Buying a digital thermostat

2049 Views 10 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Drabdr, Dec 21, 2016

crcook84

Discussion Starter · Dec 14, 2016

My dad is interested in getting a digital thermostat to replace our analog one. He likes the idea of being able to control it remotely. However, he doesn’t like the idea of getting a smart thermostat that can “call home”. In fact, he doesn’t like the idea of any of our appliances being able to call home. (Before I go any further: Yes, this is going into paranoia stuff. However, I am not interested in discussing paranoia stuff. I’m just saying the reason why we’re interested in a specific thermostat.) He believes someone is collecting information (or they’re considering collection information) about how we use our smart appliances and we might get penalized if we don’t properly register them after we buy them.

Now that we got the why out of the way, can someone give me some information about a digital thermostat that we can control remotely without connecting it to the internet? (When I say remotely, I mean anywhere in the house. It does not have to be outside the house.) Having a remote control that comes with the thermostat or even a Bluetooth thermostat would be fine.

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Drabdr

· #2 · Dec 14, 2016

Hello there!!

I love the write-up. Thank you!!

Just to clarify... he wouldn't want something with an app on his phone. Correct?

So we would be looking for a hand-held, remote control to be operated within the house?

Question: how big of a house? Thick walls? Upstairs?

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crcook84

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 14, 2016

Drabdr said:
Hello there!!

I love the write-up. Thank you!!

Just to clarify... he wouldn't want something with an app on his phone. Correct?

He would. But, not if it means it has to connect to the company that manufactured it (ex: Honeywell requires you to register your thermostat with their server to be able to control it with your phone). If it can connect to the network without "calling home" or connect via bluetooth, that could work.

Drabdr said:
So we would be looking for a hand-held, remote control to be operated within the house?

I think that would be most ideal.

Drabdr said:
Question: how big of a house? Thick walls? Upstairs?

We don't have an upstairs or thick walls (at least I think they're hollow walls with 2x4s). The pertinent areas are within 5 to 10 feet of the thermostat.

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crcook84

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 14, 2016

We decided to settle on a non-wifi thermostat from Honeywell.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VIWQL4/
Reason is because it's still a digital thermostat but it costs only $40 and the buttons make it straight forward to use, especially for someone who isn't tech-savy. However, I would love to know if there are any thermostats with included remote controls or ones that can be operated by bluetooth.

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Drabdr

· #5 · Dec 14, 2016

crcook84 said:
We decided to settle on a non-wifi thermostat from Honeywell.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VIWQL4/
Reason is because it's still a digital thermostat but it costs only $40 and the buttons make it straight forward to use, especially for someone who isn't tech-savy. However, I would love to know if there are any thermostats with included remote controls or ones that can be operated by bluetooth.

That is a nice unit.

A question... and I'm only asking this from your original background and such.... Do you think the user of this will be OK with the different buttons and the programs? What may seen second nature to you and me, might be a little more challenging to individuals not so used to technology.

I looked around for some remote ones, but, they got pretty expensive pretty quickly.

I saw this basic one and was wondering if you would be interested in this one:

http://www.target.com/p/honeywell-1...gclid=COXg8qHq9NACFVyewAodSFoA7g&gclsrc=aw.ds

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zx10guy

· #6 · Dec 18, 2016

For what it's worth, I have a Honeywell unit installed at my vacation property. I also did not like the dependence on a cloud service, but I have not been able to find a thermostat system which doesn't require one. I figure Honeywell is probably more benign than say a Nest system now owned by Google. I'd rather not have any information being mined and kept by the Google collective.

At my primary home I do have an old Ritetemp digital thermostat which has an RF remote. The RF remote allows you to adjust the temperature from anywhere in your home. The only problem is the frequency it operates on tends to not be very reliable. Some times I can get the thermostat to respond sometime I can't. There's also no feedback capability to ensure the command was accepted by the thermostat. Since buying this thermostat, I haven't seen a similar one on the market.

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crcook84

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 19, 2016

I think we'll be returning the thermostat due to the fact that it requires batteries to work. You know, it's amazing how much more complex something can end up being once you do enough research on it.

Drabdr said:
A question... and I'm only asking this from your original background and such.... Do you think the user of this will be OK with the different buttons and the programs?

There is only one person in the household who might have problems with the buttons, and they would only use it like 5% of the time anyways. Otherwise, it won't be an issue. Also, after studying up on thermostats, I think we'd prefer one that can take a C wire.

zx10guy said:
I also did not like the dependence on a cloud service...I'd rather not have any information being mined and kept by the Google collective.

I definitely like the idea of a thermostat that can be remotely controlled. However, just like VoIP can go out with a power outage (requiring a backup battery or generator), I can see cloud control going out if there's a football game or such where everyone is using the internet, bogging down the bandwidth. Also, I'm not saying that I do or don't wear a tin-foil hat. However, I do use DuckDuckGo as a measure against data mining and identity theft.

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crcook84

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 19, 2016

New info: My dad suddenly decided that he wanted one that was programmable. Even more so, one that is programmable seasonally. Now, aside from getting a smart thermostat, I'm pretty sure that's impossible for under $100.

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Drabdr

· #9 · Dec 20, 2016

crcook84 said:
New info: My dad suddenly decided that he wanted one that was programmable. Even more so, one that is programmable seasonally. Now, aside from getting a smart thermostat, I'm pretty sure that's impossible for under $100.

Well, that may give you a bargaining chip! He may have to accept one that uses an app! Ha!!

Seriously though, I did do some searching, and it's going to be hard to get one without an app, and like you correctly pointed out, that doesn't get overly expensive. If you got one app-based, you could assist him with adjusting the correct temperature without having to leave your home.

I respect that people do have different comfort levels with technology and personal information. Maybe you can ease him into this one.

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crcook84

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 20, 2016

Drabdr said:
Maybe you can ease him into this one.

As much as I'd like to think I could, he keeps that tin-foil hat of his well kept. Not to go to much into paranoia, but he's a gun toting, ultra conservative, right-wing, republican who believes pretty much every conspiracy that his "sources" tell him (ex: Jade Helm 15). I have debunked pretty much everything he's told us about. Although, I don't dare tell him because I don't want to get into an argument or him accusing me of calling him a liar.

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Drabdr

· #11 · Dec 21, 2016

Understood.

I would go with really simple and basic, or get a programmable one.

Honestly, I would lean towards basic.

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