Spent 3 hours trying to swap my thermostat for a smart one

I bought a new smart thermostat from the hardware store down on Elm Street. Figured it would be a quick 30 minute job to replace the old one. Turns out my house still has those old two-wire systems from the 80s and nothing matched up. Took me three trips to the store and a whole afternoon to finally get it working. Anyone else run into wiring surprises when trying to make their home more efficient?

3 comments

3 Comments

james_kim23d ago

Oh boy, I feel your pain on this one. I had a similar headache when I tried to put a smart thermostat in my place. The old wiring was so faded I could barely read the labels, and I ended up frying a fuse because I mixed up the common wire and the heat wire. Had to call in a friend who does electrical work to sort it out. It's frustrating when a simple upgrade turns into a whole project, but at least once it's done you don't have to touch it again for years.

kelly.nora23d ago

And @james_kim that's just how it goes with ANY old house stuff, seems like nothing is ever simple.

phoenix_carter23d ago

You ever get so frustrated with a project you just start throwing tools around? I had a similar thing happen but with a ceiling fan. Old house, thought it'd be a straight swap. Pulled the old one down and found the box was barely attached to a joist, just dangling in the drywall. Had to cut a hole in the ceiling, sister in a new 2x4, and patch it all back up. Took me two weekends and I still have a slight wobble in the fan that drives me nuts.