Honeywell Prestige Thermostats

[Mister Fancypants]

Does anyone have any experience with Honeywell Prestige Thermostats either the IAQ 2.0 or the HD 2.0 and their accessories specifically the wireless sensors.

We live in NY and have a single story house that has 3400 sq ft of heated and cooled space (If your only comments have something to do with the why do we need so much sq ft, please move on as it will be considered unproductive thanks).

We have forced hot air heat (gas furnaces), we have two of them each is a single zone, the furnaces are 40 years old and grossly inefficient compared to modern furnaces. Each has an AprilAir whole house humidifier attached. We have an A/C compressor hooked up to each of the air handlers on the furnaces so the same duct work is used for both heating and cooling, one of the A/C compressors is 2 years old a Goodman (4 tons), the other I think is 3 tons is probably just under 10 years old and brand I don't recall offhand. The duct work for both heating A/C systems is completely independent so they are 2 completely independent closed systems.

Due to the setup with the 2 systems replacement cost is very high to modernize to upgrade the entire system air handlers, A/C compressors and 95% efficient furnaces we have been quoted as high as $30k which is insane, even if we went with lower-end equipment to replace two whole systems for 3400 sq ft was no lower than $18k. The way the house is setup it would be even more labor intensive to consolidate to single system by combining the duct systems so there is no savings in that approach either.

The crux of the matter was ever installer said the new equipment will never last as long as what we have now so in well under 40 years it would need to be replaced, where as if we keep maintaining the old system we have it will run for another 40, we have actually had one of the air handlers motors completely rebuilt just 2 years ago (this was paid for by a home warranty with a nice $95 co-pay). We keep the home warranty due to the age of our heating system, it came with the house purchase and it is has been worth renewing, we have gotten more then out money’s worth out of it.

So even though I am literally letting money go up in smoke, the increased efficiency would probably yield me $100 a month in utility savings on a $30k outlaw and only last for 15 years, that is a losing proposition, on the $18k it would be even worse, instead we taken to other improvements like insulation and exterior doors, increased thermal mass etc.. We have brought our utility bill down substantially but it is still pretty crazy.

That is the general background, so I am looking into the Honeywell Thermostats as I would like to optimize the temperature throughout the house, we currently have Honeywell 7 day programmable thermostats and have severed us well enough, but there positioning sucks. For the bedroom side of the house the thermostat is in the master bedroom which is super convenient, but it is the last room the ducts go to so it is the coolest in the winter and hottest in the summer just bad placement, the other 3 bedrooms are about 3 to 5 degrees warmer. The second thermostat is directly in front of a sliding door which in the summer gets the afternoon sun which makes the A/C run extra hard thinking the house is a lot hotter than it is, also the kitchen which is on that thermostat is insulated like crap is a good 5 degrees colder in the winter.

The Prestige’s with the wireless sensors that can average out temperatures seem like a great way to optimize the control of the furnaces and A/C so I wanted to see if anyone has any experience with them or a competing product?

The products claim to need a professional installation I'm not sure that is really needed, but before I even look into if it is something I can tackle I was hoping to see if anyone could recommend the product.

Thanks in advance

-Mister Fancypants

[Greg]

No advice on those particular thermostats but you could adjust the registers to provide less heat to the first rooms on the first thermostat.

That said, as a residential designer I can say that 3400 sq. ft. for two people is just dumb. Add A/C and it's even dumber.  Not what you wanted to hear but you don't get to pick and choose, sorry.  Facepunch over.

[Mister Fancypants]

@Greg there are 3 adults, 2 children and a dog living in the house.

The registers are seasonally adjusted in the coldest and hottest rooms, yet the balance is still off, so we have been investigating the more high tech solutions available.

Thanks for your assistance.

[Russ]

Unless I'm totally misunderstanding how this thing works, a sensor which averages the temps at a few points but can't control flow to individual rooms will still leave you with the problem of some rooms being hotter/cooler than others.

your options as I see them:
move your current thermostats to a better suited location (easy peasy)
deal with it

the exorbitant utility bill is a different story... I know

(If your only comments have something to do with the why do we need so much sq ft, please move on as it will be considered unproductive thanks).

but also

Punch me in the face... I dare you

so you're gonna hear it again. Facepunch. Even for 5 and a dog.

[Greg]

The reviews on these are pretty evenly mixed... be sure to note that it's a pro-only unit, meaning no support or warranty if you do it yourself.  Also requires 5-wires at the thermostat, not 4. 

After reading about how it works you still might end up with hot and cold areas.  Have you had an energy audit done?  You may be better off investing in some air sealing and insulation upgrades, they're often a better R.O.I.

Also, moving your second thermostat to a better location would help a lot.  Near the center of the room/area and away from the hot/cold you mention.   Why it would be where you describe in the first place is a head-scratcher, but not impossible to fix assuming you have a crawlspace or attic to run the wire in.

[Mister Fancypants]

@Greg I was afraid that that pro-only would void the warranty if I tried the DIY, to be honest it might be a bit more then I was up for anyway, I think a single thermostat can control both furnaces and A/C units instead of having two separate thermostats like I have now though.

