Honeywell Wireless WiFi Thermostat,7 Programmable

I bought two Honeywell TH9320WF5003 thermostats for installation in two different floors/zones in a multifloor condo. I already had a different Honeywell thermostat at another location that was wifi connected and that I could control with the Honeywell iOS phone app, so was hoping to control all thermostats at both locations using the same app.Like many others, there were no c-wires with the original battery thermostats so I also bought two Venstar Add-a-wire kits. Unfortunately adding physical c-wires would have been impractical and very expensive. In short, the Add-a-wire kits worked perfectly with the thermostats and all functionality was retained with the thermostats (unlike the g-wire short cut). I love the display of these Honeywell thermostats. They have the current temp and humidity, the outside temp and humidity, status, schedule and heating and cooling set points. They work well, look great are easy to read, contain all the info you might need and can be controlled remotely via the iOS phone app.I did the installation myself without any problems, but it took about 2+ hours for each one to install. Here are a some issues that might come up with this type of installation if you want to try it.1) Read the familiarize yourself with the wiring diagrams and the furnace circuit board layout before you start.2) The Add-a-wire diode has to be tucked behind the thermostat mounting plate, so I used a chisel to make a larger hole in the drywall to accommodate the diode and wiring. I had a white plastic wall plate that the thermostat sat on.3) The wire colors may not match the labels on the thermostat mounting plate. For example, in my case a blue wire was connected to the Y terminal (but red to R, white to W, green to G etc) so make sure and double check that the correct color wire is attached to the correct terminal. I created by own wiring diagram to keep track of what wire needs to be attached to what terminal.4) The terminal sockets that the wires have to be inserted in the thermostats are delicate. I used a ball pint pen to push down and release them while inserting the wire. Make sure each wire is firmly attached when you release the ball point pen. Also be careful not to break a wire as only one can be inserted in each terminal.5) At the furnace circuit board, where the Venstar box is installed, there may be more wires attached to the terminals (for humidifiers etc). Make sure these are still properly connected to the original terminals after you connect the Venstar wires.6) The thermostats dont work with all encryption methods, so make your router is set up for encryption the thermostat recognizes. A review by someone else in Amazon here contains more details.7) As my systems were for both heating and cooling, I wanted dual control (automatic control). Once the system is running, go to Menu>Preferences>Advanced Preferences>Heating and Cooling System Changeover and change from Manual (default) to Automatic. Then both the heating set point and the cooling set point are displayed on the main thermostat screen. The default setting will only show one set point.8) After registering the thermostats and going to mytotalconnectcomfort.com I was able to add an additional location and add the two new thermostats. Now I can monitor and control the heating/cooling in multiple places. I also get a monthly email containing usage stats of the systems.In some reviews I noticed people sometimes had issues with the thermostat not working correctly, connection problems etc. Again, make sure your wiring is correct and good wiring connections with all the terminals are established. One loose connection will cause problems. Sometimes there is a cooling compressor safety delay and you will see a waiting for equipment message. That is normal and the system will start up in a minute or two. I have found that commands sent by the app will show on the thermostat display within a few seconds. Sometimes the Honeywell server is down or your remote router is down (power failure) and the app wont work. Just wait and when connection is re-established you can control your remote system (PS: the system still works on your existing schedule if wifi connection is lost).

I have 3 of these installed in my house. I installed 2 for the main and upstairs unit and my wife complained that she had to walk to the basement to adjust that thermostat. Now, I adjust all three from my smart phone, at home over wifi, or anywhere else over cellular.Installing the thermostat was not extremely difficult. You do need a 5 wire thermostat wire. They make work arounds and kits to make a 4 wire work, but I wasn't happy with the loss of control of some of the functions. I lucked out and my thermostats were located very close to directly below or above my unit. I had an HVAC company price installing these, and mind you, I BOUGHT THE THERMOSTATS, and they wanted $150 per unit to run the wire and install. PER UNIT! I'm usually pretty handy so I did it myself.This next piece of information is priceless, so do this if you have to run another wire. If your wire is close to your unit, above or below and you have a pretty straight shot at pulling up or down with the wire, take the original thermostat wire and strip the casing back to expose as much wire as you can, about 6 inches if you can. Now take the new wire and do the same. Now take the 2 wires (you now have 4 small wires exposed on one thermostat wire and 5 exposed on the other if that is how your system is set up) and make a hook using the exposed wires on each thermostat wire. Hook the 2 thermostat wires together and use electrical tape to connect them together so it looks like you have one long wire with tape in the middle. Don't use too much tape or the wire my be too big to fit through the holes drilled in the wall. Tape as far back on one wire as you can, around and around, to pretty far on the other wire overlapping slightly as you wrap the tape. Now when you pull the other end of the wire you want to replace, you are pulling the new wire with it. An electrician taught me that. GENIOUS!Now, back to the thermostat. Wiring into the HVAC unit can be tricky. Watch the videos online and read the reviews by others. Most units have a wiring panel that you just attach the wires to. It's important to see which color wire was attached to which letter in the thermostat AND MATCH IT EXACTLY IN THE NEW THERMOSTAT! Can't stress this enough. This must match or your system WILL NOT WORK. the RED wire does not always attach to the R in the thermostat. Diagram it before you remove the old one, and attach the new one the same way. That will leave you with one extra wire, the common wire. Attach it to the C terminal. This provides power to the thermostat for the screen and the wifi. Do the same with the wires in the HVAC unit. Diagram it first before removing the old and put the new wires back the same way. That will leave the extra common wire to attach to the C on the wiring terminal. If there is no wiring block on your system, this will still work, but you have to do more research on where to attach the wires. I almost decided to call someone for the last one I installed with no wiring block. It took about a week of web research, videos, chat rooms, diagrams, and an OHM meter to feel comfortable enough to disconnect the existing wires and attach new wires and find where to attach the 5th, common wire. I'm pretty handy and mine worked out fine. If you have a wiring block on your HVAC labeled with all the wires, it's MUCH easier.I now have 3 thermostats that I control through the Honeywell app on my smart phone. I wish they would integrate this with IFTT or the Amazon Echo so I could control it that way, but I don't know if that is ever planned. I originally wanted to install NEST units, but after doing the research, I didn't need the learning function of the NEST because there is someone in my house 24/7 and we ALWAYS need the units to be on in some fashion. The brilliance of the NEST is that it learns when you're away and adjusts your thermostat accordingly. The NEST has some functions that I wish the Honeywell had, like being able to see when and for how long your unit has been active. I achieved this by installing a TED Pro Home system in my breaker panel, but that's another review. I needed the ability to program and alter the temperature using a smart phone and an app. This unit does that perfectly. VERY happy with my Honeywell's.