Originally Posted by
hvac1000
The thermostat is the last thing I would replace. I might use a jumper or two at the furnace or air handler for elimination purposes. I believe they replace the thermostat because they feel comfortable with it since they see it all the time and it only has a few wires so it is not difficult to change. I would venture to say that 95% of all thermostats changed were changed for the wrong reason.
Usually the replacement thermostat will work worse than the old one because most people do not caulk where the wires penetrate the wall and that wall opening allows non room temperature air to hit the thermostat sensor and there goes the tight temp control.
All three of my thermostats here are 25 years old. They are the good old Honeywells that first came out with the adaptive recovery system. They have never been used as a set back unit but I like them because they have the best temperature control. I have about 40 different new thermostats sitting in the boxes but I have never been tempted to change to a newer unit. Since it has been somewhat cool this summer the board has not been that busy so that is good for all the folks to have less problems. I have posted this before but this is a actual picture from about 1973 of a set back system that was in use with a old coal stoker system.