Lux TX9000TS Touch Screen Seven-Day Programmable Thermostat
by Lux Products
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Lux TX9000TS Touch Screen Seven-Day Programmable Thermostat
Customer Review: Great Unit, Easy to Program, Awsome Features
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok this is coming from a geek who is into electronics.
Old unit was a Sears (Honeywell) 5-1-1 on a 4 wire Electric Heat/Cool system.
Unit Pros - Big Display, Blue Light when need, Low Battery indicator, Filter Change indicator, Swing setting (See Features description)
Unit Cons - Doesn't display current temp setting.
Now it's been over 10 years since I got the Sears Unit, so it's been some time on what is new with features. Needless to say, this unit works pretty much the same as my Sears unit. So when other on here talk about hard programming, this and that as negative, I don't know what they are talking about.
Instructions - If you take the time to read over them, they aren't that hard to follow. In fact, the only thing I check in the instructions were the wire diagram just to be safe. I then had to look for programming as I made one small mistake. But unless you are not good with electronic in todays computer world, you may have some hard time as you are the type that can't program a DVR or Car Radio. If you can get around on your Cell Phone (If you own one), this should be cake.
Programming - This was pretty much like my Sears unit. You start off on Mon. Morn and you set the times up to 4 times for each day. The unit already has a Pre-Program Energy Star settings if you want to use it. These settings are 62F for 8am, 10pm & 70F for 6am, 6pm. When I first did this I was hitting next instead of Yes to change the settings. But once you have a time set for your choice, all you do is hit Copy button if you want it the same for all the days. SIMPLE! My Sears I had to program each day at a time. This unit allows you to touch the time, temp, or day to cycle through to change if you want.
Features - I like the low battery feature. My old unit did not have this and I am sure it is standard on current units today. But it doesn't bold well when you wake up in the winter morning freezing only to find out the batteries were dead in the unit to power on the heater. Swing setting, now this is a cool feature. On my old unit, the heat would come on as soon as it was 1 degree lower than the set temp. This setting allows you to change it. You can change it from .25 to 2.25 difference. A lower number has your heat/ac come on more keeping a constant temp. Higher number will use less energy as your system won't power on as often. Replace furnace filter setting is also nice. Something I am sure none of us do as we don't think about it. The unit will now tell me that I should replace it after so long or furnace usage. You can even set your preference on time on this also. The cool blue light is nice. Standard on todays units I am sure but I didn't have this. Nice to see at night when I hit the light button and you have this awww blue display it. Number are also nice and big. My old unit were small.
The down side I have to say is that you can't see what the Temp is set at. Because of the big display Lux didn't add this. You have to touch the screen and the current Temp will then change to the blinking Temp setting for you to change. Why couldn't Lux just put the Temp setting in the top right corner? There is room there. Or have in small number next to the current room Temp Room txt on the right side? It's not a big deal as it something that will take a little to get used to. Installing took me like 5 min. You can program the unit before hooking it on the wall. Another cool feature that I though was neat!
If you are looking at this unit, rad over at Lux website instructions first as you can download them off their site if you can use this unit.
Customer Review: Finally, someone got the interface (almost) perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought a pair of these setback thermostats to replace a White-Rodgers setback and a ritetemp setback. While both of my present thermostats were technically perfectly operational, the former had a small, one-line screen and no backlight and both were hard enough to set that on those rare occasions when I wanted to change a setting I had to resort to a manual. Not so with these Luxs.
I cheated a bit in that I downloaded the manual from the Lux Web site and had it read before my thermostats arrived, but even so they would have been a snap to program. I am fairly handy and didn't even find it necessary to turn off the (24 volt) power to my 2-wire gas heaters (and I am _not_ recommending this shortcut for anyone else). Within an hour I had both units mounted, programmed, tested, and running. One required drilling 2 new holes, the other mounted in the same holes as the unit it replaced.
The advantage of the Luxs over my old thermostats is in the touchscreen interface. The font is large, especially the room temperature, there is backlighting, and, to make things even easier the electronic front panel can be separated from the wall mount so that you can do your programming at a table or desk. I inserted 2 AA batteries in each unit and made 2 hardware settings (24 hour time and "smart recovery", keep reading for an explanation). The day of the week and the time are set from the touchscreen, as are all the software settings. The start time and temperature for each period of each day are set from one of the (several) available menus and one day's settings can be copied to the next day by pressing COPY. Those settings, which can be done in a minute or two, are all you need to be up and running and all most people will use. Snap the faceplate onto the wall mount and you're done.
My "almost" in the title expresses one of only two reservations I have concerning these thermostats. For some reason, the engineers at Lux decided not to show the set temperature on the main screen, the one you see most of the time; only the room temperature shows. It's easy enough to see the set temperature (just touch the room temperature), but I would have liked not to have to do anything to see the set temperature.
