Thermostat FAIL???

[JimSpy]

Pray heed my tale of woe.

About 15 years ago, I put a duct booster fan in the duct leading to the master bedroom, because our HVAC wasn't reaching it with its fan. I put an Insteon outdoor ApplianceLink on to control it. (It's in the attic, and I live in Arizona). Got along fine and dandy...until I read that the Insteon Thermostat could be programmed to send an "on" and "off" signal to any responder device when the heating or cooling kicks on. "I gotta get me one of those!" sez I. So I did. It was wired, with a battery backup. I was certain I installed it correctly, including the green wire. But I could never get it to work. It *looked* like it was working....but it didn't kick on. I needed professional help.

Years went by. Over the course of 8 or 9 years or so, I had various HVAC professionals take a look at it, but none of them could figure out what was wrong. Then, finally, my daughter's boyfriend solved the problem, the green wire was detached somewhere in the wall. (The battery backup made it look like all was well, when there was no connection.) And somehow, he fixed it, without going through any drywall. My thermostat not only worked, it kicked on my duct fan! You have NO idea how happy that made me. My world was complete. Then I found this plug-in, and I was in Nirvana. And then I "adopted" Alexa, and I was in Suto'vo'qor.

Until this past weekend, when the air conditioning went out. It was blowing hot air, and the exhaust fan wasn't turning.

We got someone to come out today. Unfortunately, he HAD to be there at 1PM, and I HAD to go to Wal-Mart for a scheduled pickup at that exact time. I had to leave my wife in charge of the project. Danger Will Robinson.

The guy told me to flip on the thermostat and set it to 60 so that it would be running when he got there. He arrived just after I left, and left just before I returned. I walk in the house and see, attached to my wall, where my prized Insteon used to be, the ugliest thermostat I've ever seen. It's a HoneyWell T6 Pro. It doesn't do Insteon, it doesn't do Alexa, it's not even WiFi. And there is my wife, wagging her finger at me and saying, with the most determined look and tone she's ever adopted, "It was your damned Insteon thermostat. He put this one in and it works. And YOU ARE FORBIDDEN FROM REPLACING IT! EVER!"

After installing a room air conditioner in our extension that can't be automated because it has a GFCI in line with it's plug...after finding out that my pool pump cannot be put on a timer for the same reason...after an appliancelink caught fire last week...this was the unkindest cut of all.

SO...NOW....Questions.

1. Did my thermostat really fail? It doesn't add up. There was no indication on the display that anything was wrong.
2. Could it possibly be that my daughter's boyfriend somehow messed up the green wire connection, and it eventually came loose? Would that cause what I described above?
3. I am going to replace the T6 Pro, edict or no edict. I probably can't risk another Insteon, but Honeywell makes wifi-enabled and Alexa-aware thermostats, and there's even an HS plug-in for them. Can anyone recommend one?

Sorry for the long-winded post. But today has not been a good day. If I can't control my thermostat with my voice, that will be the end of my SmartHoming. I give up.

[joegr]

1. I suspect that it did.
2. I don't think so. You would have just lost the Insteon communications to/from it, not the actual AC control.
3. Honeywell makes some good thermostats. They understand the equipment better than most do. I have heard that Ecobee is good too. Stay away from Nest.

I have had Honeywell Z-wave thermostats, and they worked well. I now have a Trane Z-wave thermostat, since it can control blower speed on my Trane heatpump. I do believe that this Trane thermostat was actually manufactured by Honeywell. Z-wave is a love/hate thing, much like Insteon, but it is pretty good for thermostats.

[JimSpy]

1. I suspect that it did.

Great. You're a big help!

2. I don't think so. You would have just lost the Insteon communications to/from it, not the actual AC control.

Wouldn't it be exactly the opposite? The Insteon "on/off" would still work, when it tries to trigger the air conditioner, but nothing would be sent to the actual a/c unit because that communication takes place over the wiring?

3. Honeywell makes some good thermostats. They understand the equipment better than most do. I have heard that Ecobee is good too. Stay away from Nest.

Thank you. I am seriously looking at the Ecobee. For one thing, it's a lot better looking! And yes, NEST is out. I'm thinking Honeywell, though, because my wife may not even notice the change. (But it would have to remain ugly for her not to notice!)

[drhtmal]

How many wires do you have to the t-sat?

[JimSpy]

How many wires do you have to the t-sat?

Pretty sure its 5.