I've got one of the dial/mercury thermostats I'd like to replace with a digital programmable one. The question I have here is how hard is it to do?

Accord to Lowes Link It looks super simple. I really just want to know if I need to turn off the power to the heating unit from the Fuse box or can I just skip this step since I'm not actually going to be touching the live power wires.

I'm new at this DIY Home stuff, so bear with me.

p.s. please don't wh0re in this thread so I can get a serious answer, thanks

 

It is all low voltage (12 or 24 volts - I forget which). If you dump power to the furnace the thermostat wires should also be dead. If you do it live you will not hurt yourself. If you accidently touch wires together while installing the furnace will kick in, or the fan will turn on, or the A/C will start up.

Code here is that the furnace must have a power switch/disconnect at the furnace. You should be able to just flip that off if you have one. If not, either pull the fuse or do it live. I usually do it live -- but then I even do outlets live

--Mike

BTW - I'm not an electrician.

 

24 volts and yea I have that switch too (just forgot about it). That's what I figured. I'll try that. THanks, that just saved me about $120+ in labor charges. I'm gonna go out and purchase it tomorrow.

Btw - it's the HoneyWell ChronoTherm IV



Thanks again for the input

 

Great decision. I have a programmable thermostat and love it. Mine has a small battery in it (for power blips) and I think connects with four wires. It is easy to do. My old mercury thermo and the new digital had the same wire terminal codes so mark your old wires before disconnecting from the old thermo.

My settings:

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp A/C:
&nbsp Time &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Setting
7:00AM &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp 80
4:00PM &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp 76
9:30PM &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp 73

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp &nbsp&nbsp Heater:
&nbsp Time &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Setting
6:00AM &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp 75
7:30AM &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp 68
4:00PM &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp 73

Good luck

 

A/C
N.A.

HEAT
5:00AM Everyday 68
9:30AM Mon-Fri 64
4:30PM Mon-Fri 68
12:30AM Everyday 64
Sat-Sun 68*

*We will lower it whenever we plan on being gone more than 4 hours at a time.

 

Holy that was soooooo easy to do.

I did end up getting the Honeywell ChronoTherm IV ($99 at Home Depot).

Even taking my time and doing it slow it was less than 30 minutes. I did use the switch (not the breaker) to turn off the power.

HEAT (I'll worry about the a/c when it gets warmer)
M-F
WAKE 7:30am 72
LEAVE 8:45am 62
RETURN 5:45pm 72
SLEEP 12:00am 68

Sat-Sun
WAKE 10:00am 72
SLEEP 12:00am 68

Let's all hope that my next heating bill is a lot less!!!

 

Stupidhead.

 

s aren't allowed in this thread, dagnabbit!