Usually the person presenting skips something that seems so obvious to them but is unknown to the viewers. This was thorough and extremely clear. No information was omitted. Thank you.
An electrician for over 50yrs--enjoy your show---Very pleased with how you train your kids!!---PLEASE watch them, you are teaching them dangerous training with a very limited experience, -++--worked maintenance at a children's home for 37yrs. [wish I had more time when I was teaching them----hope I didn't hurt them] thanks again---Jim
Best Video I have ever seen You explained everything so I could understand ...Just found all the videos you have made now i have some great video to watch and please make more ...Thanks
I have been binging these HVAC thermostat wiring videos in prep for installing a smart thermostat, and this is easily the best breakdown of the wiring that I have seen. Thank you!
If you are installing a smart stat make sure you have a common wire! If not, make sure you get a smart stat that doesn’t require a common wire at the thermostat but will have a separate distribution panel that goes on top of the furnace or air handler.
Most decent thermostats will need that "C" or 5th wire to run them. Battery powered thermostats don't however, batteries leak, they will eventually need replaced at an inconvenient time unless you change them on a schedule, plus the cost over the years. There's really no gain to use a battery powered thermostat unless you want to avoid having to update your home with a 5 conductor thermostat bell wire to the attic or to the furnace. One day, all HVAC systems will require that 5th wire so may as well put it in for the day its needed.
I noticed that there has been a device “Google Power Connector” to gain the common wire, I suppose this is short of running that 5th wire up to the Nest thermostat. I think they are creating more of a hassle for people than to just requiring them to run a new cable. Usually the thermostat cable does have a spare wire but once they tell the public to install this Google Power Connector people just follow the instructions. It works but in my opinion it is hacked.
Yes I agree with the positive comments. The young man speaks clearly in proper sentences containing proper punctuation. The content is presented in a comprehensive manner and yet understandable so as to be most useful.
This is one of the VERY best videos on HVAC wiring. No BS...straight nuts and bolts for guys...and ladies doing their own repairs. Very informative...will be using this info tomorrow. I have a 5 year old Trane that is an electric heat and A/C package combined w/ 2 240 shutoff panel boxes. It has worked flawless, but now...for some reason it is putting out heat from the vents when the thermostat is on auto and the COMMAND is for cooling.
What a clear explanation for this thermostat wiring and furnace wiring as well as to the air conditioner outside. You are a very good technician that should be teaching. Thanks for this video.
You have a gift to be able to explain things so clearly and simply. Exactly what I needed to fix the AHU in a rental without having to call in a technician. Thanks!
Love your video I have a question that I hope that you can help me with. I have a large wood burner in my house that I have a stand alone blower on it is 120 volt how can I control the blower with a thermostat this just the blower to circulate the hot air
Use a Ford starter relay 6070s 80s even 90s. The big post on the relay Will be for your fan motor at 120 V. The thermostat will need a transformer at 24 V that will work with your two smallWire leads on the solenoid. Also wire and a five amp fuse on the thermostat side, you're 120 V circuit is already fusedAt the breaker box.
Demonstrate and Explanation,what and how you can help to apply is very important for the person who are receiving the information, and you did a very great job on this, thank you.
I never comment and typically don't even browse while I'm logged in BUT I felt compelled to because your video is so good. Seriously - thank you! Thank you for taking the time to make the video, but even more importantly, thank you for being clear, concise and acurate. I went through a ton of trash infomation (some youtube, some HVAC manufacture's videos, countless google & bing articles) and had pretty much gave up. Then I found this - PERFECT intro to how these systems work.
You would be surprised at how many guys are out there installing and attempting to repair AC units that have no understanding of this video. All they know is the colors of wires used. Nothing else.
