Nice, but hidden features and difficult wifi setup
on May 12, 2020
Posted by: Jonathan C
Frequency of use:Daily
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
I bought this to replace an existing Honeywell thermostat. The builder installed a T6 downstairs and a similar but not wifi model upstairs. I was really happy to find that because they shared a wiring base, I could just pull the old unit off the bar and plug the new unit on. The unit works fine. Things I didn't like... Getting the unit connected to WiFi is a bit of a pain. The app steps you through it, but something you might not know is that the WiFi network must have a basic name. It won't connect if there WiFi network has different characters. Mine had parenthesis in it. Also, there's no documentation for which TCP ports need to be opened. This isn't an issue for most people, as most firewalls or routers from ISPs allow all outbound traffic. But if you want to block unauthorized outbound traffic, there's no documentation for the ports and protocols used by the thermostat. Additionally, I don't know if it will work behind a double NAT configuration. I also don't like how there are seeing and features hidden in an advanced settings menu. So if you want to reduce the lowest or highest temp settings of 50 and 90, you have to access those settings. You can still only go down to 40. Not a problem for me, but I've seen others complain about the 50 degrees. If you want auto-changover, you have to set it to on in the advanced settings. There are also some related settings to adjust. Auto-changover is basically Auto, which is to say, switch between heat and cooling modes automatically when the temperature reaches a threshold. This is a really nice feature in the spring and fall. That way, you don't have to wake up to a freezing house after a warm day because you forgot to set the mode to heat. To access the advanced settings menu, touch and hold "menu" on the screen. After a few seconds, you will access the advanced settings. Some of the settings are meant for an installer, but you can research what they mean on the internet to learn more about how those should be set, or you can just leave them as is if your installer has already configured them.
Love these new thermostats. It is great that I can control these from my phone. They work really well - our house feels warmer - probably the older thermostats were not calibrated well anymore. I recommend these. I am saving $$ on heating costs since I can easily change the settings from my phone and the house is actiAlly at the temperature set!