Great info. I had to call customer service to help to swap out my 1930s original thermostat with a digital one. Sadly only had 3 wires and only 2 in use. Colors did not line up and customer service was rather hesitant to help.
When the house reaches the desired temperature, is it better to disconnect the wires at the thermostat (rather than turning off the switch at the furnace), so that the fan can continue to run (if needed) to cool down the heat exchanger? In other words, wouldn't turning off the switch at the furnace potentially allow the heat exchanger to remain too hot and be damaged?
I have this exact model and I'm trying to figure out why my screen went blank. Fan part works but the rest of the system stop working and the screen won't come on anymore even with fresh batteries
Only ever do this with a conventional furnace, and in an emergency, to keep your people, pets, and property from freezing while you get a thermostat in there ASAP. Not with a heat pump, not with an electric baseboard. Really need a strong warning on this video, people get in over their heads.
Curious as to why since I just connected this with an alligator clip between R and W and the wire melted. Also tried a connection between R, G, and W to get fan + heat but nothing happens and there might've been a spark when connected to R at that moment.
Hi what if we’re in a 50 apartment building and have a thermostat without a face/not digital It’s sooo cold in here, help, I had to turn the stove on. 😢
I'm fine with diy-ers. They try to do something like this and forget to turn off the unit and pop the fuse. Or worse, as happened last week, a dude popped his fuse replacing his thermostat, didn't have one, so he wrapped wire around the fuse spades, and when he powered the furnace back up, he hadn't actually fixed the short, and it blew every low voltage connected part of his system from the furnace board, to the defrost board (it was dual fuel) to the new stat. So, yea....keep on keepin on, diy guys! I gotta feed my family! 😂
I doubt this will be read, but is there a way to install a thermostat on a mini split system? These seem to be all the rage these days but appear to be reliant on battery operated remotes to fully function. I have seen some that allow smart thermometers but do not want to put anything like that on the home network, for sure. It also generally would be more practical to have a direct wired connection on the wall over a small remote to probably lose.
Depending on your brand, they either have hard wire stats available specific for the mini split in question or some even make adapters for you to be able to hard wire in any conventional thermostat. Just need to search for whatever brand and model mini split you want/have and see what they offer
One if the tstat is blank and has common hooked up you have other problems and if you don't have common hooked up just change the batteries and see if the display comes on if it doesn't just connecting the wires together will still not get you heat or air if your doing it during construction and plug the coil up with drywall dust most manufacturers will not warranty it and they also make a sensor that you can wire into the wires that has a set temperature that would kick the system off and on during the construction process the only way this would work is if your tstat was bad and you couldn't get one then for some reason but you would have to unhook the wires when you wanted to shut off the system or you would get real hot or really cold depending on what you were running
this doesn't work with communicating systems like Lennox s-200 to s-400, etc. also, take care to pay attention to the label more than the color. you can easily switch to a different color for any specific function. Lastly, the O wire turns heat on in conjunction with the Y wire. In some cases, you'll want to energize the O wire at the same time as the Y, and in some cases, you just want to energize the Y. In my specific area, it's far more common to energize the O in cooling. The white wire is often used in the O slot. The O is used for heat pumps.
Hahaha, I am starting to bring on other creators that can help provide the same mission "Help homeowners save time and money around the house." I am looking for a plumber and landscape/lawn care creator as well if you know of anyone. The new creators will probably account for 1/4 to 1/3 of the new content 👍
Its been awesome working with Scott, like he said, with the common goal of helping people save time and money on their hvac systems. Looking forward to sharing many more knowledge bombs on his channel 😎 cheers
Yea, the white wire tells the board in the furnace that you need heat. So the control board makes sure the heat and fan both come on when white is powered.
I would love to read the comments from actual electricians on why it's so brilliant to bypass and just connect things together. I love to see you doing dryer repair.
I have 22 years HVAC experience. This guy is an idiot. I even run an HVAC TH-cam page. We would never tell professionals to jumper out their stat for anything other than extreme emergency. Even then, it's very temporary. Some moron is gonna leave it thinking that it's ok to do so. 🤦
@@mungs1104 this video is for an extreme emergency. I thought that was pretty clear. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable doing this, then don’t. No one is twisting their wrist. But Knowledge is power. Quit wasting the comments section with your ignorance.
