Home Improvement Today?

Question about HVAC unit in house. Should all five of these terminal connections be wired straight to the thermostat? Or could any of the wires from these five terminals go elsewhere?

I attempted to wire in a new smart thermostat and I only have four wires coming out of the wall

 

One of them might be a relay to ur compressor?

Just make sure the wires are connected to terminals with same labels on furnace and thermostat and u should be fine lol

If in doubt get a technician to look at it I’m far from an HVAC expert

What kind of thermostat did u get?

 

Got a Honeywell WiFi free from my brother in law.

 

What is it replacing?

 

An old white Rodgers

 

So if it is a dial thermostat it might not have a c wire which means you’ll likely need to run a new 5 wire bundle or the “add a wire” module (although it looks like all the terminals on your furnace are being used)
When u get a chance take another pic of your furnace where u can see terminal labels (and how all the wires are related/connected-looks like 3 different bundles come together there) and maybe a pic of where u can see terminal labels on your existing thermostat
Until then this is a good read: https://smartthermostatguide.com/thermostat-c-wire-explained/

I needed to run some 18/5 wire when I upgraded to a smart thermostat

Also I think there is an “ask an electrician” thread somewhere on TW that might have some hvac trsffic

 

The terminals in order are C G R W Y.

There are three sets of wire wired in to the furnace. The first set of wire(4 wires) goes back to the thermostat and all but the R connection match (G=G Y=Y and W=W). The R terminal on the furnace is connected to the second set of wire(2 wires) with the second wire tied to the R connection going back to the thermostat (my guess is this wire goes to the limit switch in the drain pan). The third set (2 wires) is connected to the C and the Y. I don't know where this set goes.

I believe i just need to add one new wire from the Furnace C back to the C of the new thermostat.

I'm in Houston and my attic to too hot to work in, so I will have to wait till I get back in town in two weeks. I just reinstalled my old thermostat.

 

Sounds like a plan
I think it is an 18 gauge wire, might as well run 18/5 while you’re in there for futuremods

 

So, continuing to get ready to paint the exterior of house, and not sure if the columns can be saved or if I should replace them.

What do you think?

 

Id get a good paint stripper and take it down to wood. see what it looks like...go from there

 

No matter what you do, you will continue to get rot and moisture from the bottom unless you cut up and get the wood off the ground. I always leave a 1/2" of space when using wood outside as to not create a wicking effect with ground water.

 

Stud finder upgrade recommendations. I have an older Zircon that has "deep stud" and electrical sensing, but it takes a lot of back and forth calibration, and does not slide very well along high friction (flat paint) textures. This sucks for overhead joist locating.

What new stud finders do you all recommend? Trying to strike a balance between good DIY vs contractor grade.

 

I've been very happy with my ProSensor 710. It's a little pricey if you don't use it much.

$53 Franklin Sensors 710 Professional Stud Finder with 13-Sensors Wood & Metal Stud Detector/Wall Scanner, Made in the USA

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064EICKG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Costco has one that I picked up and really like b/c it has been dead on accurate. The Zircon was becoming hit or miss for me and many times my whole wall would get an electrical hit, which drove me nuts. Can't find a link other than this YouTube, and I haven't even watched it. Just to show you what it looks like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PElkQRGyeo

 

Yes on Android....? Go on....

 

I think $50 is a reasonable pricepoint for my needs. The for the suggestion.

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/MASTER-...rth-Magnet-Discs-6-per-Pack-07046HD/202526367

Wrap a piece of scotch tape around one of these to help it slide along wall w/o marking it and to help hold onto it.

 

I tried the magnet method, but you're at the mercy of whoever put the drywall screws in. This caused some problems for me when I put lag screws in for a TV mount.

 

I have similar issues with mine. Either finds electrical behind everything, or says studs are there when they aren’t.

Good times.