Today was a frustrating day.
I decided to replace one of our HVAC thermostats, which is more than 20 years old. The buttons were becoming unreliable, and the temperature accuracy didn't seem as good as it once was.
I bought a simple replacement thermostat from Amazon. We don't need Wi-Fi or internet connectivity, just a basic thermostat that works. Amazon.com
My first step was to disconnect power to the thermostat. I tried every breaker in the panel, but none of them turned it off. I even shut off the main breaker, yet the thermostat was still on.
That's when the real adventure began.
One of the breakers wouldn't turn back on. I assumed it had failed. It was 100 amps. I drove to Home Depot and picked up a replacement. The first one I bought was the wrong size. Then I remembered there was a second electrical panel in the basement that I had completely forgotten about. The 100 amps breaker was in the main panel, and it controlled the whole basement panel.
Back to Home Depot.
This time I bought the correct 100-amp breaker. However, no matter what I did, I couldn't get the new breaker to switch on, even when it wasn't connected. I've replaced several 20- and 30-amp breakers over the years and have never run into that problem.
I called my handyman. His solution was simple: push the breaker firmly to OFF until it clicks, then switch it back to ON. That worked immediately. At that point, I thought maybe the old breaker was still good. Nope.
I installed the new breaker, and everything worked. Success.
Then I returned to the thermostat project.
I asked my handyman why the thermostat remained powered even when the main breaker was off and the batteries had been removed. He suggested shutting down the furnace. The whole house breaker was off already.
I restored all the breakers, switched off the furnace breaker, and turned off the AC disconnect. This time, when I went upstairs, the thermostat was finally dead.
By then, I had already walked up and down the stairs more than 20 times and was getting tired.
At that point, I didn't care why it was finally off, I was just happy it was.
I disconnected the four wires from the old thermostat, connected them to the new one, and completed the installation. Even working slowly and carefully, the actual thermostat replacement took only about 20 minutes.
What should have been a simple 20-minute project turned into a three-hour ordeal.
As usual, the repair itself was easy. Figuring out what was really going on took almost all the time.
The next thermostat is coming up soon.
I decided to replace one of our HVAC thermostats, which is more than 20 years old. The buttons were becoming unreliable, and the temperature accuracy didn't seem as good as it once was.
I bought a simple replacement thermostat from Amazon. We don't need Wi-Fi or internet connectivity, just a basic thermostat that works. Amazon.com
My first step was to disconnect power to the thermostat. I tried every breaker in the panel, but none of them turned it off. I even shut off the main breaker, yet the thermostat was still on.
That's when the real adventure began.
One of the breakers wouldn't turn back on. I assumed it had failed. It was 100 amps. I drove to Home Depot and picked up a replacement. The first one I bought was the wrong size. Then I remembered there was a second electrical panel in the basement that I had completely forgotten about. The 100 amps breaker was in the main panel, and it controlled the whole basement panel.
Back to Home Depot.
This time I bought the correct 100-amp breaker. However, no matter what I did, I couldn't get the new breaker to switch on, even when it wasn't connected. I've replaced several 20- and 30-amp breakers over the years and have never run into that problem.
I called my handyman. His solution was simple: push the breaker firmly to OFF until it clicks, then switch it back to ON. That worked immediately. At that point, I thought maybe the old breaker was still good. Nope.
I installed the new breaker, and everything worked. Success.
Then I returned to the thermostat project.
I asked my handyman why the thermostat remained powered even when the main breaker was off and the batteries had been removed. He suggested shutting down the furnace. The whole house breaker was off already.
I restored all the breakers, switched off the furnace breaker, and turned off the AC disconnect. This time, when I went upstairs, the thermostat was finally dead.
By then, I had already walked up and down the stairs more than 20 times and was getting tired.
At that point, I didn't care why it was finally off, I was just happy it was.
I disconnected the four wires from the old thermostat, connected them to the new one, and completed the installation. Even working slowly and carefully, the actual thermostat replacement took only about 20 minutes.
What should have been a simple 20-minute project turned into a three-hour ordeal.
As usual, the repair itself was easy. Figuring out what was really going on took almost all the time.
The next thermostat is coming up soon.
