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RyanDD R Hi I'm having a Comfortmaker G9MVE060 installed tommorow. I initially said I didn't want the 'Observer' thermostat put in because I don't want wi-fi (long story don't ask) but have since seen that in the instructions pdf that you can disable the wi-fi. The thing is the guy who gave the quote said that the brains are all inside the furnace and that we could just hook up the honeywell thermostat and it should work fine. But he may have said anything to make the sale, I'm wondering if there are things that we couldn't do without the Observer thermostat. It's a two stage furnace with a variable speed blower...would that all happend by itself anyway? Complicating matters is that I read this review of the 'Obeserver' that siad it had issues, mainly that it: "when trying to dehumidify in the "comfort" setting: Run the A/C in low fan speed at first stage for a few minutes and then, regardless of any setpoint, switch to second stage with maximum airflow, discontinuing any initial dehumidification efforts and cooling down the house far too quickly. " Is this an isolated thing? Do you think there's a big difference between the two thermostats? #1 · Jun 13, 2016 Hi I'm having a Comfortmaker G9MVE060 installed tommorow. I initially said I didn't want the 'Observer' thermostat put in because I don't want wi-fi (long story don't ask) but have since seen that in the instructions pdf that you can disable the wi-fi. The thing is the guy who gave the quote said that the brains are all inside the furnace and that we could just hook up the honeywell thermostat and it should work fine. But he may have said anything to make the sale, I'm wondering if there are things that we couldn't do without the Observer thermostat. It's a two stage furnace with a variable speed blower...would that all happend by itself anyway? Complicating matters is that I read this review of the 'Obeserver' that siad it had issues, mainly that it: "when trying to dehumidify in the "comfort" setting: Run the A/C in low fan speed at first stage for a few minutes and then, regardless of any setpoint, switch to second stage with maximum airflow, discontinuing any initial dehumidification efforts and cooling down the house far too quickly. " Is this an isolated thing? Do you think there's a big difference between the two thermostats? See less See more Sort by Oldest first Oldest first Newest first Most reactions #2 · Jun 14, 2016 I'm not familiar with that particular piece of equipment. But I think it is what they call a communicating unit. Where the board in the furnace communicates with the condensing unit. On those units if they are paired you would normally use a communicating thermostat. But if you were just installing the heater I don't see where it would be a plus for having a communicating stat. Im not sure if your Honeywell stat is a communicating stat or a two stage, but I would think both would work. Keep in mind I'm not familiar with that unit. But I have installed quite a few 16 seer two speed communicating units and they are quite nice. And it's very easy to install as well. If you are getting a matching condenser I would absolutely want a communicating stat installed. #3 · Jun 14, 2016 By 'matching condenser' do you mean 2 stage AC? Cause we only have a one stage. And the furnace, as I said is a two stage furnace with 'variable speed blower'. So I guess that means only the heat is two stage and if I stick to the Honeywell it would just automatically shift speeds regardless? Just wondering if I'm missing out on any manual adjustments on the fancier one. 0 Reply #4 · Jun 14, 2016 To use that furnace to potential it needs the communicating t-stat -> dehumidification, speed controls, etc, etc. A standard honeywell thermostat is fine, just make sure it's a two-stage wired for two-stage operation. The control board can control the staging; however, it's not nearly as good. It's a timer where it will run on low for a certain amount of time and switch to high to complete the cycle. Doesn't give the ability to shift back down or only switch to high when required. #5 · Jun 14, 2016 The observer is a "communicating" stat. This means that it issues serial digital communications for all functions. Pro: -only 4 wires required regardless of functions used (for conventional stats, you'll very likely need to pull more wires) -supports a wide range of functions including a version of zoning. (zoning would be a separate and expensive install however) -basically all the same features as the high end stats -apparently has a 10 year warranty Pros: -Expensive as it's a high end stat. -uses proprietary comms protocols -- this means that if you change the furnace in the future, it's likely that you're changing the stat. (definitely if it's a different brand, and somewhat likely for the same brand as things change over the years) -not absolutely required if you don't plan on using the zoning that it supports. (you will have extremely limited choice on the zoning system after using this stat) -- humidity can be controlled by conventional stats, but they require extra wires. -many techs don't know much about these, and even less about troubleshooting problems between the equipment and the stat. (likely that you'll often get "it's a board or stat issue. It needs to be replaced") Cheers! Insert Quotes Post Reply

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