Side by Side Comparison of: Lux vs Honeywell

Works well on my HVAC unit with emergency heat. Not all the features of my old thermostat (I wish it would switch from heating to cooling on it's own and would automatically switch to emergency heat if needed) but an affordable and quality item. The wiring for my old thermostat was not the same as any in the instructions. I just took a guess but before turning on I decided to call customer service. I don't think they had experience with the way my other thermostat was wired and they put me on hold for a bit. They confirmed that I had guessed correctly and I was set to go. I liked the fact that while it's physical size was smaller than my old thermostat, there was more room to accommodate the wires, so I could leave some extra wire in the case instead of having to push it all back into the wall.

I purchased this thermostat mainly for a specific feature that my old thermostat didn't have...the temperature swing setting. The old one was locked in at plus or minus 0.5 degrees. This was a problem because I discovered my air conditioner unit was oversized, so this plus the 0.5 degree swing setting was causing my AC unit to have short run times. This caused both inefficient compressor operation and humidity removal. After installing the the new Lux thermostat, I set the swing value to 5 (1.25 degrees), and my run times went from 5 minutes to a minimum of 10. I'm very happy with the results, and the cost was well worth it as I'm using less overall power for the same amount of cooling. Another thing I find very useful on the thermostat is the energy usage feature...It keeps track of the time the unit is on for the current day, previous day and total time since reset. This helps me keep track of my energy usage so I'm not surprised when I get my electric bill. I didn't have any issues installing or programing it. The instructions that came with it plus the ones I downloaded from the web were easy to understand.

I've owned Lux programmable thermostats for over 20 years and have 4 of them in my house currently. The back light stopped working on a 10 year old unit in my bedroom, so i decided to purchase this unit. Installation was extremely easy, uses the same mounting holes, but is considerable smaller than my old unit. This left me with an unpainted portion on my wall, which either needed to be painted or purchase the larger back plate. I choose to paint, which took all of 5 minutes. I read the instructions, downloaded the full user manual which was I read fully. The unit is extremely intuitive and, in the end, was a waste of my time to download and print the entire manual. The only setting that I changed was the recovery delay from 5 minutes to 2 minutes, which is done with a din switch on the back of the unit. Although we have only had this installed a few days now, we like it. The numbers a large enough to read without glasses, bright enough to see until it's dark and touching the unit anywhere lights it up for 10 seconds. Temporarily override and hold functions work the same as the older units, but are much easier to access. Finally, most utility companies are offering $25 back on the purchase of programmable thermostats and $100 back on WiFi enabled units. If this unit last as long as my others have, I'll be extremely pleased.

My thermostat konked out on me and I am a wanna be do it yourself-er widow. So I watched you tube video on how to install a new thermostat. Looked pretty straight forward. So I bought this one, best buy, good price, big numbers for my old eyes, simple to program. So I'm all nervous about installing it. Got the power turned off on the furnace/AC at the circuit breaker. Then got the cover off. OMG those wires and screws are tiny!!!
Got all the wires labeled. (Stickers Provided) Took off the old mounting bracket. Installed the new one. (Sheetrock anchors provided too.) Got the tiny tiny wires and the tiny tiny screws (apparently they are all that way) in the right slots. Put in the batteries, programmed it (simple) snapped it on the mounting bracket. Turned on the power and PRAISE THE LORD it works!!! Girls ROCK!!! I was so jazzed. It really was pretty easy to install, I just was so outside my comfort zone. So ladies this is the one for you!!

