Hi,

I am looking for a recommendation for a new thermostat.
I currently have an electric heat pump with gas backup and two-stage blower. The current thermostat is a very basic digital model ( White-Rodgers ) and is working properly, as far as I can tell. It works like this:

Heating Mode: Activates heat pump as normal until it decides (somehow) that it's not working well enough at which point it activates stage 2 which only increases the blower speed. If this is insufficient to heat the home, I have to manually switch it to...

Emergency Heat Mode: Activates gas furnace, ignoring temperature setting, and runs until it feels it needs a break.

Cooling Mode: Unused by me so far, home inspector successfully tested.

Auto-changeover mode: Switches between Heating mode and Cooling mode as needed

The manual that the previous homeowner left me is not the correct manual for this brand & model of thermostat, so it's not too helpful. My model has 8 wire terminals and 6 of them are in use (6 small wires coming out of the wall).

What I am looking for is a model that will switch to the gas furnace backup automatically, or at the very least, mind the temperature setting. It would also be nice to have one that is backlit and programmable. I am not very concerned about price.

With a modern thermostat already connected for reference, I would be comfortable installing this myself. I also have access to a friend in the HVAC business for advice/help if need be.

Thank you for your time!

Try googling "Talkingthermostat" this will take you to a website of a company that handles stats for every applications, including stats that can be controlled over your telephone. You may want to just call them once you're at their site as opposed to searching on your own.

I would start at
https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/heatin...ons-58313.html There is some very good material there. You might also look around locally at what is available. I think many heat pump capable thermostats are capable of selecting aux heat when you need it.

It needs to be 2 stage heat, I like Honeywell's vision pro 8000 myself, I've had one on my wall since the day it came out (Promo :-) ) and I still love it.

I was not trying to sell you the telephone stat, just mentioning that it is one of many products they carry. NorthernHeat recommends honeywell's 8000 and it is a good fit for your needs.