Recommendation Wanted on Thermostat

Hey all - Curious to know if people have recommendations on thermostats. I bought a Venstar unit, but for some reason, it isn't powering up via the power coming from my HVAC system. Before I go to extensive lengths here, I am wondering if the Venstar unit is even what I should be using. I have a pretty elaborate Insteon network already and want compatibility with Indigo.

Anyone have suggestions / likes / dislikes?

Dave

I know there are a number of other thermostats people are using, however, if the Venstar isn't receiving power, you may run into the same problem with other thermostats that use the 24V power that should be coming from the AC unit. I'm betting you have only 4 wires coming in from your HVAC system (assuming it does both AC and heating). The Venstar (and many of the advance thermostats out there) needs a 5th wire to get power from the HVAC system itself. I used Venstar's "Add-a-Wire" device, installed in the HVAC unit itself (pretty easily, I might add), which sends both power and fan activation on one wire, eliminating the need to run a brand new 5-strand thermostat cable.

However, if you're just not happy with the Venstar interface, I'm sure there are a few other thermostats out there that will work with Indigo.

If you can get that Venstar to work, I'm pretty sure you'll be happy. I've got a Venstar T1800 downstairs with a wireless temp sensor upstairs. That, combined with Indigo on my Mac Mini Server in the basement, is a great solution for me. My electric bill is driven by the HVAC (old unit, poor insulation) and the Venstar has brought my bill down considerably. There's a vast amount of flexibility within the thermostat itself as to how it runs the unit, but then using Indigo to run the set points, fan, etc. is just the icing on the cake. We never touch the thermostat anymore...

Phil

I put in 5 Venstar 1800s and am very happy with their operation. I did have to use 2 add-a-wire kits to get 24v power for the thermostats and also changed out my zone controllers. It was a big job, but in the end, the granularity of control is just what I needed.

Hey all - Curious to know if people have recommendations on thermostats. I bought a Venstar unit, but for some reason, it isn't powering up via the power coming from my HVAC system. Before I go to extensive lengths here, I am wondering if the Venstar unit is even what I should be using. I have a pretty elaborate Insteon network already and want compatibility with Indigo.
Anyone have suggestions / likes / dislikes?

Here's another vote for the Venstar line....

I have a T1800, and I have a review here ( http://www.schollnick.net/wordpress/201 ... -a-review/ )...

But overall, I think their line is one of the more affordable Insteon based thermostat's... And it works a heck of a lot better than my previous "smart" thermostat....

My only real complaint is that I have the Venstar before they started to "integrate" the Insteon adapter inside the body of the thermostat....

Overall, the user interface of the Venstar is very at the thermostat, and with the programmability of the Insteon link, it makes it even better...

- Ben

I have 3 of the Filtrete WiFi thermostats (installed for about 2 months now):

Link to Home Depot Product Page

I have not had any problems with the thermostats, and like their appearance compared to the Venstar, as well as the iOS app available for them.

I am using the proof of concept Indigo plugin for them (viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8084), but am not yet using it to actually change settings on the thermostats. I'm simply relying on schedules in the thermostat at this point. There seem to be some communication issues between the plugin and the thermostats. It's said the thermostats have weak wifi, but I can't really confirm that. Without the plugin running, they don't have any communication issues with the iOS app, the web site, or with another monitoring system I have set up, which polls them every 2 minutes for temperature. With the plugin running, two of the three frequently have communication with Indigo disabled, but the 3rd (which is the first one I set up in Indigo) doesn't suffer the same issue.

I have never used any of the Venstar models, so I can't compare them. Certainly the Venstar has much stronger Indigo support at this time. Not really a recommendation. Just passing my experiences along.