Forward:This is more than a review and experiences with the Lux Products TX9600TS. It includes what was important to me when looking for a new thermostat, the short list of the others I researched, and why I chose this model. The reason for replacing my previous thermostat, a Honeywell T87 style mercury type thermostat, was because it would run for a short period of time, stop, then restart again. The T87 worked fine with the forced air furnace we had several years ago, but ever since we upgraded to a 93% condensing furnace, it cycled so frequently that register air didn't have time to warm up adequately. We have a standing joke around here. "We have a furnace that heats with cold air."So why do people have rapid, short cycling problems like this after upgrading from say forced air to high-efficiency condensing furnaces in cold climates? My theory is it might stem from the differences in their their sequence of operation.A. Forced Air furnaces, i.e. 80% and less. 1 Thermostat calls for heat. 2. Burner starts. 3. Circulation fan starts after the air from the heat exchanger reaches 120-140 degrees. 4. Heats house. 5. Thermostat stops giving the call for heat. 6. Burner shuts off. 7. Circulation blower continues to circulate air until the air coming out of the heat exchange cools to 85 to 100 degrees so there is never any cold air exiting the register.B. High Efficiency Condensing Furnaces, i.e. 90% plus. 1. Call for heat. 2. Draft motor starts and pulls in cold air from outside. 3. As soon as furnace detects draft, it starts the hot surface igniter. 4. At the 30 second point, the gas valve opens. Flame detector must see flame within 2-3 seconds. 5. Circulation blower turns on, no matter what temperature the heat exchanger is. 6. Heats house. 7. Call for heat from thermostat ceases. 8. Gas valve is turned off. 9. The draft motor continues to pull in wicked cold air through the heat exchanger for the next 30 seconds, while the circulation blower blows air across the now wicked cold heat exchanger. 10. Thermostat senses the cold air, and starts a new cycle with a call for heat 25 seconds after the circulation fan stops from the previous cycle.Establishing my requirements:As our climate changes and we edge closer to the next ice age, winters have been getting colder, and things were getting a little out of hand this winter, so I decided it was time to get a thermostat with some control. There was no requirement for a programmable thermostat, but my requirements were:1. One I can control the temperature between the cut in and cut out time. That means I have to be able to understand HOW it decides to turn on and off so the I can determine if it meets that requirement.2. Doesn't require a degree in computer mysteries to use.3. Doesn't rely on batteries.4. Sensible price, which to me means less than $100. I had some fun looking at the NEST, Ecobee, and Prestige, but they were never contenders..The Short List:My first problem was to determine which products within the price range didn't require a battery for operation. That eliminated all of the digital, non-programmables. I came up with the following list:Honeywell RTH7500D Conventional 7-Day Programmable Thermostat $59.95Honeywell RTH7600D Touchscreen 7-Day Programmable Thermostat (Touch screen version) $79.95Lux Products TX500U Smart Temp Programmable Thermostat 5-2 Programming $37.97Lux Products TX1500U Smart Temp Programmable Thermostat 5-1-1 Programming $39.97Lux Products TX9600TS Touch Screen 7 Day Programmable 7-Day Programming Thermostat $63.67Researching and Reading the Documentation:I studied the manuals, and called and e-mailed both Honeywell and Lux Products. Both were very responsive, English was their first language, and they were knowledgeable.Contacting Lux:I sent LUX an E-Mail one night with several questions about the 3 different models I was looking at. The following morning I received a call. It was a very good conversation. During the conversation I mentioned how I like the ability to adjust the sensitivity on with what they term as swing. He was quick to point out that the TX500U and TX1500U current versions had removed swing. They have an a and b suffix.on them when you open the package, E.G.TX500Ua, TX1500Ua, and a different manual, even though the packaging and marketing still shows TX500U, TX1500U. He said they decided to retain swing on the TX9600TSa. The TX500Ua and TX1500Ua have something called Duration. If you enter 12 minutes, it will not turn on more than 5 times and hour. It heats up to the recommended temperature and stops, and won't start again until after the 12 minutes expires, and only then when heat is required. The temperature span between start and stop temperatures is fixed. Revision "a' was 1.8 degrees, and the "b" revision was further refined to 1.4 degrees. That would mean the true temperature variation could be more than that between cycles if the furnace was prevented from starting. On LUX models with swing, you put in a number between 1 an 9. Each number is 0.25 degrees F, for a maximum of 2.25 degrees, which I thought wasn't much of a range, until I learned swing doesn't work like I thought. Swing works on both sides of the set point so if you you enter a 2, it does turn on when the temperature dips below 0.5 degrees below the set point, but it also doesn't shut off until the temperature reaches .5 degrees above the set point. Thus to 2.25 maximum swing equates to a 4.5 degree spread between start and stop, which should be enough.Contacting Honeywell:Honeywell doesn't have swing except in the Prestige line which is only available through contractors. The DIY (Do-It-Yourself) models have only Cycles Per Hour, however they generally discourage it. I called Honeywell, and after they explained how it worked, I can understand why they discouraged it. For instance, for a high efficiency condensing furnace the recommend setting to 3 cycles per hour. What that setting does is divide an hour into 20 minute periods, and further divide those in half, with a 10 minute window where the system can be on, followed by a 10 minute window when the system cannot be on. Because of my disbelief, I made multiple calls to confirm this. That is actually quite different from the LUX. The LUX could run the entire hour if it had to, to get to the cut off temperature, and then not allowed to start again until the period expires. The Honeywell CPH sounds more like a unintelligent 50% duty cycle enforcer. I can understand now why so many reviews on the Honeywells mention frequent cycling as a problem, and why they encouraged me to go with the $300-$500 Prestige line to get swing. I also mentioned to Honeywell how they didn't have any temperature calibration ability. I was assured that they are set accurately at the factory, and there would be no problem with the temperature being off. However, the only thermometer that I know of that you can trust over time are the mercury and alcohol ones.Decisions, decisions:I leaned toward the Honeywell. I thought it looked nicer. The Honeywell also has daylight savings time built in, but not the LUX, in fact the Lux only uses day of week and time, not the date, which made me think, Micky Mouse. The other thing I liked was that the Honeywells have the option to auto switch between heating and cooling or manual. The feature doesn't matter to me, but it does indicate well thought out. I tried to rationalize that the Honeywell has been making thermostats for well over 100 years, as has Lux, so I shouldn't have to worry about them having a cycling problem like I had then. However, I had trouble coming to terms with that position when one of the major reoccurring complaints about the Honeywell on the web from people in cold climates, is rapid cycling, which is also why I was shopping for a thermostat in the first place. What I needed was something that stays on long enough to heat the house, which means the only cure was is a broader temperature span between on and off. There is only so much you can do to reconfigure the furnace, and I'd already proven furnace tweaking wasn't enough to fix the problem. The sad truth was the Honeywells didn't have a usable work-around for a frequent cycling problem. That left me with the 3 Lux Product's thermostats on my shortlist. There is only $2 difference between the TX500Ua and the TX1500Ua, so I dropped the TX500Ua from the list. The only difference that mattered to me between the TX1500Ua and TX9600TSa was the TX1500Ua uses Duration technology while the TX9600TSa uses Swing. They both have their advantages. With Duration, the temperature span would be 1.8 degrees for the "a" and 1.4 degrees for the "b". Thus, it is a fixed span, unless it has to wait out a Duration period, at which point the temperature range would drop until the appropriate amount of time has passed, and the thermostat would send a call for heat. However, as with the Honeywell, it would make the problem worse. Instead of doing very short cycles back to back, it would short cycle followed by a long wait. With the TX9600TSa, I set the Swing/Temperature Sensitivity, and it would cycle based on temperature, but there would never have to wait for a wait period to expire. Swing was the only method that can fix a problem like this. I didn't like paying an extra $30 for a touch screen that I didn't want, but the others didn't have the capabilities necessary to cure the problem. The Lux TX9600TS also advertises Battery Free Memory