What the work is
Most thermostat problems are wiring, not the thermostat: a missing common wire, a control that expects a stage the equipment does not have, or a heat pump wired as though it were a furnace. A smart thermostat on the wrong wiring is a smart thermostat that does not work.
We set the equipment type, the stages and the changeover, then leave it working and show you how to use it. If your equipment has two stages, you should know that, because a single-stage control on two-stage equipment means you paid for half a machine you never run.
Heat pumps are where this goes wrong most. A heat pump needs a control that understands reversing valve orientation and when to bring on auxiliary heat, and a standard thermostat wired to one will either run the backup heat constantly or not at all. Both are expensive in different ways.
We set it up and then we show you it working, including the schedule if you want one. A control nobody understands gets overridden to hold at one temperature, which throws away the only thing it was bought for.
What is included
- The control matched to the equipment, with stages and changeover set
- A common wire run where one is needed and can be run
- It working before we leave, and shown to you
- Heat pump changeover and auxiliary heat configured correctly where that applies
What is not
- Fishing a new wire through a finished wall where there is no path, without quoting it first
- A control the equipment cannot use, sold as an upgrade
What to ask anyone quoting this, us included
- Does my equipment have stages this thermostat can actually drive?
- Is there a common wire, and if not what are you doing about it?
- How is changeover set?
- Is my system a heat pump, and is this control set up for one?
- Can you show me the schedule before you go?