Honeywell RTH6580WF Review- The Best Value Smart Thermostat?!

Manufacturer

Honeywell are one of the most well known brands in thermostats. Honeywell was founded in 1906 but the date of the first thermostat that they manufactured goes back to the late 1800’s. So they have been making thermostats for a long time.

First Sold

The Honeywell RTH6580WF thermostat was first on sale in very late 2012 and so it is over 4 years old. It is one of the older smart thermostats that you can buy- not that that is a bad thing

Weight

Weighing in at 1.2 lbs it is one of the lightest models of thermostat that you can buy.

Dimensions

Measuring 5.8 x 1.5 x 3.5 inches, this smart thermostat is one of the largest that you can buy.

But as I said earlier, this is because of the age of the design. There is a lot of plastic and only a relatively small screen when you compare it to more modern smart thermostats such as the Nest or the Ecobee3.

Warranty

The warranty is very disappointing as you only have 1 year. Most of it’s competitors come with 2 or 3 year waranties.

Price

This thermostat is available at a great price. It is about a third of the price of some of its more expensive competitors.

Wi-Fi

To state the obvious, this thermostat has wi-fi. It uses the 2.4 Ghz standard and not the 5 Ghz standard.

In terms of security, it allows you to use the WEP, WPA and WPA2 systems.

Programming

This Honeywell thermostat has a 7 day scheduling program.

Each day can be programmed differently and there are four separate time periods that can be used per day.

Or you can just use the same presets on more than one day.

If you are one of the many people who don’t like to program a thermostat, then the RTH6580WF comes with its own presets which should save you money if you use them.

These presets are;

• 6AM Wake up
• 8am Leave (for work)
• 6pm Return (from work)
• 10pm Sleep.

If those presets do not suit your lifestyle then the thermostat can be programmed manually. Although you can do it on the thermostat itself, it is easier to do via the app for your phone or tablet or on your PC.

You can find out more about these apps in the Remote Access section below.

• The RTH6580WF is loaded with presets which if you choose to use could save you up to 33% on your bill.
• Smart Response Technology gets to know how your system works and how quickly it can warm up and cool down your house.
• And so, if you want your house to be 75 °F at 6pm every night, because the thermostat knows how your system works, it will start your heating or your cooling system so that at 6pm precisely the temperature will be 75 °F.
• There are 4 time periods each day that can be programmed. This gives you the flexibility to only have your system running when you need it.

Remote Access is one of the most attractive features that any smart device can have, not just smart thermostats.

The magic with this feature is that you can be on the side side of the room to your thermostat or on the other side of the world.

The Honeywell RTH6580WF provides remote access through a series of apps.

There is a section below titled “Remote Access” that provides a lot more details on these apps.

Geofencing is an important feature for a thermostat to have because, simply put, it can automatically detect when you have left the house and turn your system off

Or, it can detect when you are coming home and turn your system off.

The RTH6580WF uses geofencing which can be set up by visiting Honeywell’s IFTTT (If That Then This) channel.

IFTTT is explained later in this review.

There is only one smart thermostat that uses room sensors at the moment but I think that will change very quickly.

They are white plastic and are 5″ tall and 5″ wide and sit on a stand.

They are placed in different rooms around the house and measure the temperature in the room which they communicate back to the thermostat.

They are a solution to the age old problem of thermostats traditionally controlling the temperature of the whole house whilst only knowing the temperature in one room!

However, the bad news is that this Honeywell thermostat does not use room sensors!

To quickly summarize the table…

The Honeywell RTH6580WF works with most 24V systems that are powered by gas, electric or oil.

It will work with certain heat only systems and certain cool only systems.

It does work with heat pumps.

It will work with heating and cooling systems that are 1 or 2 stages and you can control your humidifier or dehumidifier system with it.

Some of the more more common systems that it is incompatible with and will not be able to control are;

• your domestic hot water supply
• electric baseboards
• millivolt systems

But, don’t just take my word for it.

In order to help you, Honeywell have provided a step by step photo guide that you can use to check compatibility.

The guide contains 5 questions that you need to answer in order to discover if the RTH6580WF will work in your home.

Once you can see the wires in the thermostat that is installed currently, the guide will only take about 15 minutes to complete.

If you are still unsure then you can contact Honey via email at HCHCustomercare@honeywell.com or by phoning them on 1-855-733-5465.

“C” Wire

In order to work properly, your thermostat will need to be powered by a “c” or “common” wire. If you follow the compatibility check described above, you will know if you have a “c” wire to power the thermostat.

However, there is a workaround if your current setup doesn’t have a “c” wire.

It is an official video created by Honeywell and it explains how to substitute the “g” wire for the “c”wire.

