Honeywell Home Wi-Fi 7-Day Programmable Thermostat, RTH6580WF

I purchased this in May of 2022, and posted this review in December of 2022 after 7 months of use.I had been considering various smart thermostats off and on for well over a year and finally decided to go with this one, and I am glad that I did. I bought two of them, one for each zone.The installation was as easy as it gets and took about five minutes per thermostat. Didn't even need to read the instructions, just turned off the circuit that powers the furnace so that the old thermostat lost its 24V power source (verified by the thermostat losing power on the display). Pulled the thermostat off of its mount, took pictures of the wiring for reference, unscrewed the five wires and the old mounting plate, screwed in the new mounting plate (the screw holes perfectly aligned for both the old and new Honeywell units), reattached the five wires in their appropriate slots, turned the power back on to the furnace circuit and everything worked perfectly.The next step was to setup the new smart thermostat for WiFi, and this took a little bit longer because the process can be finicky. You have to remove the thermostat from its mount for about ten seconds and then put it back in, this helps initiate/restart the WiFi setup process. Then quickly go to your wireless device and join the new thermostat network. Then in my case, I had to manually open a browser tab to http://192.168.1.1 to complete the WiFi setup. If you don't see the new thermostat network or if that network address for it doesn't open up, then you will need to remove the unit from the mount for 10 seconds and then put it back in and repeat the process. A list of WiFi networks should open up on the above noted address, and from there you can join your 2.4Ghz WiFi network.Once WiFi setup is complete, install the Total Connect Comfort app and create an account. You will then need to register your new thermostat(s), all you need is that piece of paper from the box that says the MAC ID and MAC CRC. Once the new thermostat is registered, you will be able to control your thermostat from anywhere with any device.Total Comfort Connect has an app and a web portal that allow you to access, configure and adjust your thermostats. The web portal gives you more options, for example, I could not find an option to remove a thermostat on the app, but you can on the web portal. So if you can’t find what you’re looking for in the app, check out the web interface.While this device gets ~70% 5 star ratings, the other ~30% appear to be largely related to improper installation and/or frustration associated with the installation. The instruction PDF for this unit is 140 pages and could easily overwhelm most people. I have condensed the process into this short review as it related to my install, which was switching from an older Honeywell thermostat to this newer smart thermostat. Note that I already had the 'C' common wire and this was a simple replacement as everything I needed was already in place.Honeywell does log your thermostat settings and usage of your HVAC system and send monthly reports to the email where you registered the thermostat account. They probably sell this information without your personal identifying information. For example, in this report they compare your current month’s usage to the prior month. This includes how many hours you used the A/C and Heat, and how many hours they were off, as well as the average thermostat temperature settings for your home and away schedules. Some people will be opposed to this as a matter of privacy, so beware if that’s you that this is what you should expect. I am big on privacy, but I am not bothered by this enough to refuse to use the product and I will still recommend it to others.I hope this review helps others make their decisions to use or not use this thermostat. My family is very happy with it, and we have so far had no problems or complaints. If this changes, you can rest assured that this review will be updated to reflect that.I like that this new unit is not a touch screen, so there are no smudges, and the screen is much clearer than the old unit. It is really nice to be able to control the HVAC system remotely, to easily setup a schedule, and to easily make adjustments from the app.Stay warm/cool!

I have been in search of affordable, remote access capable thermostats for some time. The Nest is just too pricey for me, especially with two thermostats needed in our two level home. The Nest units sure look nice, in typical fashion as one would expect from their Apple designer pedigree. I even contemplated buying one per year to soften the sticker shock, but the reviews for them had one glaring thing that stood out, and that was the wide temperature swings before heating or cooling started. For the price, I expect a tighter temperature range. The Nest also appears to be better suited to automatically adjustng itself based upon your actual coming and going, while the Honeywell is based solely upon a schedule. If you want a thermostat that will manage itself, the Nest is probably the way to go. In our family, we generally have set times we are at home and away, so the Honeywell works best for regular schedules.Honeywell has three step up models, including the new Lyric, which looks quite a bit like the Nest (which itself resembles the old, mercury switch, round type thermostat). From what I read, the Lyric offers more self managing like the Nest, but is also around the same price. Given the choice between the Lyric and the Nest, I would go for the Lyric, if only because Honeywell has a long history with thermostats, but I am a cheapskate! The next lower tier Honeywell WiFi model has a snazzy color touch screen, with time and outside weather indicator (and probably forecast). While I would have loved to have this model, it was still almost twice the cost of the RTH6580WF. Below that is the WIFi model that has almost the same screen monochrome LCD as the RTH6580WF but with touchscreen functions. To me not worth the slight price premium. So the RTH6580WF was the model for me.One of the concerning things for the Honeywell was the need for a "C" wire, which I assumed my systems would not have available, forgetting about the loose wire left unconnected at my previous thermostats. A quick check with a voltmeter that they were not connected at both ends, made it clear all I had to do was connect the proper terminal at the transformer to have a working "C" wire. Easy peasy and no sparks!Installing was easy, especially with the good documentation included (including labels for each line). Just be sure to disconnect the power to the transformer beforehand. The hardest part was making sure the wall mount was level, which speaks about the simplicity of it all! The wifi connection portion was easy with the included instructions. After a delay for the thermostat to automatically update its firmware, it was on the network.Setting up the online account was easy, just be sure to hold on to the paper card supplied with the thermostat if you are away from the thermostat, as it contains the thermostat information the website requires. The iOS and Android apps are easy to operate and progamming is straighforward, just be sure to press submit or your programming will not go through. The software works via a connection to Honeywell, with no direct control of the thermostat available, from what I can tell. That is a negative to be sure, but it is an acceptable tradeoff, and I believe most WiFi thermostats suffer from. I have to assume Honeywell will be around for quite a bit longer, and with such a huge user base, keep the system up and running. I have experienced a few times in the several months of use that the portal was down, but the system came back up within an hour.I wish the software would provide ore information on times of use and the like, as well as the ability to lock out changes at the thermostat, as my kids have a habit of turning the thermostat settings to extremes of heating and cooling (like turning the A/C on when it is freezing outside). The system can be configured to send messages if selectable temperature extremes are met, but I have not yet tinkered with it enough to verify how well it works. More finegrained control of this would also be an improvement, but I am unsure of the limitations of the thermostat itself as far as this is concerned. The web portal and apps work fine however for sending changes remotely as I have been able to adjust the temperature adjustments made at the thermostat.In all, this is a highly recommended device, with the two in our home working without issue for several months now.