storage.Purchasing the thermostatI paid more money and bought locally because the furnace was cycling constantly and I wanted to fix it now. The TX9600TS packaging had no hint of whether it was a TX9600TS or a TX9600TSa. It did have a little -004 in small print after the model on the bottom of the packaging. Once it cut open the packaging, the instructions clearly stated TX9600TSa. The first thing I did was make sure the instructions said it had had Swing, like the Lux representative said, and they did. Then I was curious what the differences were between the TX9600TS and TX9600TSa. After going down their manuals side by side, the ONLY differences I could found were they made the TX9600TSa much easier for people to unsnap from its base, which is a complaint in the reviews. The only other changes a saw were slight differences in explaining the same features. The manual has the same number of pages, with the same items on each page.Initial setup of the thermostat:I read the instructions carefully. I didn't want to mess with the current thermostat during such cold weather, 10 degrees, until I had a plan. You need two AA batteries if you are going to do "arm chair" programming, so I got a couple of their recommended AA batteries. At first, I thought less of the Lux because of its use of dip switches instead of the soft setup the Honeywell uses. However, with the Honeywell setup, you need to deal with codes from the manual. E.G. You enter 0180 for the Heating Fan Control, and enter a 0 for gas or oil heat, or 1 for electric heat. Another nice feature of the Lux is that you can change a dip switch setting that can turn off all of the schedules, and use it like a regular thermostat, which I fully intended to do, but decided to leave it the default and change it later. The TX9600TS also advertises Battery Free Memory storage. Many give you so many seconds to change the battery, which indicates that you need batteries to maintain your settings during a power failure.Installation:The next thing was to check if I had the wiring necessary, and how things were currently wired. It was quicker to shut off the furnace, pull the cover, and check out the thermostat wiring from there than to disturb and have to re-level the current thermostat. I learned that the house had 4-conductor thermostat wire, which meant I was one wire short to be able to run the thermostat off furnace power, instead of the battery power. Fortunately, it didn't appear the wires were secured inside the wall, and unsecured is standard standard I hear. That meant I could use the old cable to pull a new one. I bought 22 feet of 8-conductor thermostat cable locally, and while there, picked up a 97 cent thermometer that read the same most of the others in the rack. I shut off the furnace switch as well as the furnace and air conditioning breakers. I took pictures of the furnace and thermostat wiring connections. It indeed turned out that pulling a new thermostat wire was far simpler than I had feared. Soon I had the new wire connected to the furnace and thermostat base and rechecked. I read where some people were upset because the touch thermostat would slide on the wall, so I put some thin 3M foam double-sided tape on the back of the base, away from the raised mounting areas, positioned the base with a level to make it look good, slid over to the right so the wiring came through on the left end of the thermostat base opening, and pressed the base against the wall. Having it to one side allowed me to mount a little nylon wire holder to the wall so the wire could never fall into the wall by accident, and the thin double-sided tape held the base in position while I drilled the new mounting holes in the wall. Then I pushed some insulation in around the where the wire where it comes through the hole in the wall, and put tape over the hole around the wire to prevent a draft from between floors from influencing the thermostat. Next I snapped the thermostat to the base, turned on both breakers, turned on the furnace, turned the thermostat to heat, and the furnace started. When you touch the display, it lights for 10 seconds, and you can faintly hear an oscillator while it is on. It surprised me that the display was not as bright as I thought it would be. That is probably good since most people probably just run off the batteries, and at night you wouldn't want it very bright. However, I was expecting the cool factor like I saw in the advertising, but what I received was what was practical.Final setup:I was initially confused during the setup only because I had difficulty accepting that it was that simple. I was thinking I must be missing something. Not so. You press the Menu button and press the on-screen scroll button to scroll though the settings. Then it's just the Next, OK, and Exit on-screen buttons. If you don't want to use the programs, but have them available, it's still easy. Simply press the on-screen Hold button. After that it behaves like a manual thermostat, but you still have all of the features such as Filter Monitoring, time, day-of-the-week, etc. that according to the manual you wouldn't have if you change the dip switch to have it act like a manual thermostat. It also does not lose the Hold setting when you change the temperature. If you want it to run the schedule, pressing Hold again releases it to run the schedule, and the display changes from Hold to Program Mode. When I touch the current temperature on screen, and nothing happens other than the screen lights up. If I touch the set temperature on screen, up and down arrows appear to adjust the temperature. The Fan On-Off fan switch is simple mechanical switch and the the Heat-Off-Cool switch are simple mechanical switches on the right side, just like a manual thermostat. This is what I like because in Spring and Fall, everything is turned off. In the summer after it gets hot, we simply switch it to cool and have the thermostat control the temperature, and turn it off when we don't want it to cycle anymore. Likewise in the late fall after things get quite cold, we turn it to heat for the season. However, for people that live in moderate climates where it might be cold at night, and hot during the day, they would prefer the Honeywell, which can be optionally enabled to automatically switch between Heat and Cool. The Honeywell doesn't not seem to have the problem of short cycling in moderate climates. When I spoke to the Lux representative, who is also from Michigan, I talked about how I planned to set the Swing to 8, so I would have 2 degrees up and 2 degrees down. He said he has the same thermostat, and said 4 turned out to be enough, so I set it to 4, and set the temperature at 62. This means it would kick in if it dipped below 61, and shut off as soon as the temperature exceeded 63.Experiences:1. It worked as expected right away.2. No more short cycling issues, but I was also in for some surprises. Even in 20 degree weather, it takes well over an hour to lose 1 degree of house temperature. That means with even the 2 degree span, the heat would be off for more than 2 1/2 hours. I didn't know how slowly the house lost heat until now. The way it was cycling before, it acted like the windows were open. It also makes sense to me now why Lux tightened the temperature hard-wired 1.8 degree temperature span on the TX500Ua and TX1500Ua to 1.4 degrees on the TX500Ub and TX1500Ub. However, it also makes me very glad that I picked the TX9600TS where I can adjust the span anything I need, down to .5 degrees. (A setting of 1 will cause a call for heat at .25 degrees below the set temperature, and cancel the call for heat .25 degrees above the set temperature.)3. My concern about others in the household being able to understand the thermostat if I left it configured for optional program mode turned out to be unfounded. It was a 1 minute class, and not even the least technical had a problem understand what to do.4. Nobody wanted to run a schedule because they wanted to do it manually. Two days later they were talking about a running schedule.5. On the Honeywells, people complain about the loud click when things happen. I found no complaints about the Lux in that regard, so I didn't know one way or the other. I can report that the sound of the click of the internal relays inside the Lux are very faint. You need to be close by to even hear them.6. Both Lux and Honeywell state they are temperature calibrated at the factory, and you should never have to change anything. However, at least the Lux does has a way to do it if necessary as things change over time, instead of replacing the thermostat. The old thermostat and the thermometer I picked up at the store agreed on the temperature. The Lux read between 4 and 5 degrees high. I simply set the calibration to -5.Summary:For me, I don't believe I could have done better than the TX9600TS. I discovered how useful Swing is. If I lived in a moderate climate, I would have no doubt gone with one of the Honeywells. Might one of the two Honeywells worked for me? I can't know that, but from the complaints around the web, reading the documentation, and talking with Honeywell, they don't have anything you can configure to cure the short cycling problem if you encounter it."Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Easy to install, and program. I set the get up time/temp, leave time/temp, arrive home time/temp and go to bed time/temp. I set it once and it works every day!

