Friday, November 1, 2013

Hunter 44360 Set and Save 7-Day Programmable Thermostat



Best $50 I've Spent
This thermostat is worth every penny! It does exactly what it should do, and the instructions were perfect for my heating/cooling system. I didn't have any problems putting it in.

What the other review didn't mention is that this thermostat has extra features over the other Hunter models. The big difference is the Energy usage information. It tracks the amount of time that the system was on today, yesterday, this week, last week, and total since you installed it. It's neat being able to come home and see that the air conditioning was on for only 30 minutes, or on for 2 hours. This helps you figure out how your thermostat settings are affecting your real energy usage. It also has a filter reset reminder, which tracks the number of hours that the system has been used with the current filter. This is useful, since most filters say they last 3 months. But the real lifetime of the filter is based on how much air has been blown through it. You could run it for 12 hours...

Great value and aesthetic quality, but a WORD OF CAUTION:
After about 2 weeks use, I am very pleased with this thermostat. It works as advertised, is easy to set up (don't know what the other reviewer was talking about...if anything about this would be difficult, it would be the way your existing wiring is set up, NOT the way this thermostat sets up. It's a totally standard installation for this type of unit), and the blue indiglo looks really nice when it comes on. I also like how all but 3 buttons are concealed by the front swing-down lid, which gives it a cleaner, simpler look as opposed to resembling something you'd see in a cockpit. The features are pretty much the same you'd get on comparable models, PLUS my favorite of all, the energy monitor function. I'm sort of a geek when it comes to stats and energy use, weather, etc. and it's fun to keep track of how much time your system worked for during each day, week...it makes it easier to predict your next heating/cooling bill. Most of the competing thermostats cost 2-3 times as much...

A good, full function thermostat
This unit represents a good value. It has lots of thoughtful features, such as a button to tell it that you are home for the day and want the heat to stay on, and a meter than tells you how many hours of heat you have been using. It also offers plenty of programming flexibility that you would have to pay more for with products from other manufacturers.

I also use the backlit 5-2 Honeywell. The Honeywell costs more, has fewer features, and in my view, at least, is not meaningfully easier to program, and is certainly no easier to use on a daily basis. I felt the Hunter had better installation instructions. The Honeywell's biggest strength is that it is smaller. Using it, I often find myself wishing it had some of the features found on the Hunter.

My biggest gripe with this Hunter model is that the backlight makes an annoying, high pitch noise. It is also a little too large for my taste. Dollar for dollar, though, versus the competition, this is money well...

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