Venstar Thermostat - Additions to Thermostat Mode

[smurt]

I installed 3.1.10 and month back and yesterday I went in to change the thermostat mode from Auto to Heat. When I did I noticed the addition of some new selections and wanted to know where they came from and if there was any specific documentation on the settings and how to use them.

The original settings were:

Off

Heat

Cool

Auto

Fan

These are the settings documented in the Venstar manual.

 

The newly added setting are:

Program Heat

Program Cool

Program Auto

 

I did set the heat to Programmed heat and when I checked the log saw that the Heat was adjusted up at 6:35 am, down at 8:35am and up again at 6:35pm so the addition of these must be tapping into the programmable thermostat capability. If this is possible then it makes me wonder if these wild swings in set points several of us are encountering are created in some way by confusion between Heat and Program Heat.

[sanders2222]

I noticed the addition of some new selections and wanted to know where they came from

I believe these options have always been in the 3.1.x beta firmware. The Program modes are those settings for heat/cool/auto that are stored in the t-stat. From the pull down list you can turn control over from your ISY (Auto) to the settings in the t-stat (Program Auto). You should also see the setpoint fields are disabled on the console when you set things to Program Auto.

 

Initially, I used this feature but found control with the ISY either more stable or reliable (even with the older version adapter). Now I run the t-stat settings with my ISY 100% of the time.

 

I just installed a refurbished Insteon adapter so hopefully, the temperature spikes and mode changes I experienced (for no know reason) are a thing of the past. So far, so good.

[smurt]

Thanks for the reply.... Guess I never went in to change mode since earlier version. So it is executing whatever is set in the Thermostat. your right, why would you do that when you have an ISY you can program. Would have been better to leave it out i suppose.

 

FYI, Smarthome sent me an complete setup to replace the existing T1800 and adapter. It gave me hope for a few month then started doing set point resets on it own again. I love this Thermostat but it is not something I would ever recommend. Too dangerous for me to put into someones home who wasn't a tinkerer and did have computer skills.