honeywell mis-advertised this product, it is not 1 week programmable, it is one day, 4 periods per day. the next, (more expensive) one up is one week. however i do not need or want 5/2 days program. this has significantly reduced heating costs on a williams gravity room gas furnace. the thermostat they include is junk.so if you do not need sat sun programing, get this at best price, a lot of returns due to honeywell mis-advertising. they should fire exec in charge of advertising.

The setting you input will remain in effect all 7 days of the week. This wasn't very clear to me, and apparently if you want a thermostat that will adjust on the weekends, it needs to be a "7-day" or a "5-2 day" thermostat. Install was easy, going from an old analog mercury thermostat to this one. The "green" wire was actually blue, and "red" was a very faded pink, but my old thermostat's circuit had the appropriate letters on it, making identification easier. I took pictures of the dismantle each step of the way to help me backtrack if needed. As a thermostat, it functions well. However, the description, and even the packaging, confused me into believing it was a 7-day device.Update: increased rating to 5 starts (from my original 3). The thermostat works well and overriding the program on weekends is as easy as adjusting the temp one time each day, so it's really not a hassle.

We had an old mercury theromostat in the house that was off by about 15 degrees and would trip every time you walked past it.Summer is on the way and I wanted to cool the house better and was thinking of buying a floor fan.Looking at pricing, it made more sense to go with a new thermostat.It took about 10 minutes total to remove the old thermostat and install the new one.I left in on the pre-programmed weekly cooling schedule and it has done wonders already.The true test will be when the next utility bill comes in!

