Install Amazon Smart Thermostat + C-Wire (less than 4 minutes!)
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- Опубліковано 11 лис 2022
- Here's how I installed my Amazon Smart Thermostat and the C-Wire Adapter!
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Working with electricity is dangerous! This video is for demonstration purposes only.
Follow the directions that come with your items! Not every install is identical. You may have a different setup... but the steps here will help you understand the process better!
I have a gas furnace with air conditioning.
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You can avoid purchasing the adapter if you have unused wires in the main bundle of wire coming out of the wall. With my thermostat I did not have a C wire designated but I did have 4 unused colored wires in the bundle that were tucked back into the wall. Pick one of the wires to become the C wire. I chose the blue wire as it is the most common choice for C. Now turn your power off to your furnance and open the side panel. Look at your motherboard and you will see all the connection screws that are the same as the thermostat such as W,Y,G, R, RC ..etc. There should be a C terminal as well. In my case, I had a red wire already connected to the board C terminal that was connected to R and RC at the thermostat. It does not matter as the new wire will also be connected to the C terminal. Find the wire bundle coming from the thermostat into the furnace. You will see some of the wires already connected to the board and some that are not connected to anything. In my case, I stripped the blue wire that was unused and connected it to the C terminal. It does not matter if there is already another wire connected to C. That is it. You now have a blue C wire and do not need to pay for the adapter or use batteries to keep power to the thermostat. The other colors that were connected to my old thermostat such as G,Y,W,R,RC were connected the same terminals on the Amazon thermostat.
This is helpful
Thank you so much for this video! I had one hell of a time installing my new thermostat and your video is the only one I found that actually helped. Appreciate it man!
Thanks for letting me know! I'm glad my video helped you! Rock on!
Thanks Matt 4 minutes of wisdom, every step lead me to make an installation painlessly. Even removing the cover of the burner
I'm glad you had success with your install and that my video helped! Rock on!
@2:58 the G->C and Y->K was the lifesaver for me. Couldn't figure out what was going wrong on the thermostat side, thought I had everything labeled right. But that little swap is what did it for me. Thank you for the great informative video.
Excellent! I'm glad this video helped and I'm glad you're up and running! Rock on!
@@AwesomeFunThings7 months later and this fix worked!!! I have no idea why.
Spoke too soon, now the fan won't turn on.
Excellent video. Saved me a lot of time. Thanks!
Great! I'm glad this helped you!
I have an older thermostat and only 2 maybe 3 wires come out the wall.. would this be a problem?
I don't have a yellow wire going to Y it's a blue wire. So could I still have a c wire cable if the blue is connected to Y?
The little blue tab on the thermostat needs to be on the up position that blue tab is actually a jumper so you have an extra wire remaining also
The Alexa app will take into consideration your exact hardward configuration and will prompt you to change the blue tab if needed.
You shouldn’t have to open the air handler. I have a heat pump and connected all the wire EXCEPT I had to connect the white wire to W2 and the orange to o/b…if your system blows hot air when ac is on then you go into settings and switch O to B or B to O
I only have 4 wires on my old thermostat. Green, blue, white and red. What do i do?
Thank you for this video it helped tremendously
Thanks for letting me know! I'm glad it helped!
Fun edit style !
Thanks! I'm glad you like it!!
my wall only has WGR. is that a problem?
Great video!
this is great and probably works in 90% of applications, but here in the northeast, we have gas boilers and baseboard heat which means no control board at the boiler(instead we have an Aquastat). In my application, the smart thermostat will be controlling both the heat and the AC (R1&C used). I have extra wires (3) coming to the thermostat and a 24v transformer near by boiler, the question is where to connect the 24v to the device?
Thanks for passing this along. The Alexa app will give you exact install details for your specific hardware. I would start there and follow those directions while also using my video as a way to see the techniques you'll need to do. Good luck with your install!
@@AwesomeFunThings The app tells me I need a "C" wire adaptor, but the C wire adaptor gets wired to the circuit board which I don't have on a gas boiler. I do have extra wires and have a 24v power supply I can hook up directly to the thermostat but not sure which terminals would accept such a set up
I believe there is a way to reach customer service but I’m not sure what those steps are. I would suggest going down that path.
Great work ! You're a pro!
Thanks, Stuart! You've helped with so many different things in the past. It has boosted my confidence to the point where I attempted this. I'm glad I did. Thanks again!
