Digital Thermostat, burn my house down?
Question:Ok, I decided I needed a digital thermostat so I bought one at Lowes for $59. I got home and labeled all the wires except two, "C" and "E". The instructions said not to worry about "C" because it powered thermostats without batteries. "E" confused me though because the instructions didn't cover it. After more reading I discovered that the thermostat wasn't for "dual stage" heat pumps.. which is what I have. Well I was so far into the project that I didn't want to return it to lowes so I just capped the "E" (which I decided was for emergency heat) and the "C" wire off and finished installing it. Well the A/C works and the heat works.. my question is what if by some crazy act of nature the temperature droped enough next winter that the emergency heat tried to kick on (I live in Orlando so the chances are slim, I usually don't even use the normal heat) would it damage something? Or was the emergency heat logic built into the OLD thermostat I removed? Help me DIY guy!
Answers:
For one, it knows nothing. What I mean is if by nature the temperature dropped enough next winter(dropped enough to who) The thermostat doesn't know it, it doesn't care and won't try kicking anything because it is not wired to do so. So nothing will happen. It will work the single stage and that is all.
Well, I am a DIY guy and I used to work in HVAC. Not only that, but I know a good deal about electronics and electricity.
Probably, if I was there, I could figure it out. But I wouldn't trust myself to answer the question over here.
My suggestion is...bite the bullet and get in an experienced HVAC guy that knows the electronics and make sure it's done right. The company I used to work for had about 20 employees, and we had an electronics guy that was the wiz in relays, circuit boards, etc. Most larger HVAC companies will have an experienced guy they turn to for their electronic control problems.
That's the bad news. The good news is that your problem will not take very long to fix, so that at an hourly rate you're not going to get too hosed. But you definitely do need to suck this one up and get an expert in there to get the job done right.
Good luck!
I agree that all it will do is prevent your backup heat from coming on. In the event your electric backup even tried to come on (I don't see how it would), all modern furnaces have over-heat sensors that will shut it down if the furnace fan fails to kick on.
I do think you should get the right thermostat for your system. Eventually, (maybe when you sell your house), you'll have to replace it anyway so you might as well enjoy all the features your climate control system has.
Good Luck
Lowe's is great about taking things back. Pull the thermostat out, stuff it into the box it came from, and make a quick run to Lowe's for a Two Stage one. You will save annoyance in the short run and money in the long run.
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