This thermostat works great for my needs. Since there are people in and out of the house all day long, I just wanted something that would simply turn the heat down at night, and turn it back up again in the morning without anyone having to think about it. It doesn't have any major features or frills, but it works as it's supposed to. You can actually set it to come on in the morning and heat the house before you get out of bed, then you can set it for a different temp when you leave for work, and then have it kick back on again before you get home from work, and then finally low again for nighttime (if you like to save energy). It will repeat the programming you set for 7 days a week. It does not allow for separate settings on different days or weekends. You can manually change the temperature and it can retain it temporarily (it'll go back to the temp settings at the next time setting) or you can press the hold button and it'll hold that temperature until you change it or press the run button.Very easy install. If you're like me and have been lazy about upgrading (I know I'm way behind...) then just do it already.

I wanted a simple to install thermostat to replace the aging, mercury switched Honeywell items that control our heat and cooling. After researching I decided that a simple weekly timer is good enough, and certainly better that what we had originally. The RTH221B shows the current temperature and can be set to adjust the temperature when you wake, leave, return and night. It is simple to use with 15 minute increments.Installation says "15 minutes or under" and I found this to be true.To install: Turn off power to furnace and thermostat (although it is a low voltage feed, you MUST still do this) Unscrew the original thermostat from the wall but leave wires attached Check the color of the wires and which terminals they attach to on the original (look for small letters W,R,Y,Rc etc) Mark the wires (if needed) with the stickers provided in the package Unhook wires from the original Remove backing plate from new thermostat, thread wires through hole and place against wall Attach backing plate using screws and wall plugs provided Put 2 x AAA batteries(NOT supplied)in the faceplate Attach previously marked wired to the matching terminals at the back of the faceplate Snap faceplate onto backing plate Read instructions for setting time and programs Turn power to furnace back onPros: cheap, easy to install, good instructionsCons: would have been nice to include 2 x AAA batteriesOverall a good buy. I fitted one as a test and then bought 3 more.

Been very pleased thus far. No issues with displayed temp not matching ambient temp - and I am using the 24v dc wire from the heat pump to power the unit, with batteries as backup. I've read several instances where people have had an issue with the 24v dc connector causing their thermostat to 'run warmer' than the room really is. What I can say is that we have noticed a huge difference in how our heat pump performs. It seems to run much more efficiently - it runs more frequently but much shorter cycles and the house is much more constant, temperature-wise. I would have given the thermostat 5 stars, except I had to drive quite a way to buy a 1-foot length of thermostat wire to put in a jumper to make the heat work correctly (after a call to tech support). If you do NOT jumper the W1 terminal from yellow with a heat pump with emergency and aux heat, you will only get heat if you run the thermostat up to the point where it calls for aux heat. The old thermostat did not have this jumper in place. Regardless, I think they should provide a jumper wire - not everyone has a piece of thermostat wire just laying around. Other than that, I am completely pleased with the performance, especially for the price of this unit.

I chose this digital thermostat because of it's larger digits. I don't need a programmable model but it's easy to set this to SETHOLD so it does not revert to automatic setback if you know how. The booklet is clear and they do have U.S. phone support. I have 2 and like the clean design. It's a 2 piece design so you can snap off the thermostat from the wall plate. The only disappointment for me is there is no provision I can find to set the backlight always on. It's located in a dark hallway and requires me to push the button to read the display. I do have power provided by the furnace controller but I think the battery inside may power the backlight. I suspect but am not sure that if the battery were to become exhausted the thermostat might just revert to it's preset values. This would definitely not be good for my needs and I must thus watch the battery indicator for this. Maybe I can confirm this one way or the other with their phone support. Then again maybe I should just remove the battery and see what happens.

Pretty easy to set up. Set one day, can copy/paste to others. Kind of a pain to cycle through all days/times/settings to adjust weekend days, but in reality shouldn't be doing this very often. Took one star away because the ambient temperature was about 2 degrees F off. Had to adjust it. One other small complaint. If you want to temporarily change the setting away from what's programmed, there are two buttons available after adjusting: "Next" and "Hold". If you (or someone in your household, lol) accidentally pushes "Hold", it holds that temperature setting indefinitely, ignoring all programming... Make sure to use "Next" if you want next programmed setting to kick in when it's time. For the price, I'm happy with my purchase.

So far this product works great. I installed it myself with little problems. If I have on peeve or two it's the instructions. There are 6 choices they give you depending on your unit. If you're like me, I just know it's a gas furnace.The help line only open Monday -Friday 9-5. So if you do it on the weekend like most of us, you are SOL.If you purchase it from Home Depot, don't ask tbem. All of them are clueless and nothing like their commercials.But besides that..nice unit.

I purchased this because the Honeywell that came with my new house was not programmable. Installation was very easy since the letter scheme on the old Honeywell matched the Lux. The new thermostat looks very cool and modern in my house since it is basically just a big touchscreen. For some reason I was expecting the cool blue backlight to be on all the time but it isn't and I guess that is probably good since it would drain the batteries pretty quick, it only lights up when you touch the panel. The touch screen is very nice and I had no problem using it to program the thermostat. My local Lowes carried this TX9600TS model as well but it was almost $20 more than on Amazon. I'm very happy so far and I would recommend it to others.