@@diyhvacguy IMO they didn't emphasize the risk here enough. Should've taken an extra 10 seconds to stress that you should only do this if it's freezing outside, otherwise put on a sweater
I have the same tstat,Honeywell RTH221B,did not wire it up yet because I have a A/C Heat pump.I really want to use it because it's so basic.Instructions say not to be used with heat pumps with backup /auxiliary heat.Can I use anyways? I do not use heat if the temperature is below 45 its a residential packaged unit 507296-01 (p)
@@richardschneider9098 Thanks for the warning! I want to change from Nest E to a basic thermostat as the nest has a mind of it's own, been trying to get it to behave but Google seems to like taking control.I can't for a simple thermostat for the residential package. When I Googled 507296-01 I can see the manual for my unit.It tells me I need to use a minimum of five wires for proper installation.So you say don't use the basic thermostat and I understand that you are really giving me good advice . So I should ask Nest to replace the faulty thermostat as I understand that they have quiet recall for a bad chip, but I really wanted to stop using a so called smart thermostat, thanks again.
I got one too that just started acting up yesterday. Fan auto/ on works, but heat/ cool won't work and the screen went blank. Put fresh batteries still same thing. Only thing works is fan. No heat no AC
@@LaidBack-- Hello, first thing to try is hold down, push down the screen,wait for it to restart, sometimes you need to reenter your modem information and password, these smart thermostats will work then start to get a mind of their own,I didn't try to get a replacement because I don't want one anymore,I just used space heaters whenever the temperature drop below 48deg. I close the vents and have cardboard cutout to block the return air as too much heat goes right back up and lost, so didn't use the heater much, but for summer will definitely find a thermostat that is not a smart a_- ! Another word, I had to put up with it just long enough to warm the whole house when the temperature was above 48deg. Which wasn't very often this winter, so fighting with it when I could use the heat pump was and will be the last time.
As an HVAC technician, I would not recommend doing this for AC. The thermostat keeps the system from running nonstop. Running your AC nonstop would cause the Evaporator to ice up and stop working all together.
Hmm. 3 things: 1. It would've been good to explain a little more thoroughly when it might be useful to do this. 2. If that's a forced-air system, you'll probably want the fan on as well. 3. It would have been good to explain the same approach for systems with primary and secondary heating mechanisms (e.g., heat pumps with resistor back-ups).
Please note: This is not for a heat pump! Also do not touch blue and red together. Please call a professional! The B and O terminal control the reversing valve. Depends on which a certain manufacturer and what they want energized. Please again contact a professional! I know this guy's trying to help but please get a professional to guide you. There are first stage and second stage heats also there's first stage and second stage cooling also there is electric and gas furnaces along with heat pump and boilers. Please if you're not a technician don't guess!
Thank you for this. I should have been more specific in that this is for a GAS FURNACE. There are other steps involved with heat pumps and other systems. Thanks so much for the comment. Like he said if you have concerns of doing this wrong please contact a professional.
Curious as to why since I just connected this with an alligator clip between R and W and the wire melted. Also tried a connection between R, G, and W to get fan + heat but nothing happens and there might've been a spark when connected to R at that moment.
This would have been good to know in February of 2019, when the damned batteries in the thermostat died Saturday evening and the shops (that had AAA batteries) didn't open until 09:00 AM Sunday.
This happened to me a few years ago. I immediately switched everything in my house over to NiMh batteries and keep a charger with 16 AA and AAA battieries ready to go at all times plus backup batteries. Very useful!
Please add a disclaimer.. turn off the power to your unit before you touch the wires before you take off the thermostat.. just in case someone jumps the gun.. Flip the switch or breaker on your furnace!
Yeah I mean but even before showing the inside of the stat and poking around in there. Just thoughts because people don't know what they could mess up 🤣
@@abelhernandez9710 no, I under stood the concept, right now my thermostat is messed up and I have no heat. I could do the same but it would be 100 deg by morning.
Lol this is big joke in my household. My wife in college lives in such a shitty house that when the heat broke the landlord had them touch the wires together to kick the heat on all winter.