@@AwesomeFunThings Thanks, but you should be confident as you have 85% of the skill the whole time.Very good how you draw on similar experiences to get a feel, then do the in-depth research, and then time to JUMP INTO ACTION! :P (Not Rushed) We all need cheerleaders in our lives from time to time. As you have done for me and more :) On to the next project!
What if i dont have a yellow cable then what
My existing thermostat only has red, blue, and white connected. The yellow and green wires are there, but not connected to the existing thermostat. Should I connect these to my amazon thermostat?
Thanks for watching the video and asking this question. I suggest you follow the instructions on the Alexa app. When you do, the app will adjust the install-steps to fit your exact hardware configuration.
So at 2:17 does that c wire adapter wire need to be connected to the smart Alexa thermostat or is that c wire adapter a substitute and a wifi substitute?
The c wire adapter is connected to your furnace and the wires running to your thermostat are connected to the c wire adapter. So… the adapter sits between your furniture and thermostat.
I hope this helps. Good luck if you plan to do the install yourself.
@@AwesomeFunThings This is the most confusing part, especially when you don't have C wire and THIS needs a dedicate DIY tutorial video clip.
@@samsen3965you can either buy a c wire direct plug into wall to thermostat if you have a plug nearby. Or like this video. The wires he connects to the c wire adapter are the wires behind the the thermostat. Connect the other c wire adapter back into the furnace
on alexa app, i dont get the "amazon" brand listed after clicking thermostat device? do you know why?
Great question. Thanks for asking. Try this: Go to "Add a Device" and rather than choose from the list, start typing in the search box. Ideally, "Amazon Thermostat" will appear. Good luck!
if you have two thermostats do you need two c wire adapters?
Good question. Sorry, I don't know but my guess would be that two c wire adapters would be needed. I would confirm that with Amazon.
What is I don't have a yellow? And the blue was in y?
Great question. Sorry... I don't know the answer but the Alexa app will guide you through the process showing you exact steps for your unique hardware. My video should still be useful to learn the techniques and methods. Good luck with your install!
Do you lose the option to turn on your fan by using this method?
Yes. Fan options for my unit are: Always on, Fan circulate, off
@@AwesomeFunThings I installed the adapter and now can not take the fan off auto, did I do something wrong?
Thank you so much for making this video. It was a lifesaver for me. Followed Alexa’s step by step with no success until I watched this video!!
Wait on the adapter we just terminate blue with blue??
Often the unused wires is what you want... but be sure to follow the app. It will provide details specific to your unique situation.
I did all of this it connected successfully everything seems fine but my furnace won’t turn on now.
Oh no! I suggest you contact Amazon through the Alexa app.
My old thermostat had a single red wire from C on the board that connected to R on the thermostat. The old thermostat then had a small jumper from R to RC. When I installed the new thermostat I installed the Red wire into the R slot. I then had to slide that blue clip up to indicate that I only had one Red wire coming in (I assume acts the same as the jumper between R and RC on the old). I then connected a separate blue wire to C on the board and ran that to C on the Amazon thermostat. This additional Blue wire I connected allowed me to avoid buying the adapter kit.
i did exactly this and now i have no heat setting just ac
Oh no!!
How do I know if I need C wire?
The Alexa App will identify if your specific hardware needs the C-Wire Adapter. Basically, it’s needed when you don’t have a wire that provides electricity to the thermostat. Typically, if your thermostat uses batteries you don’t likely have the “power” wire and will need the C-Wire Adapter… but, again, follow the on-screen prompts on the Alexa app to know for sure.
Good luck! 👍
You can’t set the fan from constant to automatic from your phone that was very disappointing for me a dealbreaker.
The screen doesn’t show anything and the ac wont come on now what’s up?
Oh no! The Alexa app will guide you based on your exact hardware and exact issue you're having. I would start there. Good luck!
My thermostat only has a RC RH and a W wire. What am I supposed to do? Also when you went to the basement and open-end up the furnace you totally lost me. No clue what you were talking about there.
Sadly, I'm not familiar with every possible hardware configuration. Good news. The Alexa app will show you exactly how to make the appropriate connections for your specific hardware. I would suggest you start there. Also, the customer service is very good if you need that level of help. Either way, I wish you good luck with the install. Hopefully this video will help you to some degree.