Very well done young man. As an electrical engineer seeking help with understanding the internal workings of a thermostat, you did an excellent job of detailing the contact logic contained within the thermostat and how those contacts ultimately control the external devices, such as the fan, compressor, heat system, etc. Well done, best explanation I have found. God Bless you
What a fantastic video. Thank you so much. I just installed my own AC/Heat pump and not being an HVAC tech, i need more in depth explanations about why certain things do what they do, as opposed to just following guides on how to hook something up. Your explanation cleared up the whole thermostat to air handler to condenser wiring confusion I had.
Omg, you are my hero. My ex-husband did some awful rewiring in the house I now live in. He passed away last year, and I am left with the mistakes. The AC unit didn't work until your wonderful wiring diagram lesson!
You're video is clear and concise. I've been a tech on various types of systems for many years, and have seen presentations from trainers good, bad, and terrible.... yours are good! this video explained more in 10 minutes than most people can do period... a good example the Y terminal and exactly why you need to use the terminal, and the explanation of Rc. Many thanks!
At around 7:37 you state that the thermostat shorts the R to the Y AND the R to the G so the furnace will turn on the fan during a cooling cycle. That is NOT how it works. The thermostat only shorts the R to the Y to let the furnace know there is a call for cooling. The control board on the furnace itself operates the fan. Unless running the fan by itself for ventilation is desired, the G wire does not even need to be connected to the thermostat at all. The heating and the cooling will work just fine if the G terminal is wired or not. There are a lot of people who think they have to purchase an "add-a-wire" module to convert to a 5 wire system to use a smart thermostat if the existing wiring is only a 4 wire system. In actuality, they can disconnect the G terminal on both ends and instead connect it to the C terminal on both ends and the smart thermostat then has the 24 volts and return that it needs to power itself. The furnace and A/C will function normally. The only function that doesn't work is the fan by itself for ventilation which the vast majority of people do not use anyway.
Bro, I never comment on videos but this was way too sweet to not to. Thank you so much for this explanation. The drawing, the video on components, and just the simple explanations made this very easy and straightforward. I will definitely be subscribing to your channel. Thank you very much.
You make it so easy to understand the basic components of the air conditioning system, along with explaining the color coded wires and what their function is. Great video. Thank you .
Excellent job explaining the circuit logic! I'm building my own solar hot water heating system and needed to understand what voltages to supply to the smart thermostat and which control signals coming back from the thermostat to use to turn on the pump. You've done a great job of simplifying things and now I understand what all of those terminals are for!
I agree that your style of explaining is super clear and easy to install, absolutely excellent style of explaining while incorporating diagrams, video clips that all pull everything together. Immediately subscribed. Wish my mind was as organized as yours.
I needed to troubleshoot an issue after installing a new ecobee thermostat. The furnace was getting a signal to call for heat even though the thermostat was off. Turned out that the wires behind the wall were damaged and were shorting out. I couldn’t have sorted out the problem your great explanation. Thanks. You saved my bacon.
Great video. I’ve changed quite a few thermostats in my life, but never really looked at the wiring. Since I do electrical as well, this really explained the schematic of the how the current flows and returns to the source.
Thanks for your explanation of the thermostat wiring. I'm trying to install a new thermostat and the manufacturer's video was very confusing. I now understand that R-wire is red wire, Y-wire is yellow wire, G-wire is green wire, W-wire is white wire but C-wire is black wire. The C meaning black wasn't explained by the manufacturer. Follow-up: After watching your video, I was able to properly install a new Honeywell thermostat that relied on using the C-wire that had previously been unused. Unfortunately, when I flipped the switch it was dead. I was sure that I had killed my new thermostat and furnace and would need to call the repairman in shame. Before doing this, I decided to open the furnace up. Apparently, whoever installed the furnace never saw your video. For some reason, he had installed the C-wire to the wrong terminal. After correcting his mistake, it works perfectly.
Ben, you are an amazing teacher! Clear diagrams, crystal clear explanation it is extremely helpful. Thank you very much for sorting out the HVAC wiring so easily!
You said 2 wires from the stat white and red come to contactor? But what I see, 2 wires white and red to contactor came from control board, not from the stat, am I right or am I wrong ? Thanks for the great video.
