While not the most technically advanced programmable thermostat, the Hunter 44110 fits our needs.
Written: Dec 23 '06
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: 5 + 2 programming; vacation mode; filter change alarm
Cons: display cost me a clock
The Bottom Line: Get a programmable thermostat if you don't already have one; they are simple to install and will save you money.
|
|
|
| ivplay's Full Review: Hunter Set and Save Programmable Thermostat 44110 |
Okay, I have to admit, my wife and I went a little crazy after we moved into our new house. First thing through the door she decided that she didn't like the eggshell white on every wall. Check one for the paint sellers… Next it was the faucets… Every single one in the house was changed out. Then we moved on to lighting fixtures, and after another thousand bucks I thought we were done. But no, I had to go and walk through my neighborhood Lowe's and find the Hunter 44110 Programmable Thermostat for a grand total of $29! Oh well, this was the cheapest upgrade yet, and probably the only one that will actually save me money in the long haul.
The Hunter 44110 is the simplest, most economical programmable thermostat we could find, and that suits us just fine. It's not that I am against buying up, just not if there isn't a valid reason to do so. The 44110 is a simple white panel measuring approximately three inches by five inches with a flip panel covering the keypad for programming the unit. Some would consider the thermostat to be 'lowly' as it has only a 5 + 2 programming feature which basically means that you can set two different programs, and two only. The first will cover the weekdays of Monday through Friday while the second will kick in on the weekends for those days when the family tends to be home more. Each of the two programs has four 'steps', or times at which you can choose to change the setpoint for the heating/cooling system in your house. It is powered up by two AA batteries rather than the 24V power from the heater itself, and the batteries should last a good long time according to the manufacturer.
Installation
Installing the 44110 was much easier than I anticipated. In fact, I think it took me longer to find the batteries in the drawer than it did to disconnect the old thermostat and pop this one in. Installation begins with a flip of the breaker for the house's heating unit followed by uninstalling and unwiring the old unit. The Hunter 44110 even comes with small pre-printed labels for making sure that you get the wires in the right connection when you hook it back up. In my case the unit I was replacing was a newer digital thermostat, but it didn't allow for programming. Disconnecting four wires and backing out two screws was all it took to get the old one out, and connecting four wires and screwing in two screws was all it took to get the new one in. Simple as that! Install the batteries, setup the date and time as well as the program and you are off and running.
Use
For the DINKs among us (Dual Income, No Kids) the Hunter 44110 is perfect. You could set the temperature to rise just before you do and drop back down once both of you are out the door. Then in the evening just before you come home you can have the setpoint rise again, thus making the house comfortable through bedtime when the fourth setpoint would kick in and drop the temperature down for nighttime sleeping. Since you have no kids and are free to go everywhere on the weekends, you probably would leave it set this way through the weekend too. I miss those days…
My wife and I used to be on this schedule, way back before kids. Now, unfortunately, we have kids and therefore big anchors that keep us from running all over on the weekends, every weekend. For us at this stage in our lives the Hunter would have been just fine with only two setpoints, one for raising the setpoint in the morning and one for dropping it at night, and forget all that fancy 5 + 2 stuff. Turn down at 10 PM and back up at 5:30 AM and we would be happy! As a matter of fact, this is basically what our Hunter 44110 does, as I have simply left the setpoint at 68 through the three steps during the day. It is good to know that when the kids are all in school and perhaps my wife works outside the home again we will have a thermostat that meets our needs, but until then even this one is slight overkill. It is also good to know that my fingers won't get worn out with all the punching of keys that accompanies those 5 + 1 + 1 or even seven day thermostats. I can't even imagine having a separate heating scheme for each day of the week, although there is obviously a market for it.
The 44110 obviously has to know what day and time it is in order to keep track of the program, and the digital display reads out this information. If the display were any larger I wouldn't have been required to buy yet another clock to hang on our wall so you can tell the time from any point in the house. C'est la vie…
Even though it seems like it never warms up here, I am sure that with summertime will come the heat. This will require us to toggle the Heat-Off-Cool switch over to cool, and another program entirely will kick in. Both in winter and summer the Hunter 44110 saves you money by working 24 hours a day to keep your house the right temperature for the inhabitants (or lack thereof).
At some point I am going to go on vacation, although again that seems like forever and a day away. It doesn't make sense to heat or cool the house if we are not around, does it? In that case the Hunter has a Vacation Mode, or a simple hold mode. Punching the keys to get the temperature setpoint where you want it and then pressing the HOLD button will set the temperature like a classical thermostat; one temperature all the time. I haven't had the opportunity to use this as of yet, but I like that it is available. When you get back from vacation simply hit the return button and the program kicks in with its old setpoints. I might recommend changing the batteries before you leave, just to make sure that you don't have any problems while you are away!
Overall, we are very pleased with the Hunter 44110. It does alert the user when the batteries are low, and it has a filter alarm that will go off every 400 hours of operation. It doesn't have the additional days of programming or the fancy backlight, but that hasn't affected our satisfaction to this point. The only thing I would wish for would be the larger display, as I could have saved myself the purchase of a clock. If you don't have a programmable thermostat, go get one. They are simple and easy to change out and will save you money. The Hunter 44110 is a fine, economical alternative that I would recommend to those looking.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.