does anyone know if i can change my current thermostat to a new digital one?

the one i have in my apartment looks like this

 

Shouldn't be a problem. I've changed out a couple. Its just a matter of connecting a few wires to the right places. Make sure you can disconnect the system from the electricity before you mess with it. The new thermostat will come with instructions and stickers. Use the stickers to label the wires according to what terminal they're attached to on the old thermostat. Don't rely on the color coding of the wires because they can vary.

Hint: There will be a jumper to tell the new thermostat if you have a gas or electric heater. If you have gas, and set it to gas, and the blower won't come on automatically, set it to electric.

If your heater is something other than natural gas or electric, read the new thermostat's packaging carefully to make sure it can support your heater type.

 

yeah, most of the digital ones now support nearly any type of heating system. check to be sure though.

dont worry about disconnecting the electricity. it's super low voltage running to your thermostat... you couldn't hurt yourself if you tried.

as for brands, avoid Honeywell - IMO. I just put one in and I'm really annoyed at how over complicated it is. changing the temperature is a chore. the last digital i has was much better.. i forget brand.

 

i just got one at home depot for 39 bucks made by RiteTemp, digital says it supports all types of systems, 7 days of programs and backlit LCD



i have baseboard heating, so i'm guessing it would be gas

also i only have control of the heat, since the AC is from window units, so from what i've been reading i should only have 2-3 wires to hook up

 

can I get a color LCD on my thermostat?

 

Its 24VAC. Definitely enough to arc and possibly damage something if you're not careful.

 

I have that exact one. Yeah its 3 wires: power, fan control, heat control.

 

Piece of advice, don't get cheap.

I've gone through three thermostats in the last year from home depot, they keep crapping out on me. After several of dear ol' dad's recomendations to get the cheaper ones, I stepped up to a $75 or so one and haven't had a problem since.

but the wiring should be pretty straight-forward.

make sure you get the appropriate one.
theres a 7 day version, that uses the same settings every day and a 5-1-1 version that lets you program different settings for the weekend, i.e. heat on all day since you'll likely be home.

 

i don't have a fan control since i have baseboard

looks like i will have
R/RH
W
and possibly a C wire

 

Slightly OT: but how does baseboard heating work? Like what's the heat source? Is the heat generated in each room or at some central location?

 

Mine has a blue backlight, but I have never seen a color LCD.

 

Depends on the type of heating unit. Electric baseboards heat in each room individually. My parents house had forced hot water, so the water was heated centrally then piped into each room and circulated through the baseboard.

 

shouldn't be an issue to swap out as many others have said...

 

Friends of ours got a little cheap and ended up having to get a new one within a few months. They just returned it to Home Depot w/o a receipt, got a credit, and put it towards the new one.

The one we got was about $70. Bought two, once for each zone/floor. Ours is the 5-1-1 version which is nice b/c it allows me to program Saturday and Sunday differently. But we love it and will never use anything but a programmable thermostat since it's so easy to use and saves money in the long run...

 

Yes, you can change it. I switched from almost identical to the one you posted to this one:

 

just found out that i can not change it to that one

i have a 110V system, not a 24V system

looks like i have to go back to home depot and see if they have something that will wortk with my system

 

Honeywell makes a thermostat that supports 24v.
It depends on how granular you wish to program the unit. My honewell provides 4 settings for each day of the week... wake,leave,return,sleep.

As for complex, you can always delete the extra settings and just use the 1 or 2 settings for the entire week. It also has fuzzy logic to get the temperature to the setting by the time you have set.
Not engage the heat so it starts heating at the time set.

It's a simple install, I would just say be careful with the wires, make sure they don't fall back into the wall and tape off each wire with the labelling that it had on the previous thermostat, like RY, R,WY,etc