Oh man, that was similar to the level of my property manager in college as well. We had one of the toilets with a completely rotted out subfloor and a roof leak that led to mold in one of the bedrooms 🤦♂️
We have electric baseboard heaters as a backup for wood heat, and the thermostats for those are switching full 240V AC. They could be connected the same way, but you'd have to turn the breaker off, and treat it like you treat a light switch rather than this lower voltage control circuit. You'd also need to check the voltage and current rating on your connectors.
I would never teach a homeowner this even in extream situations. Just to many things that could go wrong. And when they do who are they going to blame. Definitely not themselves. I am a service technician and I would never put this information out even if you have good intentions.
You could just wire it to a light switch so you can turn it on and off. This isn't all the best idea. If you are in a pinch just twist the wires together. Don't think many home owners will have those push fittings laying around.
You've just created a constant call for heat. If you leave it like that the house will get as hot as the furnace can make it. You need a thermostat of some kind!
Funny......first....Simple honeywell thermostat ???.....I still got the simple , round "mercury blob level thermostat"....(lol) ................second....Whay was there no display, why was your "simple honeywell thermostat" not working..??
Duh. This isn’t a permanent thing. This is literally just manually turning it on. I think everyone knows it isn’t going to turn itself off without a thermostat.
Brilliant idea don't call a professional. Go ahead turn that on!! Don't follow this guy's instructions, folks. Call an HVAC company to fix the issue. If the thermostat is off, you have a problem.
At least around me this is not uncommon on things like a rehab project. Drywall crew removes the thermostat, weather takes a turn, and now you can't find the thermostat to get the heat on. This is obviously not a permanent fix.
Not all thermostats are the same meaning you can’t operate them without thermostat face on and not all units are the same and will not work without secondary heat or emergency heat and most reversing valves can’t being energized without O and R so yea which by the time you’re trying to figure it out you will most likely cause a short popping a fuse then it’s time to call someone… so yes don’t listen to this hack because I’ve seen it multiple time, trust me call a professional.
@@rickbo3366 haha it’s hard being in front of a camera! This is for an emergency situation, and most people who are using this information understand that. Thanks for your comment. Real… real uh helpful. Yea
Great info. I had to call customer service to help to swap out my 1930s original thermostat with a digital one. Sadly only had 3 wires and only 2 in use. Colors did not line up and customer service was rather hesitant to help.
The old TOTALLY RELIABLE system
is strictly a SHUNT system.
No fancy systems
When the house reaches the desired temperature, is it better to disconnect the wires at the thermostat (rather than turning off the switch at the furnace), so that the fan can continue to run (if needed) to cool down the heat exchanger? In other words, wouldn't turning off the switch at the furnace potentially allow the heat exchanger to remain too hot and be damaged?
Great tutorial. Simple-to-understand explanation.
I have this exact model and I'm trying to figure out why my screen went blank. Fan part works but the rest of the system stop working and the screen won't come on anymore even with fresh batteries
Only ever do this with a conventional furnace, and in an emergency, to keep your people, pets, and property from freezing while you get a thermostat in there ASAP. Not with a heat pump, not with an electric baseboard. Really need a strong warning on this video, people get in over their heads.
Curious as to why since I just connected this with an alligator clip between R and W and the wire melted. Also tried a connection between R, G, and W to get fan + heat but nothing happens and there might've been a spark when connected to R at that moment.
Good info. Thank you so much!
You bet!
Thanks
Infinity will love this
Hi what if we’re in a 50 apartment building and have a thermostat without a face/not digital It’s sooo cold in here, help, I had to turn the stove on. 😢
I'm fine with diy-ers. They try to do something like this and forget to turn off the unit and pop the fuse. Or worse, as happened last week, a dude popped his fuse replacing his thermostat, didn't have one, so he wrapped wire around the fuse spades, and when he powered the furnace back up, he hadn't actually fixed the short, and it blew every low voltage connected part of his system from the furnace board, to the defrost board (it was dual fuel) to the new stat. So, yea....keep on keepin on, diy guys! I gotta feed my family! 😂
That was Darwin at work.
Where can I see what you did to power the furnace with a car battery ? Thanks .
Here is Dave's video over on his own channel. Pretty handy skill to have in case of an emergency th-cam.com/video/gVrPggDgWGg/w-d-xo.html
Excellent I like the wagu connectors
You and me both!
