Smart response is a function found on most good programmable thermostats. It is also called smart recovery and adaptive intelligent recovery. This post will look at what smart response does and why it is an important function.
Smart response is found on most programmable thermostats made by Honeywell, Lux Products and Hunter. It is a function that pre-heats or pre-cools a house so that the set point temperature is reached by the start of a new programmed period. All good 7 day digital programmable thermostats offer 4 periods of heating/cooling to set up for each day of the week. They are morning, afternoon, evening and night. The idea of a programmable thermostat is that you set these 4 periods to match your movements.
Thus the morning period starts when you wake up and finishes when you leave the house to go to work. The afternoon period is normally set at a higher temperature (in the summer) or lower temperature (in the winter) to save money while you are not at home. This period finishes when you arrive home from work. This is the start of the evening period. The evening period finishes when you go to bed. The night setting, like the afternoon setting should be an economy setting to save you money.
Smart response is designed to help with this scheduling. So for example, if you wake at 7am and you want the house to be 70 degrees then the thermostat will start heating before 7am so at the moment you wake up the house is a comfortable 70 degrees. If the heating came on at exactly 7am then you would wake up to a cold house in the winter.
The alternative is that you try and guess how long it takes for the heating to warm the house and set the thermostat to activate the heating prior to your awaking time. This is guess work. Honeywell thermostats monitor the time needed to pre-heat or pre-cool a room and makes continual adjustments to the start times of heating/cooling.
People who complain that the house is too hot or too cold because of smart response either have malfunctioning thermostats or (more likely) they have programmed in set point temperatures that are too high or too low. As a rough rule of thumb the set point for the winter should be 70 degrees when you are home and 63 degrees when you are not at home or sleeping. In the summer the set point should be 78 degrees when you are at home and 85 degrees when you are not at home. To help you with programming your digital thermostat some devices come with Energy Star default settings that provide useful guides.
Thus, smart recovery is a valuable function that allows you to program in your settings with the knowledge that the house will always be at a comfortable temperature when you awake and when you get back from work. Smart response takes the guessing out of programming a thermostat and also removes the temptation of turning up the heating/cooling to maximum because you are uncomfortable.
Energy Star Recommended Programmable Thermostats
Read more about the Honeywell RTH8500D 7-Day Touchscreen Universal Programmable Thermostat. This programmable thermostat features easy to use touchscreen technology with intuitive, menu driven programming. Features include 7 day programming, smart recovery, auto change-over, real time display, HVAC powered, temporary hold and vacation mode. Only $110 at Amazon.com. Click here to read more.
The Honeywell THX9321R5000 Prestige HD Programmable Thermostat features a wi-fi connection and high definition color graphic touchscreen display. The Honeywell Prestige HD can be bought as a standalone device or with an Outdoor Sensor and a Comfort Station. Features include 3 languages, USB port, wi-fi, multiple holds, 7 day programming, smart recovery and humidity control. The Honeywell Prestige HD costs $363. Click here to read more.
The Lux Products TX9000TS Touchscreen 7 Day Programmable Thermostat is an accurate, Energy Star recommended device. It features touchscreen programming, swing control, auto change-over, smart recovery, temporary hold and a handy energy usage monitor that lets you keep track of your heating and cooling bills. The Lux Products TX9000TS is excellent value at $70. Click here to read more.
The Honeywell RTH7600D Touchscreen 7 Day Programmable Thermostat is a reliable and accurate device that costs under $70. It features touchscreen programming, smart response, auto change-over and temporary hold. Compatible with up to 2 stages of heating and 2 stages of cooling. Energy Star approved with a 1 year warranty. Click here to read more.
The Hunter 44550 Auto Save 7 Day Programmable Thermostat is a reliable, Energy Star approved device that costs only $40. Features include 7 day programming, smart recovery, fan control, armchair programming, swing control, one touch back light, filter warning and mercury free display. Click here to read more.
The Honeywell RTH221B Basic Programmable Thermostat is a reliable, Energy Star approved device that costs only $22. It is a vertical style digital thermostat with 1 week programming and temporary hold. The Honeywell RTH221B is ideal for those people who work from home or are retired.Click here to read more.
The Honeywell RTH7500D Conventional 7 Day Programmable Thermostat is great value at only $65. It is Energy Star approved and features 7 day programming, smart response, auto change-over, real time display and temporary hold. Click here to read more.
The Lux Products HP2110 Smart Temp Programmable Heat Pump Thermostat is a 5-1-1 device that is designed specifically for regulating heat pumps. It features swing control, temporary hold, vacation mode and comes with Energy Star recommended settings as default. This is a good value thermostat at only $60. Click here to read more.
The Lux Products TX1500E Smart Temp is a 5-1-1 Programmable Thermostat recommended by Energy Star. It only costs $40 and features a programmable vacation mode, temporary hold, swing control and a relative humidity display. Compatible with single stage heating and cooling. Click here to read more.