It is about 7 minutes long and you can view it here.

But be warned.

Before you start work on your system, turn it off completely.

This is a basic instruction that appears to be missing from the video!

iOS

The Honeywell Total Connect Comfort app can be downloaded for free to use on your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

In order for it to work, your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch must be running iOS version 7 or later.

This app is very popular and nearly 11000 users have rated this app, giving it 4.5 out of 5.

It was last updated in July 2016, which is good because it shows that Honeywell are still committed to it.

Download it here

Android

The Honeywell Total Connect Comfort app can be downloaded for free to use on your Android phone or tablet.

In order for it to work, your Android device must be running 4.1 or later.

The app has been downloaded between 50,000- 100,00 times.

However, just over 800 users (at the time of writing in February 2017) have rated it 3 out of 5.

The good news is that the app was last updated in November 2016 and so that shows that Honeywell are continuing to update it.

Download it here

Windows 10 (Mobile)

There is no app for the Windows 10 operating system.

However, you can access a web app using any modern browser.

Web App

You can control and manage your thermostat from a Windows PC or a Mac computer.

You need to create a free account here.

And then you can use the account as long as the web browser that you are using is listed below.

The browser needs to be up to date but specific versions are listed below.

Firefox

Your Windows PC or Mac computer needs to be running version 25 or later

Internet Explorer

Your Windows PC or Mac computer needs to be running version 10 or later

Chrome

Your Windows PC or Mac computer needs to be running version 30 or later

Safari

Your Windows PC or Mac computer needs to be running version 6 or later

This unit only works with two “smart systems”; Amazon Alexa and IFTT

Alexa/ Echo

The RTH6580WF works, like all other smart thermostats, on a basic level with Alexa.

Using your voice you will be able to set, lower or raise the temperature on your thermostat.

But in order to this you will need to own an Amazon Echo- a free standing, Internet enabled microphone and speaker…

IFTTT (If This Then That)

IFTTT is not a home automation system as such because a home automation system is a way to  link lots of smart devices together and then control them from one app.

IFTTT does not do that.

What is does do is make individual smart devices smarter.

And it does this by allowing users or the manufacturer to create “code recipes” that enable the device to do more.

Honeywell has created some of these code recipes for this wi-fi thermostat.

These recipes are free and can be used by anyone as long as they have a free IFTTT account.

Currently, there are 10 recipes available for you to use.

These include the ability to set the temperature on your thermostat to 72 °F when your favorite team are playing

Color Choices

This device only comes in beige.

Touchscreen

No. The thermostat is controlled by the buttons or it can be controlled by the apps that were mentioned earlier.

Screen Size and Details

The screen is about 3.5″ x 2″ across.

It is backlit with a very clear black font on a green background.

Power

As described above, this unit needs to be powered by a “c” wire.

However, if your system doesn’t have a “c” wire, you might want to look at this alternative.

Installation

The Honeywell RTH6580WF can be installed by a home owner or a professional.

Before you purchase a unit, make sure that it is compatible with your current set up by using this tool.

To find out more about the installation, read the Installation Guide section below.

1. Switch off the power to your heating and cooling system from your circuit breaker box.
2. Remove the front of your old thermostat but keep the wall plate attached.
3. Before you do anything else, take a photo of your wires.
4. Check to see if you have any “jumper” wires.
5. Attach the wire labels, that came in the box with the thermostat, to the wires on your system.
6. Use a screwdriver to loosen and disconnect the wires.
7. Remove the old wall plate but be careful to ensure that the wires don’t disappear into the wall.
8. Center your new thermostat on the wall, make sure it is level and mark the position of the pilot holes.
9. Drill the pilot holes and tap the wall anchors in with a hammer.
10. Hold the wall plate on the wall and attach the screws.
11. Connect the wires into the terminals
12. Attach the new thermostat to the wall plate.
13. Switch the power to your heating and cooling system back on.

You are now ready to set up your thermostat.

Step 2 Set your heating and cooling system type. This is required in order to make sure that your system is not damaged and so that it operates efficiently.

Step 3 Connect your thermostat to your wi-fi Internet.

There are several videos to help you with the installation and set up process.

These can be watched at www.wifithermostat.com/installation-videos

The most frequently asked questions about this product are;

Q: How will I know if this thermostat is compatible?

A: It depends on which type of heating and cooling system that you have.

A useful source of information is http://www.thermostatcenter.com/the-c-wire/

Q: Do I need to have or buy a Honeywell Gateway in order for this thermostat to work?

A: No, you don’t need to buy one.

Q: Without battery back up what happens if the power fails? Will the settings be saved?

A: It will save the settings but it depends on the length of the power failure…