I recently installed this in my apartment, as what i had before was solely a temperature gauge.The thermostat it replaced was a heat pump system(the most wires)I was constantly adjusting the thermostat when I woke up, when i left for work, when i came home, and when I went to bed.I bough this has a permanent addition to the apartment, and being permanent i did not want to go with the app enabled devices that were more expensive.This thermostat met all my expectations. it has a 4 time 7 day programmable setting with an adjustable offset. The offset prevents the A/C from toggling repeatedly, which helps keeps the electric bill lower.It was easy to install and took me around 45 minutes in total.The only downside is that it is a bit time consuming to setup the different time and day temperatures, and the system is unforgiving if you make a mistake with the settings. This is a small downside, as I do not constantly change the settings, but still something to consider.

Very handy, simple to install and a perfect replacement for the old thermostat. So far, so good.

Very good alternative to the box stores. Has all the basic functions and comes with everything to make it a plug and play application.

It works. It didn't take me long to figure out, and I'm kind of a moron when it comes to stuff that require me to read instructions, because I don't like to read instructions. Simple and straightforward to install. Takes about 7 minutes. Why spend more?

My house was built in 1974, and the thermostat we had was original. It was hard to get an accurate temperature reading from it and I wanted something cheap and programmable, so I bought this Honeywell unit. I'm mostly satisfied with it - the install was a breeze, the instructions were clear, and the unit functions perfectly. The only gripes I have with it are that the screen is not backlit and there was no option to hardwire it, meaning you have to use batteries for it. However, at this price, I can live with those complaints.

I have been using Honeywell thermostats for some time, all with good results.I purchased this one to replace a non-programmable version and it is performing as expected.The only negative that I found with this model was the labeling of the terminals inside: the red wire label is shifted such that the unused terminal can be mistaken with the one intended for the red wire, especially since the correct one has a wire bridge to the adjacent terminal; two wires go into the red terminal: the red itself and the factory equipped bridge.Other than the above, it is a good product and simple to use.

Being retired, and having an old failed Honeywell 5/2 day thermostat, we replaced it with this 7-day model for heating only. It was simple enough to replace. The twin wiring was identical and so were the wall mounting hole centers. The directions for set-up were fairly clear. My one beef is that the new thermostat lacks back lighting which the old one had. The letters are small enough where one needs a flashlight during setup, requiring three hands at times, and is awkward for those of us with just two hands. Omitting the back light is inexcusable since the 5/2 twin RTH2300 DOES have back lighting. Another caution is that you need a tiny screwdriver to turn the wire set screws. I happen to have one but I would guess few people do.

The unit is very good and has been in service almost 1.5 years. We do not program, but could.Anyway, I am not thrilled about the switches on the side. Very hard to operate between positions. All controls could have been digital.

Not so easy to program as it sounds. Tip: put the battery in, program it, then plug it into the wall: sitting down under a good light helps

my wall didnt have a wire for power so i ad to use the battery, the unit buzzes when the blue back light comes on, its really loud and the back light never stays on, so you cant see the temperature in the room. although i think its a great unit/value for the price, it could be better in functionality and ease of use.