I know this video is a little older now but its still helping people with their home systems and projects, thanks alot! Im making my own smart thermostat and this is such a great rundown of everything.
Great video! I'm researching a new thermostat and had a ton of questions before I choose the best fit for our HVAC setup. This answered all my questions and will make set up a breeze. Thank you!
What would be a problem with a C wire not being able to send a signal to the ac but I have power at the thermostat. I take off the c wire and put batteries in and now the ac works
@@BenjaminSahlstrom Got a question when my heat kicks on, the thermostat will turn off just the display but the heat and everything is still running like normal what do you think is causing that? I have a Lux CS1 thermostat. Thanks
After watching your video , I don’t need to call an HVAC guy anymore. I just hook up the thermostat wirings myself to my new furnace from watching your video and that saved me $500. Thanks my good man for the good lesson of the thermostat wiring.
One of the best informative videos I've ever watched. A couple things were a little redundant for me but as far as the thermostat itself was mind-blowing compared to all the other videos out there. Thank you!
Bravo, excellent video. I am a retired electrician and have never seen this subject covered so masterfully. If anyone asks me how a thermostat is wired I send them a link to this. Thank you very much. Btw love the brief history of older units.
Thanks for such a great video, you're the best teacher I found, straight to the point with demostrations. Man I learn a lot, you answered all my questions.
Thanks for the info. I had a repair guy come out and replace my board. A week later my outside unit wouldn’t come on. Looks like he didn’t connect one of the wires for the outside unit to the c terminal. You just saved me several days of sweating. Again, thank you.
Installing an ecobee3. Present thermostat doesn't have a C wire hooked up but the C wire is wrapped around unused behind the thermostat. It isn't connected at the furnace either. Can I just hook up the C wire to the C terminal on the furnace? And then just connect the thermostat to that C wire? Sorry hopefully I'm asking it correctly.
Thanks to you I was able to connect with great certitude the c wire for my new wifi thermostat. I bought 2 smart thermostats a while ago, one for the family room and one for the basement. I installed the one for the family room without a problem. It had all the required wires but I could not do the same for the basement as it did not have the c wire. Today I decided to try again thinking that if there is a c wire upstairs there should be one downstairs and sure enough it was tucked wrapped behind the wall and it wasn't connected in the furnace. After I came across your clear explanations I understood what needed to be done in order to have the c wire connected. Thank you very much, not only did you teach me something but you also saved me some $$ since I was getting ready to go to the big bucks store to get an adapter for the c wire.
Thanks for the video I was going crazy after I installed my Honeywell Wi-Fi system and I didn’t know where to put the red and white wire for the AC. Thank you
you did awesome explaining this! I install home automation systems, and when installing thermostats it's really nice to know what those wires do. very handy! thanks :D
Very nicely done!! Thank you. You have made many things very clear compared to lots of other videos that simply force you to memorize things without clearly understaning the full system operation.
I installed countless smart thermostats, in place of existing over the years. Your explanations were simple and precise. Very old heat/AC systems might not have a "C" wire available to power the thermo programming. About 30% of my smart thermo installs, require installing an additional cable to produce the "C" connection between the air handler and thermo. For DIY people, Shut the power, I work live. I been doing this 40 years. If you make one mistake on the printed circuit inside the air handler, the 3A fuse will protect printed circuit, but there is a very good chance, you could short a circuit board, then the entire control board inside the blower will need replacing. My helpers caused this problem by not following my detailed instructions
This has to be the best tutorial I have seen... both diagrammatically and with the actual devices shown virtually at the same time than isolated. Keeping this one bookmarked .Thanks for taking the times ot put it all together.
Totally agree, anyone can explain how to attach what color wire to what terminal, but this breakdown of EXACTLY what each wire does is invaluable, and just as important, easily understandable. And as you state, the diagram and devices make it even better, definitely bookmarking also.
Excellent explanation of everything including the why’s and how’s of each component. No second guessing or speculation about function. Great troubleshooting advice as well and pointing out the fuse should a mistake happen. Well done!