Well explained ! Thank you for the useful information. :)
If I can't find power switch, can I disconnect the wires if I'm very careful, and proceed to the connection procedure?
I doubt this will be read, but is there a way to install a thermostat on a mini split system? These seem to be all the rage these days but appear to be reliant on battery operated remotes to fully function. I have seen some that allow smart thermometers but do not want to put anything like that on the home network, for sure. It also generally would be more practical to have a direct wired connection on the wall over a small remote to probably lose.
Depending on your brand, they either have hard wire stats available specific for the mini split in question or some even make adapters for you to be able to hard wire in any conventional thermostat. Just need to search for whatever brand and model mini split you want/have and see what they offer
One if the tstat is blank and has common hooked up you have other problems and if you don't have common hooked up just change the batteries and see if the display comes on if it doesn't just connecting the wires together will still not get you heat or air if your doing it during construction and plug the coil up with drywall dust most manufacturers will not warranty it and they also make a sensor that you can wire into the wires that has a set temperature that would kick the system off and on during the construction process the only way this would work is if your tstat was bad and you couldn't get one then for some reason but you would have to unhook the wires when you wanted to shut off the system or you would get real hot or really cold depending on what you were running
Your tips all good, thanks
🤗 GOOD TO KNOW IN AN
EMERGENCY 👍💚💚💚
Thank you👍💯
Connect blue for extra heat power in heat or cool.
this doesn't work with communicating systems like Lennox s-200 to s-400, etc. also, take care to pay attention to the label more than the color. you can easily switch to a different color for any specific function. Lastly, the O wire turns heat on in conjunction with the Y wire. In some cases, you'll want to energize the O wire at the same time as the Y, and in some cases, you just want to energize the Y. In my specific area, it's far more common to energize the O in cooling. The white wire is often used in the O slot. The O is used for heat pumps.
Doesn’t the fan need connected too?
WOW !! That's great ! Thank you.
Wait, is this a crossover channel now? Worlds are colliding! 🤯
Hahaha, I am starting to bring on other creators that can help provide the same mission "Help homeowners save time and money around the house." I am looking for a plumber and landscape/lawn care creator as well if you know of anyone. The new creators will probably account for 1/4 to 1/3 of the new content 👍
Its been awesome working with Scott, like he said, with the common goal of helping people save time and money on their hvac systems. Looking forward to sharing many more knowledge bombs on his channel 😎 cheers
Nice, so the fan is just fan, and the furnace control board will also turn the fan on and off?
Yes, the blower fan will turn on once the burners are lit and heat exchanger has some time to heat up.
Yea, the white wire tells the board in the furnace that you need heat. So the control board makes sure the heat and fan both come on when white is powered.
If you want to run the fan by itself, you would just connect the fan wire correct? Also, the 24 volts is DC, correct?
how do i turn temp down like from 75 to 72
Turn on my heater
I would love to read the comments from actual electricians on why it's so brilliant to bypass and just connect things together. I love to see you doing dryer repair.
I have 22 years HVAC experience. This guy is an idiot. I even run an HVAC TH-cam page. We would never tell professionals to jumper out their stat for anything other than extreme emergency. Even then, it's very temporary. Some moron is gonna leave it thinking that it's ok to do so. 🤦
@@mungs1104 this video is for an extreme emergency. I thought that was pretty clear. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable doing this, then don’t. No one is twisting their wrist. But Knowledge is power. Quit wasting the comments section with your ignorance.
Hahaha, I am an electrician and I just told him what I think of him.
@@diyhvacguy IMO they didn't emphasize the risk here enough. Should've taken an extra 10 seconds to stress that you should only do this if it's freezing outside, otherwise put on a sweater
Excellent!
Thanks!
Could thermostat be faulty even when the display still on and looks like it's functioning?
Absolutely.
Isn't the brown wire frayed at the top of it's loop?
I have the same tstat,Honeywell RTH221B,did not wire it up yet because I have a A/C Heat pump.I really want to use it because it's so basic.Instructions say not to be used with heat pumps with backup /auxiliary heat.Can I use anyways? I do not use heat if the temperature is below 45 its a residential packaged unit 507296-01 (p)
Don't. It could wreck your heat pump. That's why they said 'Don't.'