The Lux TX9600TS offers some advanced features at a reasonable price. It’s capable of performing well, but there’s one critical caveat.The thermostat can be powered by:- Batteries alone (2 AA alkaline batteries)- 24 volts AC alone- 24 volts AC with battery backupIf your thermostat cable has a 24 volt AC common wire, it can be connected to the thermostat's “C” terminal to provide the power. This can be used alone or in addition to installing batteries as a backup. According to the manufacturer, the thermostat has non-volatile memory for the program, but you will have to reenter the current time and day if the thermostat has no power source for more than one minute. For convenience, the thermostat can be programmed while removed from the wall if batteries are installed.I tested the Lux TX9600TS with my heat pump over a three week period in heating season and made the following observations.When powered by batteries alone the thermostat performed well –– accurately displaying and controlling room temperature. In Heat mode with the thermostat’s swing setting at +/-0.25°F the room temperature differential measured by a min/max thermometer 6” from the thermostat was no greater than 0.7°F.After connecting AC power to the “C” terminal, the temperature displayed by the thermostat suddenly decreased 2°F, then slowly increased 5°F (a net increase of 3°F) as if the temperature sensor was being heated by the power supply. Adjusting the thermostat’s calibration improved the accuracy of the displayed temperature, but the magnitude of the error fluctuated over time.In Heat mode with AC power, noticeable temperature swings and prolonged cycle durations occurred even though the thermostat’s temperature swing was set at its minimum of +/-0.25°F. The room temperature differential was high as 2.4°F measured by a min/max thermometer 6” from the thermostat.After disconnecting AC power from the “C” terminal, the temperature displayed by the thermostat suddenly increased 2°F, then slowly decreased 5°F (a net decrease of 3°F) as if the temperature sensor cooled until it reached ambient temperature. At this point the thermostat accurately displayed the ambient temperature at the default calibration of 0°F and provided good temperature control.The disadvantage of powering the thermostat by batteries alone is that you must remember to replace the batteries when they get weak, and make sure to have fresh batteries on hand.As a result of the poor performance of the Lux TX9600TS when powered by AC, I purchased a Honeywell RCT8200A (identical to the Honeywell RTH8500D), and began comparison testing.Although the Honeywell lacks some the features of the Lux, including adjustable swing, adjustable offset and energy usage monitor, it performed very well when powered by AC –– accurately displaying and controlling the ambient temperature. The room temperature differential measured by a min/max thermometer 6” from the thermostat was no greater than 0.7°F, matching the Lux’s battery-powered performance.Both the Lux TX9600TS and the Honeywell RCT8200A / RTH8500D have an optional recovery feature. With recovery enabled, the thermostat attempts to reach the desired temperature at the scheduled time by changing the temperature setting early.The recovery feature isn’t just for comfort. A thermostat with a good recovery algorithm can save energy with systems that have a second heating stage that’s more expensive to operate than the first stage (for example, a heat pump with electric resistance auxiliary heat). During recovery, the thermostat gradually increases the temperature, maximizing use of the more efficient first heating stage, and minimizing use of the second stage. If you have such a system, you can save money by using the recovery feature even if you don’t need it for comfort.The recovery performance of the Lux and Honeywell models I tested is somewhat limited because they are not capable of monitoring the outside temperature and adjusting the recovery accordingly. That capability isn’t expected at this price level. These thermostats estimate the recovery time based on previous performance.I don’t have the capability of measuring the energy use of my heating system while controlled by each thermostat under identical conditions, but I did observe the recovery durations. I allowed each thermostat to “learn” how long it took my system (a heat pump with electric resistance auxiliary heat) to reach the programmed temperature setting for several nights. The Lux TX9600TS began recovery no more than one hour early. The Honeywell RCT8200A / RTH8500D began recovery as long as three hours early in order to minimize use of expensive auxiliary heat.Comparing the displays of the two thermostat, the Lux has larger characters, but the Honeywell’s light green backlight appears brighter and provides better contrast than the Lux’s blue backlight. Both thermostats turn off their backlights seconds after touching the screen. This annoying behavior is understandable if the thermostat is operating on batteries, but I’d prefer the backlight stay on at least one minute when powered by 24 Volts AC.If you want a thermostat with adjustable swing temperature and adjustable temperature offset between the first and second heat stages, the Lux TX9600TS is worth considering, but only if you are willing to power it with batteries alone.I would rate the Lux TX9600TS as follows, contingent upon its power source:4 out of 5 stars if powered by batteries alone.1 out of 5 stars if powered by 24 Volts AC.

I like the thermostat. I have issues with it though. About 4 times a year the unit "freezes" up. The thermostat acknowledges that the actual temperature but it never turns the ac or heat actually off. When this happens I usually wake up in the middle of the night with my house at about 60 degrees and turn the thermostat to OFF. I let it sit like that for a while and turn it back on a couple hours later and it usually performs fine from there. I am not sure why mine does this and reading other people's comments it does not seem like anyone else has issues with this. I never had any issues with my old thermostat and it does not happen often but I worry about it when I go out of town. Good unit otherwise

The thermostat looks great, is easy to install, and has a lot of features. However when the back lite is on, it makes a high audible buzz noise. I knew going into it this may be an issue, and when I tried to show my roommate how to use it, first thing he said after the screen lit up "whats that buzzing sound?." You will hear it and it only buzzes when you touch the screen and the back lite goes on. For sixty something it is a value compared to what's out there, as long as you are okay with the buzzing it will make.Second thing I want to point out, the model I got from Amazon was the TX9600TSa.... The "a" is the newer model.

Its a good stat. I wanted to use this in my RV as other Honeywell ones did but they said it wont work and it did not.

Simple to install and it worked great, but I ordered another one because I frequently wander downstairs in the dark and prefer not to turn on the lights.

Works fine but it's really annoying that the display doesn't light up. Didn't know that when I bought it and after having used it I can't recommend buying one without the light function.

Price was right. As previous reviews have pointed out, no back-light and only one week programming vs week days and week ends. This actually is fine for us since we're retired and every day is a weekend. Issues I had with the design included it was difficult to easily separate the back and front plate, without also separating the circuit board from the back plate. If no-one else had this issue, perhaps it was just this particular unit. We have moved a lot, so this is one of many Honeywell digital programmable thermostats that I have installed with this issue. The batteries also had the tendency to 'pop out'...had to clear tape them into complete installation. That said...price and base functionality was what I was looking for, and that's exactly what I got.Ps also like the much smaller 'footprint' this model takes up on the wall vs some other company equivalent versions.

I ordered 3 RTH221B units but was disappointed that all 3 units shipped were different models. They all work pretty well but instruction documents did not match the product. Had to guess how to wire up one of them. The programming procedure is different on each of them as well. One unit was clearly was not new.

I didn't know they still made thermostats without a backlit display! Very easy to install, but if you want to change the temp any time other than high noon, better have a flashlight.

Very complicated install and directions in comparison to store bought

I liked the product fine while it worked. Just over two years (25 months to be exact) after I installed it, the temperature wouldn't go above 61 degree with the thermostat set at 70. This went on for over a week. I thought something was wrong with the furnace, so I called the repair guys (not cheap for me because I live very far out in the country and the repair guys have to drive over 30 miles to get to me). Anyway, they looked it over and said the furnace was operating fine. On a whim I turned the thermostat to 80 and the temperature came up to 70. A thermostat of this quality should last much longer than two years.

