List Price: $267.00
Sale Price: $209.00
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I love this gadget! I have done a lot of investing into the energy efficiency of my home and this is definitely a key to my lower energy bills. I use my fireplace to heat my home in lieu of my furnace, since the fireplace uses much less gas. That being said, this installs easily and quickly.
*DO NOT FALL FOR THE HYPE OF THE OTHER REVIEWER WHO SAID THIS INTERFERED WITH THE WIRELESS ROUTER, MINE WORKS FINE; NO INTERFERENCE AT ALL!* My apologies for the the all-caps, but that is very important. It may have randomly for his, but not mine. For those interested, my wireless router is a Belkin N-Wireless router putting out n, g, and b modes, 20/40 MHtz, no problems. Several devices laptops, tablet, and phones connecting and working while the thermostat cut on and off; no problems.
Nor should you be deterred by the reviewer who said that this isn't new. Mine was spotless, batteries shrink wrapped, no scratches or marks of any kind.
Prerequisites:
Batteries are included, yaay! The transmitter/remote is the temperature sensor. I would recommend putting said sensor on the other side of the room or near a place where you or your guests spend the most time so that the temperature it computes is accurate for the area in the room where it counts. Of place it by your home's existing thermostat.
You may want to purchase some wire terminals as the thermostat receiver has two piggyback, male and female terminals. The terminals are like these:
Vinyl Insulated .250" Piggyback Quick Disconnect 22-18 AWG (Red) 100 Per Package
Once you securely connect and test them, tape the two individually connected sections together with electrical tape so make sure that they do not complete the circuit unintentionally. According to the instructions, it does not matter which wire goes to which, I believe because you are interrupting the same wire with a switch instead of connecting two separate wires together.
Programming:
This device lumps all weekdays together and then another set for the weekend days all together for two sections per week. Then there are two time periods per section/day, a morning and an evening setting. So in other words, P1 is what you want it to do when you awake and P2 is what you want it to do when you get home from work. The restrictions for the awake/morning section is that you can't go past noon, but the evening has a lower/earlier limit of noon, so if/when you want, you can have the evening to start at noon, so that it can go continuously if you like.
Anyway, the way you program this is, when you press and hold the program button, you setup two programs per day, a morning-P1 and an evening-P2. You do the weekend morning first, so it will flash "SS" for Saturday & Sunday and P1 for morning. The first P1 setting with the flame icon means, the flame/heat cuts on at this time, (set time using arrows and press Set), the next P1 setting with crossed out flame icon means you set the time when the flame/heat stops/cuts off in the morning (set time using arrows and press Set), the final P1 setting lets you set the temperature you want the fireplace to maintain during it's operation (set temperature using arrows and press Set). Next you repeat this for the weekend evenings' "SS"-P2. Flame on time, Flame off time, and set temperature. Now, the weekend programming is done.
Then, you do the same for the weekdays, "MTWTF" P1 (morning) & "MTWTF" P2 (evening). Remember, the order is Flame on time, Flame off time, and set temperature.
Point of interest:
If you also, have a programmable thermostat for your furnace like me, then make sure that you consider how they will interact. In other words, decide which will override the other. For my setup, I have this thermostat to my fireplace as the dominant one and the furnace is "Plan B". Specifically, my higher temperatures are set using the fireplace and the lower temperatures, in case the fireplace is not enough is supplemented or backed up with my furnace. Also, keep in mind that the temperatures they perceive may not match. The fireplace thermostat usually has it hotter than the furnace, which means that they sometimes go at the same time, not good for those looking to be frugal, but maybe good for those who hope for a more symbiotic relationship between the two. Just take your time to experiment during the weekend or evening, when you are home for an extended period of time to make sure things work the way you want.
Another important note, press the program button to make sure that you see the word 'program' on screen, that way you know you are actually using the programs you just so carefully and painstakingly setup.
Other than that, you may want to invest in a blower, if you don't already have one; they rock and turn your fireplace into a giant space heater. Something like this one sold by the fireplaceblowersonline.com guys. I do not work for them, but their products are good and their service is great.
FK24 Fireplace Blower kit for Majestic, Vermont Castings, Monessen, CFM, Northern; Rotom #HBRB65
All and all, God bless, stay warm, and pray and bless those who are less fortunate; remember the homeless who struggle outside, as we are snug and "struggle" to stay warm indoors.
Peace and blessings,
CEH
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I purchased this to replace my old fireplace remote. This model by far had the best features and was really looking forward to the upgrade however the down button on the touch screen did not work. I was unable to get it replace. The only option was to return for a refund. I would have rather had it replaced. After all the hassle I simply returned it and did not order another. Potentially a great product but bad customer service from the vendor AND the manufacturer.