I like the video but I think I have a few things to add. I believe the senario you gave about the y terminal affecting the speed of the fan might be only on whatever type furnace you are working on because I am not familiar with it. In my experience, the green terminal always energizes the high speed fan ( regardless if the y terminal is energized or not) for cooling or for air circulation alone with the fan switch on the thermostat. The low speed on the fan is actually part of the W terminal operation. On a call for heat, as the burner fires up the furnace delays the operation of the low speed fan until the burner comes on and runs for a minute or two which allows the unit to blow warm air from the start when the fan finally comes on. Low speed fan is used for heating because any type of high speed fan causes a cooling effect, something you do not want on heating operation.
@ibrahemnaser2309 Most indoor fan motors have a common wire and also three wires that can be energized by the hot side for low, medium and high speed. Only one can be energized at a time! Most of the time only high and low speed is used with medium being a spare. On a normal furnace you can just exchange the high-speed lead for the medium speed lead at the circuit board or relay. If you know the sequence of the fan operation you can write a program to control all three speeds thru WiFi modules. For the fan in cooling operation, it energizes immediately but runs for a minute or two after the compressor shuts off so it can blow all of the residual cooling effect out of the coils. VERY IMPORTANT - Modern furnaces have several very important safety and limit switches in them. I have seen them bypassed by people who did not understand them, and a system failure could cause a fire without those safeties and limits working properly. Be very careful or do not try any modifications!.
Howie... different question if you feel like answering.. i have a summer/winter change over (which i'm not even sure means). oil burner that has baseboard radiators for heat but no a/c. will a fancy new thermostat like the nest work with this set up?
@@unclefreddieDied Not familiar with oil burners or radiators but if your system currently works off of a standard thermostat now it should have no problem working with a nest. All a nest or a standard thermostat does is close an electrical circuit when you need heat. May need to run a common wire from the transformer to the nest to give it a constant 24-volt power to operate. As far as a summer winter changeover, if you have no AC then that would not even apply for your application. Not sure how your system is actually wired so I can't get specific about wiring.
@@Howie875 thanks for the fast reply! I haven't even looked at it yet.. just dreaming right now. Probably take a look this weekend. Just that all the nest videos seem to be for houses with central air/heat. Oh well. thanks again!
You just literally walked me through fixing the old wiring in my 40 year old house that now has modern HVAC equipment and a Nest thermostat that I couldn't figure out why it was going dead. It didn't have the C wire to power it!
This really helped me figure out the wiring in my thermostat. Mine had only four wires going to it, and the blue wire was connected to the Y terminal. Looks like when the previous owner had cooling put in, the technician used the common powering the thermostat to control the cooling, instead of running a new wire to the thermostat. The thermostat was using battery power only.
Great Video! I am a retired electrician and stumbled on to your Video. Perfectly explained plus you have a very calm demeanor. You should go into teaching. Great job!
Thank you. Kinda of a beginner with HVAC issues. Great video. New house and no a/c. I believe thermostat issues. I took theirs out and put mine in. Found a box tied into the tstat wiring at unit. Hopefully removing that fixes my issues. Video was great on explaining wire functions past red wire. Thank you.
I recently tried changing an old mercury dial thermostat (4 wire R,G,W,Y) with a Honeywell T6 WiFi ( requires c wire ) ... I failed.. This great video has enlightened me and I will try again. I will jumper the Rc to R and also use the cut off blue wire as my C wire. Hopefully it will all work. Thanks
Thank you for this tutorial. You just saved me a call-out fee and the cost of a contactor . All was good except for the two leads going from the air handler to the outside unit.
You did a great job explaining everything.. I wasn’t expecting to learn about the contacter I replaced last week. Going to go back and make sure I did that right. Really great video. Thanks!
Great explanation and you touched on a number of questions I had regarding using a Nest thermostat that doesn't need "C" but I believe stresses the battery and in some cases will not provide enough power to recharge the batteries without the "C".
