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From: perelgut@utai.UUCP (Stephen Perelgut)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: Optimum Thermostat Setbacks
Message-ID: <1119@utai.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 2-Jan-86 10:54:41 EST
Article-I.D.: utai.1119
Posted: Thu Jan  2 10:54:41 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 2-Jan-86 11:33:54 EST
References: <647@aicchi.UUCP>
Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto
Lines: 24

My wife and I both work and are therefor never home during the day on
weekdays (and some weekends:-).  This winter we bought the First Alert
thermostat control.  It is very different from a setback thermostat but
it has the same function.  Consumer's Reports mentionned it in its review
of the electronic setback thermostats as more reliable and cheaper.  I
can see their point.

For $50CDN (probably cheaper if you find it on sale), you get a device 
that you attach to your old or new style thermostat.  It is basically a
mechanical device to physically change the thermostat setting.  The solution
for round-style thermostats is quite interesting.  The clock-like device is
run off a single "AA" battery (I think).  You get 4 weekday programs and 4 
weekend ones.  Ours are:
	0700 - set thermostat to 71	0800 - 71
	0900 - 			 58	0300 - 58
	1800 -			 71
	0100 -			 58
(We have a great, Hollofil-II duvet to keep warm at night).

It's hard to judge savings exactly (we're on equal billing forced air gas),
but this season is much colder than last, our monthly payments dropped last
year, and we're still way ahead of where the gas company predicted.
-- 
Stephen Perelgut    Computer Systems Research Institute, University of Toronto