the back light feature not being easy to turn on and I do agree with that problem which is the only reason for the 4-stars instead of 5. To get the back light to turn on, you have to hit a button on the screen which ends up changing something that you may not have wanted to change or gone to a menu that you did not want. What they need to do is design a button on the top of the unit (outside of the touchscreen) that you could easily find in the dark which will light up the screen.

Once installed, setting the unit up and programming the features as well as setting up the schedule and temperatures was a piece of cake. I'm not sure why others had problems I thought it was easy (although I am an engineer!). Also, I read a review that mentioned a loud "clicking" noise the unit makes when kicking on and off. I disagree with this as the standard Carrier thermostat that came with my furnace was noticeably louder than this Honeywell unit so I am pleased with that.

I would recommend this unit to anyone but just don't expect the back light feature to be useful as I still have to turn on the hall light to see what I'm doing so the feature is pretty much useless. Its easy to install, easy to operate, and should end up saving me a lot of money on my electric bill!

Review by Nicole Christianson:

This is an relatively expensive fan and it does have the necessary safety features to be allowed by fire code in our office - that is a good thing. But the heater will turn off at a certain point and never turn on again. The oscillation features makes it heat up and smell like it is malfunctioning. Also, the fact that the temperature is only in Celsius just makes it confusing and harder to use than it should be. I wish there was a way to convert this.

Review by Troy Buresh:

I would not recommend anyone to purchase this comfort stat CDT901 thermostat. I had paid a professional to install it and it only worked for about 2 weeks, when it stopped working the touch screen controls lock up and you cannot change the temperature settings on it. I have wrote the company a email to send it in for the warranty and they couldn't even help me, (they made the unit they should know on where I can send it for the warranty.

So to let others know I would not purchase the Comfort stat touch screen thermostat, as it only worked for me about 2 weeks and locked up. I purchased it new too with a warranty that the company will not even warranty.

Comfortstat Touch Screen Thermostat