Thanks. I watched several other videos and your video really made sense to me. You not only connected the heater/thermostat while explaining the air conditioning/thermostat function, you really tied it all together the best possible way. I got my wires all prepped for installation now. I already have the circuit breaker off.
Hello Benjamin, your video was very excellently explained with diagrams, video and involved with loads of information and with slow and clear English, great job buddy.
Easy to understand thank you I just had my old ac replaced and saved it to use in my shop and I don't want to bother the techs too much and but simple things as this. Saved me time thanks
Man, your video is so good. It is very useful. I learned a lot from it. Thank you so much. I am trying to replace my thermo. My current TRANE thermo is not backed up by battery. Each time the power gets off, the thermo setup will be lost.
Great job explaining basic wiring and theory but the additional explanation regarding why wires must terminate on the "Y" terminal made this outstanding. I don't think I've seen another video explain this.
Very thorough explanation. You should mention that some thermostats do not use the 24v, but use batteries instead. The only reason I mention this is if you ever need to then install a thermostat that uses the 24v from the furnace, sometimes the C wire is not there or is not connected at the control board. Keep making great videos!!
@@BenjaminSahlstrom Ben please do. I tried installing a ecobee t-stat and it was only a two wire thermostat, oil burner. The zone relay control board is only controlled by dry contacts I think. I know some control boards have an optional 24 volt supply but this one didn't. After watching this video, am I correct to assume I would need to power the Rh terminal with 24 volts and also use the common or C terminal with a separate transformer?
This is the best video that explains everything about how it works and it helps me understand and fix my problem. I'm kinda in the weeds here, I think my C and G Wires are crossed. When I went ahead and wired it, neither the heat or the AC came on. I think I need to rewire everything again. Any help would greatly be appreciated!!!
It took 8 previous videos (worthless info) to find THIS GUY! Absolutely TO THE POINT, VISUAL REFERENCES AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND! I do all my home fixes and a/c with a new wi-fi thermostat wanting a C-wire (when I only had 3 (R G Y) at the old thermostat. Now I need to run a new 5 wire and use R G Y B (B=C). I was HOT (angry) before viewing this video and now COOL AS A CUCUMBER with A/C working and wi-fi thermostat ‘talking’ to system. THANK YOU - KEEPS THESE VIDEOS COMING. How about a video on old steam boiler and replacing the old blow off strainer (filter silt, gunk out). Also, replace blow off mechanism with new one. I’ve done both and people need to see they can do this with basic tools but MUST get the CORRECT (BOILER MODEL) PARTS PRIOR.
Kudos. Of all the videos on UA-cam about this topic, this is the best one I have ever seen. I only wish it was around before I installed my smart thermostat. I had to infer a lot of what was presented in a very straight-forward way here. Thanks.👍
finally! a guy with a very clear teaching, showing and explaining how it works. Very good.
You are incredible. I've been teaching mathematics for 35 years. I wish I could make all my lectures as crystal clear as you made this one. Thank you.
😢
You must be a piss poor teacher.
Usually the person presenting skips something that seems so obvious to them but is unknown to the viewers. This was thorough and extremely clear. No information was omitted. Thank you.
The best explanation I have seen so far ! Thanks for the video
An electrician for over 50yrs--enjoy your show---Very pleased with how you train your kids!!---PLEASE watch them, you are teaching them dangerous training with a very limited experience, -++--worked maintenance at a children's home for 37yrs. [wish I had more time when I was teaching them----hope I didn't hurt them] thanks again---Jim
Best Video I have ever seen You explained everything so I could understand ...Just found all the videos you have made now i have some great video to watch and please make more ...Thanks
I have been binging these HVAC thermostat wiring videos in prep for installing a smart thermostat, and this is easily the best breakdown of the wiring that I have seen. Thank you!
LITERALLY why I'm here too
If you are installing a smart stat make sure you have a common wire! If not, make sure you get a smart stat that doesn’t require a common wire at the thermostat but will have a separate distribution panel that goes on top of the furnace or air handler.