Which port do we put the blue wire in, I been in this one for a long time
It's best to check the Alexa app. That will give you exact instructions based on your unique equipment. Good luck!
So blue goes where
Did you ever get an answer, im still stuck on that one step
Powering up a return wire is never good for any equipment. If someone did that with high voltage AC, you could kill someone on the line. Proper procedure is replacing any 18/4 with professionally rated 18/5 that is NEC rated for temperature / fire and has a valid PVC jacket.
The first item in the instructions is to identify if your unit is one of the rare units that uses high voltage and Amazon has, thankfully, been very clear that this product is not compatible with high voltage systems.
I followed all of Amazon's instructions. Thoustands of homeonwers and professional installers have also followed these instructions on their low-voltage systems. It seems likely that Amazon would not tell their customers to do something that could damage their equipment because a huge class action lawsuit could occur. This product has been in the market for a long time and I have not found any widespread examples of damaged equipment or a pending lawsuit.
@@AwesomeFunThings The bottom line is did you take their equipment apart? Do you know what is in there? The only thing can be a diode, which will fail and render the return inoperable.
@@wackywack6650 Taking apart the c-wire adapter would void the warranty and could be dangerous. No, I did not take anything apart nor do I advocate anyone doing that. With all the concerns you have raised, it is my position (and Amazon's position) that this product is safe to use and and the process of installing it is also safe if you follow the directions and take the necessary precautions (as I have shown in my video). Many people have done installed this without issue. Many people are using this product without issue. Also, this is a Honeywell product with an Amazon label. Honeywell has been in this business for decades... they know how to make good products that are safe.
@@AwesomeFunThings I pray you don't believe that what these people create are safe for you. Their intentions are to make money. Just like we saw for the last almost 3 years. No response necessary. I'll leave it at that.
Replay Time! :)
Could have just flipped the switch to turn off power 😂
Yeah… I thought about that after I was editing the video. 😁
You seriously need to redo this video. Get rid of the 4 minute limit and do it correctly.
Thanks for the suggestion. May I ask? In what why could the video be better if the length was ideal? Also, I chose to make this video the length that is and I had no restrictions or influence from anyone or anything.
@@AwesomeFunThingsthe time is fine
@@AwesomeFunThings Yes I can answer your question. This is a topic little understand, it needs a 100 percent step by step process for most to understand. RC and RH are combined under the one wire selection on the Amazon thermostat, it's a power wire for heating and ac for the thermostat. The blue wire could then be used on the "C" common wire on the furnace. One of the two spare terminals were probably labeled "C", negates the use of a C wire adapter. The C wire is just a ground wire to power the thermostat, it does not have one as the red is positive, white is a switch wire for heat, yellow is a switch wire for ac, on and on but no accommodation was added for a ground wire in the early days. Basically thermostat's early design was very simple, a switch, then a more complicated switch with ac but in those early days of the addition of ac it was still a simple switch, then came thermostats that needed to be powered, well the wiring was not needed in the past for a ground circuit so none was provided. 30 years old you probably have the extra wire needed as it looks that you do. Let me know if you find a C terminal.
Several of my wires are not colored or arranged like this. Several connections have 2 wires on them. This smart thermostat is more trouble than it is worth. Have to hire a professional to install the C adapter to avoid blowing up my system or killing myself. Such a stupid product.
Sorry you're having touble with the install. The mobile app will walk you through your unique situation. There are many types of configurations and my unit (and the wiring of my unit) is one of many that exist. Nevertheless, my hope was that this video will show the proper techniques even if your wiring is different. WIth all this being said, hiring a professional is ideal if you (or anyone) feels that is the right decision. This type of install is not for everyone. Thankfully, Amaon has made it so most people can install it themselves and I'm happy about that. Good luck. I'm sure you'll love the product after it's installed.
@@AwesomeFunThings He created a helpful video for those with his specific wiring situation. It is not him that is the problem, it is the product. There are plenty smart thermostats with no C-wire (just the normal battery backup) that are a better option than this, and I will be buying one of those instead.
4 minutes huh ?
4 minutes? 😂😂😂
Video is less than 4 mins. But actual process will take much more 😡
Did you use a Honeywell C adapter for an Amazon smart thermostat?
yes
No way. That's doing too much.
Does the adapter work without a blue wire?
Great question. First, I'm not 100% sure. Please be sure to follow details in the Alexa app because that will tell you exactly what wires are needed for your exact hardware.