Both the Honeywell RTH8500D 7-day Programmable Thermostat and the Lux Products TX1500E Smart Temp Programmable Thermostat are recommended by the US Government backed Energy Star program that is designed to promote appliances that are energy efficient. Both these programmable thermostats will, if used correctly, save you up to 30% on your home energy bills. This article will look at the relative merits of these two programmable thermostats.
Firstly, the Lux Products TX1500E is only $40 whereas the Honeywell RTH8500D is about $130. The reason for the big price difference is that the Honeywell RTH8500D is a 7-Day programmable thermostat. In other words, it allows you to set up your heating and cooling requirements for each day of the week. In contrast, the Lux TX1500E is a 5-1-1 programmable thermostat which means that it allows you three program slots – one for weekdays, one for Saturday and one for Sunday.
Obviously people with varied weekday schedules will find the Honeywell RTH8500D preferable, whereas for those people with fixed weekday schedules the Lux TX1500E 5-1-1 thermostat will be suitable.
Next there is compatibility. Both the Lux TX1500E and the Honeywell RTH8500D can be installed on a wide range of heating and cooling systems. The Honeywell can handle up to 2 stage heating and 2 stage cooling. The Lux TX1500E can only manage 1 stage heating and 1 stage cooling. Both are fine with gas, oil and heat pumps.
Finally, there is a difference in functions between the two machines.
The Honeywell RTH8500D has the ability to switch automatically between heating and cooling to make sure the room temperature stays at exactly your desired level. Also the Honeywell RTH8500D can be run from either the mains or from batteries.
The Lux TX1500E has swing control and a lock out function. Swing control allows you to control the range of temperature within which the thermostat does not cycle the heating or cooling systems. This feature is great to protect your furnace and other equipment from prematurely wearing out because of constant cycling. A lock out function allows you to protect your thermostat from people interfering with your settings by setting up a code that you first have to input before you can change the settings.
As you can see, the Lux Products TX1500E and the Honeywell RTH8500D both have their merits. Choose carefully.
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