I agree, i just got my AC to work finally with ecobee thanks to this video.
Most decent thermostats will need that "C" or 5th wire to run them. Battery powered thermostats don't however, batteries leak, they will eventually need replaced at an inconvenient time unless you change them on a schedule, plus the cost over the years. There's really no gain to use a battery powered thermostat unless you want to avoid having to update your home with a 5 conductor thermostat bell wire to the attic or to the furnace. One day, all HVAC systems will require that 5th wire so may as well put it in for the day its needed.
I noticed that there has been a device “Google Power Connector” to gain the common wire, I suppose this is short of running that 5th wire up to the Nest thermostat. I think they are creating more of a hassle for people than to just requiring them to run a new cable. Usually the thermostat cable does have a spare wire but once they tell the public to install this Google Power Connector people just follow the instructions. It works but in my opinion it is hacked.
Yes I agree with the positive comments. The young man speaks clearly in proper sentences containing proper punctuation. The content is presented in a comprehensive manner and yet understandable so as to be most useful.
Clear confident speaking ability. Non demeaning and non presumptuous tone.Well done really amazing learning process.
This is one of the VERY best videos on HVAC wiring. No BS...straight nuts and bolts for guys...and ladies doing their own repairs. Very informative...will be using this info tomorrow. I have a 5 year old Trane that is an electric heat and A/C package combined w/ 2 240 shutoff panel boxes. It has worked flawless, but now...for some reason it is putting out heat from the vents when the thermostat is on auto and the COMMAND is for cooling.
I found this video to be one of the most informative of all the videos I have watchef.
What a clear explanation for this thermostat wiring and furnace wiring as well as to the air conditioner outside. You are a very good technician that should be teaching. Thanks for this video.
You have a gift to be able to explain things so clearly and simply. Exactly what I needed to fix the AHU in a rental without having to call in a technician. Thanks!
That was really a wonderful lesson on thermostat wires. You explained everything in terms that a typical DIYer can understand. Thanks!
Thank you, sir! I taught this young lied everything he knows about the HVAC system. Do you think I did a good job?
Love your video I have a question that I hope that you can help me with. I have a large wood burner in my house that I have a stand alone blower on it is 120 volt how can I control the blower with a thermostat this just the blower to circulate the hot air
Use a Ford starter relay 6070s 80s even 90s. The big post on the relay Will be for your fan motor at 120 V. The thermostat will need a transformer at 24 V that will work with your two smallWire leads on the solenoid. Also wire and a five amp fuse on the thermostat side, you're 120 V circuit is already fusedAt the breaker box.
I never comment on videos but you saved me so much time and money with this video. Thank you!
That's awesome! Thanks for the comment.
Demonstrate and Explanation,what and how you can help to apply is very important for the person who are receiving the information, and you did a very great job on this, thank you.
I never comment and typically don't even browse while I'm logged in BUT I felt compelled to because your video is so good. Seriously - thank you! Thank you for taking the time to make the video, but even more importantly, thank you for being clear, concise and acurate. I went through a ton of trash infomation (some youtube, some HVAC manufacture's videos, countless google & bing articles) and had pretty much gave up. Then I found this - PERFECT intro to how these systems work.
You would be surprised at how many guys are out there installing and attempting to repair AC units that have no understanding of this video.
All they know is the colors of wires used. Nothing else.
@@jstravelers4094 - Color can be a lil bit distracting too - I see COMMON can be brown or blue or white
Very well done young man. As an electrical engineer seeking help with understanding the internal workings of a thermostat, you did an excellent job of detailing the contact logic contained within the thermostat and how those contacts ultimately control the external devices, such as the fan, compressor, heat system, etc. Well done, best explanation I have found. God Bless you
What a fantastic video. Thank you so much. I just installed my own AC/Heat pump and not being an HVAC tech, i need more in depth explanations about why certain things do what they do, as opposed to just following guides on how to hook something up. Your explanation cleared up the whole thermostat to air handler to condenser wiring confusion I had.
