Thermostat

johnjohn89

What does conventional mean on thermostat 

STEVEusaPA

Show a pic of where you see it

Jamie Hall

eh? I would use the term for any thermostat which simply turns the heat on or off at a specific temperature. As contrasted to programmable or wi-fi or whatever other whizzy feature might show up.

EdTheHeaterMan

I went nuts trying to find this: Then I realized it was a private message so I will share it here

Conventional thermostat is any thermostat that does not have a clock or timer as part of the function and/or any thermostat that is not a communicating thermostat.

All conventional thermostat have a standard letter designation for each function
R is the power in to the thermostat
W is to operate the heating circuit (heat relay, gas valve, or oil burner primary control)
Y is to operate the cooling relay
G is to operate the fan relay

There are other letters on a conventional heat pump thermostat like
O is for the reversing valve


There may be additional terminals like
Rc power for dedicated cooling circuit
Rh power for dedicated heating circuit
... these are used when separate equipment is operated by the same thermostat to isolate the control transformers. Often these terminals have a factory installed jumper
W2 for a second stage heat circuit
Y2 for a second stage cooling circuit

Clock equipped thermostats can be digital or analog and have a set back feature.


Nest and other smart thermostats use "Conventional" analog relay type wiring in order to accomplish their function(s) on standard furnaces and air conditioners and boilers as listed above.



These setback or smart thermostats may offer WiFi connectivity, or may be as simple as "an analog clock on an analog thermostat".

Communicating thermostat are usually brand specific and may have letter designation A B C D where the thermostat communicates digitally to operate many functions using built in software and are usually of a full color touch screen variety. there are no analogue relays in the thermostat. Only temperature and humidity sensors are internal or remotely connected to provide information to the main microprocessor in the HVAC equipment. These thermostats are not actually thermostats but control panels that send user input and sensors input to the HVAC equipment control computer.

These controls are not compatible with any other type of equipment that is not specifically designed with matching software. Here is an article that better explains the difference: https://www.pickhvac.com/central-air-conditioner/extras/communicating-vs-non-communicating/

So there are basically

Conventional thermostats that are analog operation and may have a digital or analog display
Clock or Setback thermostats that automatically change the temperature setting.
Smart thermostats that can be connected to WiFi and may have more features.
Communicating thermostat or control panel.

hope this helps

johnjohn89

EdTheHeaterMan said:

I went nuts trying to find this: Then I realized it was a private message so I will share it here Conventional thermostat is any thermostat that does not have a clock or timer as part of the function and/or any thermostat that is not a communicating thermostat. All conventional thermostat have a standard letter designation for each function R is the power in to the thermostat W is to operate the heating circuit (heat relay, gas valve, or oil burner primary control) Y is to operate the cooling relay G is to operate the fan relay There are other letters on a conventional heat pump thermostat like O is for the reversing valve There may be additional terminals like Rc power for dedicated cooling circuit Rh power for dedicated heating circuit ... these are used when separate equipment is operated by the same thermostat to isolate the control transformers. Often these terminals have a factory installed jumper W2 for a second stage heat circuit Y2 for a second stage cooling circuit Clock equipped thermostats can be digital or analog and have a set back feature. Nest and other smart thermostats use "Conventional" analog relay type wiring in order to accomplish their function(s) on standard furnaces and air conditioners and boilers as listed above. These setback or smart thermostats may offer WiFi connectivity, or may be as simple as "an analog clock on an analog thermostat". Communicating thermostat are usually brand specific and may have letter designation A B C D where the thermostat communicates digitally to operate many functions using built in software and are usually of a full color touch screen variety. there are no analogue relays in the thermostat. Only temperature and humidity sensors are internal or remotely connected to provide information to the main microprocessor in the HVAC equipment. These thermostats are not actually thermostats but control panels that send user input and sensors input to the HVAC equipment control computer. These controls are not compatible with any other type of equipment that is not specifically designed with matching software. Here is an article that better explains the difference: https://www.pickhvac.com/central-air-conditioner/extras/communicating-vs-non-communicating/ So there are basically Conventional thermostats that are analog operation and may have a digital or analog display Clock or Setback thermostats that automatically change the temperature setting. Smart thermostats that can be connected to WiFi and may have more features. Communicating thermostat or control panel. hope this helps

Thank u so much