We have not had an "official" energy audit, but we have had a contractor friend who has an infra-red gun scan the house for us, we have already upgraded the attic insulation from r19 to r38 that made a huge difference, and put r10 foam board on all of the attic access doors. We have an "H" ranch so lots exterior walls, they are poorly insulated, when we do an exterior renovation we plan on reinsulating them, but that project is a huge expense which isn't happening anytime soon. We did some air sealing could probably do some more in that area. We have replaced our least energy efficient glass slider, it was from the 70’s (the one by the thermostat), and we have three others Anderson from the 80’s, one of them really should be replaced the others are ok, brand new fiberglass front doors and side door and a new fire door to the garage.

I think both thermostats are in poor locations, the master bedroom thermostat should be in the hall and the one by the glass sliders should be more central, both moves would make a difference, drop ceiling in the basement below, so easy access.

So my question is after you read how it works why would you think we might still have hot and cold areas with the sensors? I am trying to determine if it is worth investing in the technology vs. moving my existing thermostats (there isn't really an ideal location for one of them wall space wise), having it in the master bedroom is super convenient and if I could control it remotely from my iPhone is a stupid novelty but useful.

Thanks

[Mister Fancypants]

Unless I'm totally misunderstanding how this thing works, a sensor which averages the temps at a few points but can't control flow to individual rooms will still leave you with the problem of some rooms being hotter/cooler than others.

@Russ I believe the thermostat can actual regulate the airflow/temperature to different zones based on the sensors, however my furnaces are way to archaic to support that, much newer equipment with multi-zoning would.

(If your only comments have something to do with the why do we need so much sq ft, please move on as it will be considered unproductive thanks).

but also

Punch me in the face... I dare you

so you're gonna hear it again. Facepunch. Even for 5 and a dog.

We do things bigger in NY :)

[Greg]

my furnaces are way to archaic to support that, much newer equipment with multi-zoning would.

This is why I think you'd still have hot and cold areas... the thermostat won't change how the air is distribuyed, only at what temp it's distributed.

Have considered storm windows?

[rocksinmyhead]

We do things bigger in NY :)

are you sure you're not actually in Texas? ;)

[Mister Fancypants]

my furnaces are way to archaic to support that, much newer equipment with multi-zoning would.

This is why I think you'd still have hot and cold areas... the thermostat won't change how the air is distribuyed, only at what temp it's distributed.

Have considered storm windows?

@Greg So let’s say I set the thermostat in the master bedroom to 66 and close the door overnight, down the hall in the bedroom furthest from the thermostat it is 68.5 when the heat turns off wouldn't having a sensor in the other bedroom that read the temperature there and then average the two and set the thermostat to 67 provide more even heat throughout the house or will it just force the heat to turn on and off more frequently to adjust?

We have casement windows and boatload of them, replacing them isn't happening anytime soon.

[Mister Fancypants]

We do things bigger in NY :)

are you sure you're not actually in Texas? ;)

LOL... Def NY... but I do visit Texas often, we did spend some time in the DFW area this summer.

[anotherAlias]

I used to have a duplex with one thermostat to control temp for both units.  I experienced similar differences in temp ranges.  What I found effective was adjusting the vents in each room.  It took alot of trial and error to even out the temp, but I finally found a combination that worked pretty well.  Some rooms I had to open up all the way and some had to be closed all the way, but it all evened out in the end.

[Russ]

If one room is 66 and one room is 68 for an average of 67, setting the thermostat at 67 will maintain one room at 66 and the other at 68. If you set the thermostat to 68, one room will be 67 and one room will be 69. This is assuming you don't have the ability to turn the air on in smaller zones than your two furnaces (again... holy shit) already allow, and you already said you don't want to replace those.

Adjusting the registers is usually the way to fix this, but you said you already do that so I'm taking your word for it.

[Spork]

my furnaces are way to archaic to support that, much newer equipment with multi-zoning would.

This is why I think you'd still have hot and cold areas... the thermostat won't change how the air is distribuyed, only at what temp it's distributed.

Have considered storm windows?

@Greg So let’s say I set the thermostat in the master bedroom to 66 and close the door overnight, down the hall in the bedroom furthest from the thermostat it is 68.5 when the heat turns off wouldn't having a sensor in the other bedroom that read the temperature there and then average the two and set the thermostat to 67 provide more even heat throughout the house or will it just force the heat to turn on and off more frequently to adjust?

We have casement windows and boatload of them, replacing them isn't happening anytime soon.

Door closed?  Could the problem be you need more return vents?  Or at least maybe just a passive vent over the door to allow air to move between rooms?

[Mister Fancypants]

my furnaces are way to archaic to support that, much newer equipment with multi-zoning would.

This is why I think you'd still have hot and cold areas... the thermostat won't change how the air is distribuyed, only at what temp it's distributed.

Have considered storm windows?

@Greg So let’s say I set the thermostat in the master bedroom to 66 and close the door overnight, down the hall in the bedroom furthest from the thermostat it is 68.5 when the heat turns off wouldn't having a sensor in the other bedroom that read the temperature there and then average the two and set the thermostat to 67 provide more even heat throughout the house or will it just force the heat to turn on and off more frequently to adjust?

We have casement windows and boatload of them, replacing them isn't happening anytime soon.

Door closed?  Could the problem be you need more return vents?  Or at least maybe just a passive vent over the door to allow air to move between rooms?

The door being closed doesn't help but the difference in temperature was present in the past when the door was open. The closed door is not climate related

There are several vents throughout the hall and in every room, so I don't think airflow is going to make a difference.

Thanks