The only other complaint I have is with the smart recovery algorithm. The idea is to have the thermostat monitor how fast your house cools off (typically at night) to the setback temperature to have some idea how much lead time it will need in the morning to reach the higher, morning set temperature. The faster your house cools down at night, the colder it must be outside, and the longer it should take to come up to temperature in the morning. At least that's the idea. This feature works perfectly with the thermostat controlling the bedroom heater, but not with the thermostat controlling the main living-area heater. I did a little reading and discovered that if the thermostat determines that it will take more than an hour head start to reach the morning setting it simply will not try and will start at the requested time (no lead). I run my main living- area at 58 F at night, lower than the bedrooms, and I guess that's why the two thermostats perform differently in this regard. I can live with this situation, but I don't see why the one hour constraint is there in the first place.
In summary, despite two minor drawbacks, I find these Lux thermostats to be a dream to program and easy to read. All in all a very satisfying purchase.
Customer Review: So easy, even I could do it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not what you would call a "do-it-yourselfer" for the most part. But we really needed digital thermostats, and I thought programmable thermostats would save us some money. The thermostats the builder installed when we bought our house seven years ago were not even digital. I just wish I'd changed them out sooner - I can't believe I waited so long!
We have two systems in our house, one in the attic to heat/cool the upstairs, and one in the basement to take care of downstairs, so I ordered two of these Lux thermostats. I would say that I spent an hour researching thermostats and also watching videos online that demonstrated how to install them, so when I got the package from Amazon I was prepared! I spent approximately 10 minutes installing each one, and most of that time was taking the old thermostats off and trudging up and down one or two flights of stairs to turn the circuits on and off! They were very easy to install and worked great right out of the box. The displays are large and easy to read, and the light function is very nice. Menus and settings are fairly intuitive and easy to understand.
I did have to adjust the heating/cooling schedules that come built in. The defaults are pretty "frugal" and you'll be very hot in the summer and cold in the winter if you use them! But it was very easy to program schedules the way we needed them, and now that I've used it with both AC and heat I'm very happy. Our last "late summer" electric bill was noticeably lower, and I can't wait to see how much lower our gas bills are this winter. I can already tell that we're using less energy, just based on the temperature in the house at various times of the day.
I was pretty intimidated at the thought of installing new thermostats, but this Lux product made it simple. Five stars!
Customer Review: Most affordable 7-day thermostat, with touch screen to boot!
Summary: 5 Stars
Have had this thermostat for about 6 months and am loving it. It's reliable and easy to program. Great extra features, too, like the adjustable filter change reminder and the energy monitor. Program 4 cycles per day, and if you want to use the same programming on Tuesday as you did for Monday, you just hit the "copy" button and it automatically inputs those settings for you. No sitting there and entering the same 10 button sequence 5 times for Monday - Friday.
Highly recommend the WP9000TS Wallplate for Lux Products TX9000TS. Just added this for $2, free shipping, and it definitely enhances the asthetic appeal (if there is such a thing for a thermostat!). Buy it when you purchase the thermostat, so you don't have to take the thermostat off later to add the wall plate.
UPDATE - JULY 6, 2010
Have started having problems with the thermostat about two weeks ago (Have had it since January 2010). Now, when I try to program it, after pressing the touchscreen 3-4 times (for example, while trying to program the current time), the screen resets (as in, all characters on the screen light up and stay lit, and I can't do anything else). The problem has persisted. The only thing the thermostat will now do is hold a set temperature, and even then, it resets after a day or two and does nothing until the batteries are pulled out for a few minutes.
Will let you know how the returns process goes. The owner's manual says it has a 3-year warranty instructs me to return it to Amazon; however, Amazon won't let me return it because it has been more than 90 days. Contacted Lux directly and we'll see what they say.
Customer Review: Great thermostat. Works as described.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this thermostat for a little over a year. It replaced an old cheap 5-1-1 RiteTemp from HD which was too problematic and erratic. Main reason for buying this was the 7-day programming. Based on CR rating and customer reviews I decided for this unit. I use it only for heating with only 2-wire system. It keeps my temperature more constant than the previous thermostat and keeps the house more comfortable. I have not experimented with the smart temperature setting that achieves the desired temperature at the set program time. The unit produces a fairly distinct click when the turning the furnace on or off. Not a big deal but may bother some people. The display is clear, large, easy to read and looks good. As far as programming goes, it's easy to follow and simple as with most similar electronic gadgets. Some complain that it is not that easy to program byt I see those complains for Honeywell as well. Bottom line, read the manual befor you buy to make sure it does what you want it to do, after you buy to learn how it works and then set it and forget it.
Couple of annoyances I have noticed but by no means deal breakers: 1. as others already mentioned, only the actual temperature is displayed, no set temperature display, 2. no special program, my 511 thermostat had a special program that I could use while I was home on a day off that would normally fall into mid-week program. Such as Thanksgiving on Thursday I would prefer to have a special program to activate on those special days that would mimic my weekend program. Most 511 thermostats have this feature. With this unit I have to use the hold feature and use the thermostat as manual thermostat. I think Honeywell also does not have this on their 7-day model.
Other than that, I would definitely recommend it.