@@richardschneider9098 Thanks for the warning! I want to change from Nest E to a basic thermostat as the nest has a mind of it's own, been trying to get it to behave but Google seems to like taking control.I can't for a simple thermostat for the residential package. When I Googled 507296-01 I can see the manual for my unit.It tells me I need to use a minimum of five wires for proper installation.So you say don't use the basic thermostat and I understand that you are really giving me good advice . So I should ask Nest to replace the faulty thermostat as I understand that they have quiet recall for a bad chip, but I really wanted to stop using a so called smart thermostat, thanks again.
I got one too that just started acting up yesterday. Fan auto/ on works, but heat/ cool won't work and the screen went blank.
Put fresh batteries still same thing. Only thing works is fan. No heat no AC
@@LaidBack-- Hello, first thing to try is hold down, push down the screen,wait for it to restart, sometimes you need to reenter your modem information and password, these smart thermostats will work then start to get a mind of their own,I didn't try to get a replacement because I don't want one anymore,I just used space heaters whenever the temperature drop below 48deg. I close the vents and have cardboard cutout to block the return air as too much heat goes right back up and lost, so didn't use the heater much, but for summer will definitely find a thermostat that is not a smart a_- ! Another word, I had to put up with it just long enough to warm the whole house when the temperature was above 48deg. Which wasn't very often this winter, so fighting with it when I could use the heat pump was and will be the last time.
This is really great tip!!! Can this be done with ac?
Yepper, same process but different wire.
@Everyday Home Repairs thanks for reply.
As an HVAC technician, I would not recommend doing this for AC. The thermostat keeps the system from running nonstop. Running your AC nonstop would cause the Evaporator to ice up and stop working all together.
@@thomasmiller7138 thanks for your input.
Hmm. 3 things:
1. It would've been good to explain a little more thoroughly when it might be useful to do this.
2. If that's a forced-air system, you'll probably want the fan on as well.
3. It would have been good to explain the same approach for systems with primary and secondary heating mechanisms (e.g., heat pumps with resistor back-ups).
When a gas furnace receives a heat call, the control board will turn on the fan, it doesn't need a G call.
@@andrewludwig9251: Electrical resistance or heat pump.
@@ncootymy language was very specific as I specified “gas furnace”.
@@andrewludwig9251: See title
Please note: This is not for a heat pump! Also do not touch blue and red together. Please call a professional! The B and O terminal control the reversing valve. Depends on which a certain manufacturer and what they want energized. Please again contact a professional! I know this guy's trying to help but please get a professional to guide you. There are first stage and second stage heats also there's first stage and second stage cooling also there is electric and gas furnaces along with heat pump and boilers. Please if you're not a technician don't guess!
Thank you for this. I should have been more specific in that this is for a GAS FURNACE. There are other steps involved with heat pumps and other systems. Thanks so much for the comment. Like he said if you have concerns of doing this wrong please contact a professional.
Curious as to why since I just connected this with an alligator clip between R and W and the wire melted. Also tried a connection between R, G, and W to get fan + heat but nothing happens and there might've been a spark when connected to R at that moment.
Wow
This would have been good to know in February of 2019, when the damned batteries in the thermostat died Saturday evening and the shops (that had AAA batteries) didn't open until 09:00 AM Sunday.
This happened to me a few years ago. I immediately switched everything in my house over to NiMh batteries and keep a charger with 16 AA and AAA battieries ready to go at all times plus backup batteries. Very useful!
Please add a disclaimer.. turn off the power to your unit before you touch the wires before you take off the thermostat.. just in case someone jumps the gun.. Flip the switch or breaker on your furnace!
This was in the beginning of the video, to turn the power off at the furnace 👍🏽
Yeah I mean but even before showing the inside of the stat and poking around in there. Just thoughts because people don't know what they could mess up 🤣
slongo peppernuts got it
How about on a boiler? I mean..
That’s real nice unless you wanna freeze or burn up because there’s no way to control the temperature
This video is intended for temporary heat if the thermostat has failed. Or if there isn’t even a thermostat in a remodel situation.
Um, he explains that near the end of the video.
Did you not watch the whole video ?
@@abelhernandez9710 no, I under stood the concept, right now my thermostat is messed up and I have no heat. I could do the same but it would be 100 deg by morning.