Easy to install however the room temperature appeared to be at least 3 degrees higher that it actually was. I compared it 2 thermometers that I placed in the same area as the Lux unit. I know are very accurate. Don't waste your money. I decided to return it for refund. I later ordered an Emerson unit. Much more accurate and more user friendly and less money.

I gave this device several months of trial. However, it has proven to be almost impossible to program and certainly impossible to see in normal lighting conditions. Even the backlit surface which only lights when you touch the screen has very little contrast between the so-called numbers and letters and the background.In programming you have about 4 to 6 seconds to enter your data to program the machine. Then the light goes out and you can go longer see it. It proved it proved impossible for me to program properly and certainly to check my data out. I have not returned it, but I have purchased a replacement.

The thermostat looks nice but unfortunately has flaws. When powered from the AC when back light is on it emits annoying high frequency pitch. I would have accept that but the thermostat was failing to maintain temperature within the programmed range. The shift was up to 2 degrees. I had an older and cheaper RITE TEMP that was working better and which I put back in place.

The thermostat "works" in the sense that it reliably turns the furnace on when the temp is a few degrees below the set temperature, and turns it off again when the temperature is a few degrees above the set temperature.However, the temperature sensor is inaccurate and unreliable. The thermostat routinely displays the current temperature as 3 or 4 degrees warmer than the actual temperature (as verified by independent measurement). That forced me to redo my heating program and set higher values for all of the temperatures. This took about 5 minutes, which is not a huge deal, but it was something I've never had to deal with on any other thermostat.More importantly, the device emits a high-pitched whine whenever you activate the touch screen. The noise isn't terribly loud, and it goes away as soon as the screen shuts off again, otherwise I would have returned it already.Given the bugs, I fully expect this device to fail soon. When it does, I will not be replacing it with another from this manufacturer.

No backlight which make it useless if it's not in a brightly lit area.

Wouldn't here a schedule and wasn't backlit. Didn't realize how important that feature was. Returned and ordered a different unit.

Wish I could set separate schedules for weekday and weekend. The picture even shows a "Th" for Thursday on the display - this isn't even a function of this model. I misunderstood the description and thought I was purchasing the same model I had before. Doesn't really help at all unless you have the same schedule on weekdays and weekends.

Didn't work for mine outlet. Couldn't figure out which wires in the wall goes to where on the control.The slots in the thermostat are too small to fit my thick wires from the wall.

Don't know.. I am struggling with mine.. I have it set to lower the heat at night but seems that it doesn't. I verified settings several times and still am always manually adjusting..Not too happy but since already installed and mounted, will not return them.

It was very hard to program and when I set the sleep time and temperature at 11:00 PM and temperature at 10 degrees lower than day time heater came on at 11:45 I was already in bed and had to get up to shut it off. I figured you get what you pay for.

This Thermostat produces a very annoying low pitch noise any time the back display lights up. First I thought my unit was defective, so I ordered another one. Same thing. Brand new out of the box issues. So if you are sensitive to hearing I wouldn't recommend it.

I connected this thermostat exactly as the instructions said.I set the temperature to 71°F and set the set point to 80°F. I flipped it to HEAT and the fan came on right away but no heat came on.I reset the set point to 45°F and flipped it to HEAT again and the fan came on right away and didn't go off.I reconnected the old thermostat and it worked just the way it is supposed to.

didn't work after two months.......

Doesn't even look remotely as bright as you make it look here?........first one failed haven't even tried the replacement. The first one cost me $202 just to have my old one put back in.because of a defect in the first one!

So poorly made that one of the screws you need to loosen to insert the wires is too tight to loosen (even with two people and vice grips!). Even their own instructions tell you not to tighten it too much. Pathetic.

This thing is garbage. Easy enough to install and set up but will not hold temperature. I set unit to 69 and it will drop all the way to 65 and run secondary heater. Switches won't relay to turn fan on. I tried calling customer service/tech support at 4pm and left my phone plugged in was on hold for 2 hours until they eventually disconnected me at their closing time 6pm. This thing is junk.

The screen is incredibly small and no option to set/see day. This is not what I ordered but I also paid for installation so I have no choice but to keep it

No backlight - Honeywell customerless service lived down to minimum (a useless phone number

Purchased on 07/19/17,after 2 months the display is blank.Contacted Honeywell and they will send me a replacement. Just hope this one last me more than 2 months!!!

This thermostat has settings throughout the day to auto set the temperature, so you can coordinate usage of cheap time electricity vs exensive time, when you are not home. It seems to have a mind of its own, however. Does not work according to time settings. Didn't notice until too late to return.

This does not turn on automatically when it reaches the temperature I set. When our handyman put back the old one, it worked fine. I called the honeywell but they keep saying I need to have contractor look at the wiring.. do not buy this

Very poor. Works some of the time and not some of the time. Sometimes when it come on it forgets to turn off and your freezing. So you have to turn the thermostat up and next your hot. Not good