How do I find out which thermostat will work with my heating/cooling system?

I've got a Ruud heating/cooling system with a heat-pump in my home. I want to install a modern digital, programmable thermostat. The dealer has some, not really what I want, at an outrageous price and will offer no advice. Lowe's and Home Depot have a wall full of them at good prices but nobody to tell me which ones will work and which ones will not.



Any advice?How do I find out which thermostat will work with my heating/cooling system?I had a Rheem. Ruud is the same company from what I can tell. I ended up with a Hunter thermostat that was specifically designed for heat pump systems. The main difference between a heat pump thermostat and the others, seems to be the heating/cooling reverser and the presence of an emergency heat mode.How do I find out which thermostat will work with my heating/cooling system?Yes they are all just temperature sensitive switches. If your geothermal system heats and cools you need the reverser. Check out http://geothermalservice.net

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How do I find out which thermostat will work with my heating/cooling system?The best thing you can do before buying one is to look at your old thermostat and tell me which (color) wires you have connected to the terminals on your present thermostat. I will need to know each terminal's designation, i.e., Y, W, W2, G, O, B, etc. That will give me an idea which thermostat HD has that will work with your system. It would help to know the model number of your air handler and outside unit.How do I find out which thermostat will work with my heating/cooling system?First find out if you have Gas, Electric or Heat Pump.



When you find out...go to Home Depot and buy the correct one and it will tell you exactly how to wire it up on the inside.How do I find out which thermostat will work with my heating/cooling system?It is really pretty easy. Buy a regular heat pump thermostat. The difference is whether the reversing valve is energized in heating or cooling mode. IF its energized in cooling, there will be a wire on the O terminal, if its energized in the heating mode, there will be a wire on the B terminal. The other wires will be standard. Just swap the R, G, Y, W1, W2, E wires to the new stat from the old stat. I believe Ruud uses the B terminal, but you can verify by looking at your existing stat. Be sure to turn off the power to the inside and outside unit. If you accidently touch the R and C wires, you can blow the transformer and you have to have an AC guy come out to repair it.