@@TexasScout wow 😂 flip the switch and turn it off sir. I don’t think you understand the concept
Manufactures do not allow you to run furnaces while there is construction it will void the warranty
Hmmmm, I have been a couple projects where the contractor must not have got that memo 😂
@@EverydayHomeRepairs I've done a few installs on really cold days when we didn't get the memo :)
Who is going to tell them?
TEMPORARY!!! Don't leave the house and go pick up some lunch. The furnace will not turn off.
Lol this is big joke in my household. My wife in college lives in such a shitty house that when the heat broke the landlord had them touch the wires together to kick the heat on all winter.
Oh man, that was similar to the level of my property manager in college as well. We had one of the toilets with a completely rotted out subfloor and a roof leak that led to mold in one of the bedrooms 🤦♂️
PLEASE caution that these instructions to not apply to high voltage/current switches!
We have electric baseboard heaters as a backup for wood heat, and the thermostats for those are switching full 240V AC. They could be connected the same way, but you'd have to turn the breaker off, and treat it like you treat a light switch rather than this lower voltage control circuit. You'd also need to check the voltage and current rating on your connectors.
@@Br3ttM agreed. You just have to tread REAL lightly when the thermostat is switching maybe 10A at 240AC, without a contactor.
I would never teach a homeowner this even in extream situations. Just to many things that could go wrong. And when they do who are they going to blame. Definitely not themselves. I am a service technician and I would never put this information out even if you have good intentions.
You could just wire it to a light switch so you can turn it on and off. This isn't all the best idea. If you are in a pinch just twist the wires together. Don't think many home owners will have those push fittings laying around.
While I appreciate your efforts and emergency, no-heat situations, this is a bad idea for a multitude of reasons. Call a professional.
Watch dumb homeowners blow fuses on their board...
You've just created a constant call for heat. If you leave it like that the house will get as hot as the furnace can make it. You need a thermostat of some kind!
I think everyone knows that they’ll have to modulate the heat manually.
Correct. This is only for emergency heat when the thermostat has failed.
Captain Obvious is in da house.
@@howardmcewen 😂😂😂🤦🏻♂️
@@howardmcewen the sad thing is that for some people it's not obvious.
Funny......first....Simple honeywell thermostat ???.....I still got the simple , round "mercury blob level thermostat"....(lol)
................second....Whay was there no display, why was your "simple honeywell thermostat" not working..??
Yes, this was how to turn the furnace on when the thermostat is broken or maybe you don’t have batteries.
And this is for an emergency and should never be left unattended! Cheers
Red to white WITHOUT the fan connection for heat?
Connect the two and the
furnace will NEVER turn off
by itself.
Most furnaces have a high temp limit switch that will shutdown the burners.
Its pretty obvious it isn't a permanent solution in the presentation.
Yes, it states in the video you will need to manually turn on and off the furnace, either with the lock lever or with the switch at the furnace.
@@BDBD16 exactly.
Duh. This isn’t a permanent thing. This is literally just manually turning it on. I think everyone knows it isn’t going to turn itself off without a thermostat.
Brilliant idea don't call a professional. Go ahead turn that on!! Don't follow this guy's instructions, folks. Call an HVAC company to fix the issue. If the thermostat is off, you have a problem.
At least around me this is not uncommon on things like a rehab project. Drywall crew removes the thermostat, weather takes a turn, and now you can't find the thermostat to get the heat on. This is obviously not a permanent fix.
Not all thermostats are the same meaning you can’t operate them without thermostat face on and not all units are the same and will not work without secondary heat or emergency heat and most reversing valves can’t being energized without O and R so yea which by the time you’re trying to figure it out you will most likely cause a short popping a fuse then it’s time to call someone… so yes don’t listen to this hack because I’ve seen it multiple time, trust me call a professional.
Trust the dude who can’t write an understandable sentence. Uh huh. Right.
@@rickbo3366 haha it’s hard being in front of a camera! This is for an emergency situation, and most people who are using this information understand that. Thanks for your comment. Real… real uh helpful. Yea
@@diyhvacguy well I’m sorry, I understand and I apologize for commenting “informational” information.
Wtf why do you need to put that on tic toc some things people should not touch at all!!!
This is TH-cam sir.