Honeywell Home Aube TH106 Electric Heating 7-Day Programmable Thermostat

The Honeywell Home Aube TH106 thermostat provides excellent heating control, warming the room before I wake up without the disruptive start or stop noise found in other systems. It maintains a consistent temperature throughout the day, and the ability to set different temperatures for four times a day is very convenient. The 7-day programmable feature lets you adjust settings according to your daily routine, offering great flexibility. The thermostat even cools the room before bedtime, enhancing comfort.Pros:Warms the room before waking upNo cut-off or start noiseMaintains steady temperature4 different time settings dailyFlexible 7-day programming for unique daily schedulesCons:Can only set one "comfort" and one "sleeping" temperature, limiting temperature range flexibilityOverall, it’s a great thermostat for those looking for efficiency and quiet operation, though having more temperature options would enhance its versatility.

This is a great thermostat! If you have electric baseboard, then you are probably used to the horrible big knob thermostats that click on and off with a temperature swing and have NO features.This thermostat varies the heater power to exactly hit the target temperature, instead of an OFF/MAX cycling and swinging temperatures. It also lets you program up to 3 different temperatures and 4 different times per day.If you are like me and you want the best control and automation, but not unnecessary SMART features, then THIS is the thermostat for you!

First thing I want to say is that the design of this is very nice and sleek with no buttons exposed, until you open the hinged panel. The display is big and shows all the information in an easy to read way. I especially like the power level indicator which shows how much power it is giving to the heaters. Installation was easy, and programming was straight-forward also.I would have given it 5 stars if it wasn't for the way the temperatures are set. You only have a 'occupied temp' and a 'unoccupied temp' that you can set. All of the programs will use these two temperatures, and ONLY these two temperatures... So for example, if you have the temps set at 72 & 62. (When you are home, it will be at 72, and when you are gone, 62.) You can not have one day a higher temperature than the other. This may not be a problem for other people, but I would have liked to keep the weekend temp a little bit warmer because I tend to be there more often. Also, programmed times go in 15 minute increments.A side note to everyone with electric baseboard heat... This thermostat will cycle the heaters on and off quite rapidly (this is how it sends different power levels to them) and they can make a lot of noise. To remedy this, take off the front panel of the heater and spray WD-40 on the 3-5 points where the heating element sits on the rail. The noise is caused because its metal on metal contact and it expands when heating up. The slight movement of the metals against each other causes the noises. The WD-40 will mostly evaporate away from the heat, but it will leave a film on there and make them silent. I now enjoy sleeping with out having to hear all of the creeking and cracking mine used to make.

