The Coy Pond

THE PROJECT: Replace our old, ugly, hideous, enormous, mercury-having thermostat with a new pretty programmable one
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Well, for us, it was kind of hard at first, but got easier as we went along. Now I’d say it’s pretty much super-easy.

We installed this thermostat before I decided we needed to start blogging about our home improvements, so we don’t really have detailed pictures of this project. Sorry!

Bruce attended a Home Depot “class” on installing programmable thermostats. Of course it looked extremely easy when someone else was doing it, and when all the wires matched up perfectly (because that’s what happens in these types of demonstrations). So he brought home a new middle-of-the-road Honeywell digital to replace our old wall monster.

Before doing anything, we shut off the heater and to further protect ourselves, we shut off the electricity to the heater/thermostat from the circuit box.

The first challenge was actually removing the old thermostat from the wall. It had been attached with screws, of course, but beyond that it was attached with 22 years of paint layers. It took awhile and some of Bruce’s brute strength, but it finally came free! Victory!

The next step was carefully removing wires from the old thermostat and labeling them individually with tape, so we could attach them to the new thermostat correctly. I really wish we had a picture of this, I was very proud of how organized I was able to keep things. This seemed like it was going to be SUPER easy, like plugging in speakers or something, until we realized there were a couple of wires that didn’t meet expectations. Like, there were two wires attached to the Y terminal. It wasn’t until I removed the plate from the wall that I realized the extra Y wire was just drawing power to run the giant analog clock on the old thermostat. Issue one resolved! Then there was the pesky TC wire.

I still don’t know what a TC wire is. Temperature Control is the common guess, and maybe that’s what it was, but apparently the new fancy digital goodness doesn’t need it. So I cut the curl off the wire and then covered the remaining exposed wire with electrical tape. I was pretty nervous to do that, to be honest. I get scared of this electrical stuff. It’s nothing to be trifled with, in my opinion.

Once we got the new wall plate up, all the other wires hooked up perfectly: Y, G, R, and W (if I remember correctly) all had terminals. This thermostat has little “plug-in” areas that get secured by screws that sink in and secure the wires. It was insanely easy once we got to that point. After we did that, we screwed on the front and, nervously, switched the power back on. Then we turned the heater back on. We set the thermostat so the heater would turn on (with the fan on auto) and VOILA! It worked! VICTORY TWO! After we were sure that was working properly, we switched the thermostat so the A/C would kick on. After a self-imposed delay, the thermostat turned on the cold! VICTORY THREE, and game over!

This was our very first ever electrical project and it was a major success. As long as proper precautions are taken, it’s actually very easy. I am looking forward to changing out the lights in our bathrooms, and fixing some upside-down light switches. I might even update our electrical outlets (the pros call them “receptacles”) if I get really ambitious!

If any of you have problems with thermostat installations, you can ask us. We’re now experts. Or at least we think we are. Which means that when one of you asks us for help, we’re most likely NOT going to know the answer to your question. :)

RESULT: Major success!!