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ndrealm · Feb 15, 2009, 05:06 PM

We've been in this house for 25 years now and have had the same heater/ac/thermostat. Lately, I've been looking for ways to cut energy costs and so I bought a programmable thermostat (hunter #44550) based on good reviews.

After I read the manual, I attempted to remove the cover plates to our current thermostat and saw 8 different wires with letters that didn't all correspond to the letters on the hunter model. Now I'm not sure if I bought the right kind of thermostat. I just put everything back as it was and started researching online for some answers.

Attached are pictures of my current Bryant thermostat #P271-3472, my Bryant heating unit label and wiring panel for the Hunter thermostat.

Please someone help me figure this out or suggest a thermostat that would work better for what I have. I am not really sure what kind of heater we have... *blush* :o

Thanks!

Jean

KC13 · Feb 15, 2009, 05:13 PM

Based on the pics, you have a 2-stage heat pump system. I am curious as to where you managed to find good reviews for Hunter thermostats. The needle in the haystack should be a piece of cake for you now... ;)

ndrealm · Feb 15, 2009, 05:26 PM

On this hunter model, I read reviews on amazon.com and it was favorable. There's nothing wrong with the operation of my existing thermostat, I just thought a programmable one would help me cut some energy costs. At this rate, a needle may just be easier to find. Do you have any suggestions?

KC13 · Feb 15, 2009, 07:25 PM

If you have had no success at your local Home Depot or Lowe's, try furnaceparts.com. I suggest avoiding "cheap" brands like Hunter, RiteTemp, and Maple Chase. Honeywell and White Rodgers are your best bet. You need 2 heat/1 cool compatible with heat pump systems.

ndrealm · Feb 15, 2009, 07:34 PM

Ahh, OK! I just started browsing through this forum and realized that you're anti-hunter brand. I, on the other hand, have absolutely no knowledge or experience with any hvac brands so I appreciate your suggestions and will look into those brands and type you mentioned for my system. I had no idea hunter was a "cheap" brand.

Incidentally, I read on another post that programmable thermostats may not be as cost saving to 2 stage heat pumps, what are your thoughts on this? If it wouldn't help, there's no need to change it out and I'll have to move on down the list of things to do to save energy. I guess I have to do more research *sigh*.

Thanks for your help :)

KC13 · Feb 15, 2009, 07:40 PM

If you select one with adaptive or "smart" recovery, it will minimize or avoid usage of the auxiliary heat by starting the recovery early. This allows the heat pump to bring the temperature up gradually and economically.

wmproop · Feb 16, 2009, 06:52 PM

Originally Posted by KC13

Based on the pics, you have a 2-stage heat pump system. I am curious as to where you managed to find good reviews for Hunter thermostats. The needle in the haystack should be a piece of cake for you now...;)

Amazon will give good reviews on anything they sell,,

Good job KC13

KC13 · Feb 16, 2009, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by wmproop

amazon will give good reviews on anything they sell,,,,,,

good job KC13

I was covering for you... :D

obckilroy · Dec 3, 2009, 06:04 PM

Thank you for posting the pictures, I just bought a house with the same thermostat. I bought a thermostat from Lux (tx9100e) that supports a 2 stage heat pump. If you haven't replaced yours yet this was an inexpensive thermostat. The documentation that came with the thermostat did not have any 7 wire diagrams, so I had to call their tech support line for the correct wiring