These units are amazing. We have a lake home in Northern Minnesota that has 100 linear feet of baseboard. It used to be controlled with bi-metal strip thermostats. These thermostats are awful and have a huge temperature swings of at least 8 degrees F. Worse they are poorly calibrated and the calibration changes with on time. This latter is because the current passes through the bi-metal strip and heats it up. All these shortcomings can produce losses of up to 30% versus having optimal control and regulation. The heating electric supply is controlled by ripple. That is to say that we get a 40% discount on the electricity for heat loads, as long as we agree that it can be interrupted. This interruption is achieved by passing a ripple current down the line. This service is separately metered. In order to have it you must have a reliable backup. In our case it is a propane forced air furnace. I buy propane on contract, and the cost of the electric heat and propane was a wash the last few years. Because of the control problems of baseboard heat, I was using propane as primary heat. However this winter propane went to over $5.0 a gallon! So I switched back to ripple electric, which is equivalent to propane at $1.59 per gallon. However the technical shortcomings of the bi-metal thermostats, made life very uncomfortable. So I researched options.I replaced all the bi-metal thermostats with electronic thermostats. So I used the Honeywell TL7235A and these Aube TH106/U electronic switching TRIAC devices. The other thermostat is an electronic, non programmable mechanical switching thermostat. It is a four wire unit that operated in 15 minute duty cycles, will switch a total load of 15 amps and has a 1 degree F variation. It has no minimum load to operate. It has back lightingThe Aube unit is programmable and can be set to operate in 15 sec or 15 min cycles set by dip switch. You are best using 15 sec cycles and more about that later. It can be set to show Temperature in degrees C or F. There is no mechanical switching, it is done electronically via the TRIAC device. It will switch 16.7 amps but has a minimum load of 2 amps and can therefore not operate a relay. It is a two wire unit and can therefore replace the old two wire bi-metal thermostats. This however means that it has to operate by stealing current from the load, and this is why the unit can not be back lit. If power goes out, it will keep time for 4 hours, in fact I have found it will keep time and hold its program to 7 to 8 hours. It holds the charge to operate during power outages with one of the new supercap devices. I noted one on the circuit board.So why did I use two devices? There were three reasons. The first is that we have two great rooms. One has a draw of 30 amps and the other 27 amps. There is no electronic thermostat made that will switch that much current. Previously these spaces used thermostats containing two b-metal strips. These were a real nightmare! These units will not drive relays, so I used the other device to switch a RIB dual relay box, to switch both phases of the 240 volt supply. One relay pack was mounted in the wall, and a picture places over the metal plate. The other relay pack was installed in a closet. This works very well indeed.The second reason, is that one reviewer had stated his Aube thermostat did not go back to the pre outage setting after long power outages. So I did not want to use this device in areas where a freeze up could result. So I placed one of these units in the main entry way and the other in the master bedroom. There has been a lot of times where rippling has exceeded 8 hours. Interestingly one unit holds time about 7 hours and one 8 hours. However both exceed the spec of 4 hours. The previous reviewer might have been confused by a minor quirk of these units. First I can absolutely assure you the thermostat will return to the previous thermostat setting when power is returned, However in a long power cut the time will be lost. Now when you go to reset the clock after an outage, it wipes out all previous settings and you have to reset temperature settings and program.The third reason, is that a number of thermostats are in bedrooms only used in the summer lakes season, were the cheaper unit is satisfactory.So how do the units function. Set at 15 sec duty cycles, these units hold the room temperature rock steady with no recordable or noticeable variation. These 15 min duty cycles can seamlessly vary the heat form minimal to high by varying the off length of the pulse. The power used is shown on the display. In the entry way, the unit quickly responds to an open door and gently and seamlessly reduces power with no overshoot. The unit quickly finds heat losses and exactly replaces them with no under or over swings whatever. This has totally amazed me. From that aspect it is the perfect thermostat. The heat sink of the TRIAC device gets slightly warm in use.So the pros are: -Perfect temperature control.Good display with useful information.Easy installation. However note that the wires are aluminum. Most household wiring is copper. So you need to place antioxidant grease on the wires during the hookup.Can replace two wire controlsMaintains temperature setting in prolonged power outageSignificant reduction in electricity usage.Good styling.Cons: -No back lighting. This is because it is a two wire device.Has a minimal current requirement and can therefore not drive a relay. In any event 15 sec duty cycles would destroy relaysSince this unit is a two wire unit it will not meet electric code requirements for new construction in many jurisdictions. It would not meet new construction codes here in Minnesota. It really would be good to have a four wire unit of this device available. This would require two TRIAC devices and not the one this unit has, so it would increase cost. A four wire unit would allow back lighting. The other thermostats I chose are four wire units and do have back lighting.Both of the thermostats do not allow change of settings in a power outage. I ran into a situation were I was leaving for a few days, and needed to lower all the thermostat settings, but the heat was rippled out. The electrician had showed me how to over ride the ripple, which he is not supposed to do. So I over rode the ripple just long enough to change the thermostats and then return the the system to ripple control. This problem would occur with any electronic thermostat.My overwhelming impression of these units is that they are incredible, and give state of the art control and comfort. The electro/mechanical units work very well also and do not vary more the a degree F. This whole project has turned baseboard heat from the most uncomfortable heating system I know, into the most comfortable I have ever experienced. It has saved a significant amount of electricity as well. My bills are significantly lower, and this project will pay for itself.