Omg, you are my hero. My ex-husband did some awful rewiring in the house I now live in. He passed away last year, and I am left with the mistakes. The AC unit didn't work until your wonderful wiring diagram lesson!
he tried his best...rip
This is a very good explanation of the thermostat wiring, appreciate the time you've taken to do this, thank you
Thanks for the video. you are born a teacher!
You're video is clear and concise. I've been a tech on various types of systems for many years, and have seen presentations from trainers good, bad, and terrible.... yours are good! this video explained more in 10 minutes than most people can do period... a good example the Y terminal and exactly why you need to use the terminal, and the explanation of Rc. Many thanks!
At around 7:37 you state that the thermostat shorts the R to the Y AND the R to the G so the furnace will turn on the fan during a cooling cycle. That is NOT how it works. The thermostat only shorts the R to the Y to let the furnace know there is a call for cooling. The control board on the furnace itself operates the fan. Unless running the fan by itself for ventilation is desired, the G wire does not even need to be connected to the thermostat at all. The heating and the cooling will work just fine if the G terminal is wired or not. There are a lot of people who think they have to purchase an "add-a-wire" module to convert to a 5 wire system to use a smart thermostat if the existing wiring is only a 4 wire system. In actuality, they can disconnect the G terminal on both ends and instead connect it to the C terminal on both ends and the smart thermostat then has the 24 volts and return that it needs to power itself. The furnace and A/C will function normally. The only function that doesn't work is the fan by itself for ventilation which the vast majority of people do not use anyway.
Bro, I never comment on videos but this was way too sweet to not to. Thank you so much for this explanation. The drawing, the video on components, and just the simple explanations made this very easy and straightforward. I will definitely be subscribing to your channel. Thank you very much.
Best video out there on the thermostat wiring! I've looked at 20 so far at least, and none compare to your video.
You make it so easy to understand the basic components of the air conditioning system, along with explaining the color coded wires and what their function is. Great video. Thank you .
Extremely high quality explanation. Detailed and actually showing it in the wild.
Awesome
Excellent job explaining the circuit logic! I'm building my own solar hot water heating system and needed to understand what voltages to supply to the smart thermostat and which control signals coming back from the thermostat to use to turn on the pump. You've done a great job of simplifying things and now I understand what all of those terminals are for!
Good explanation from this young whipper snapper. Very well spoken and not rushed, condescending or cocky like a lot of HVAC guys. Thank you !
Thanks, I appreciate that!
I agree that your style of explaining is super clear and easy to install, absolutely excellent style of explaining while incorporating diagrams, video clips that all pull everything together. Immediately subscribed. Wish my mind was as organized as yours.
I am installing my Ecobee thermostat this week and I am SUPER impressed on how simple and informative this video is. A big thank you!!!
I needed to troubleshoot an issue after installing a new ecobee thermostat. The furnace was getting a signal to call for heat even though the thermostat was off. Turned out that the wires behind the wall were damaged and were shorting out. I couldn’t have sorted out the problem your great explanation. Thanks. You saved my bacon.
One of the best demonstrations of the overall operation of the A/C system. Thanks for the easily understandable coverage. The best!!!
Great video. I’ve changed quite a few thermostats in my life, but never really looked at the wiring. Since I do electrical as well, this really explained the schematic of the how the current flows and returns to the source.
🧐
Thanks for your explanation of the thermostat wiring. I'm trying to install a new thermostat and the manufacturer's video was very confusing. I now understand that R-wire is red wire, Y-wire is yellow wire, G-wire is green wire, W-wire is white wire but C-wire is black wire. The C meaning black wasn't explained by the manufacturer.
Follow-up: After watching your video, I was able to properly install a new Honeywell thermostat that relied on using the C-wire that had previously been unused. Unfortunately, when I flipped the switch it was dead. I was sure that I had killed my new thermostat and furnace and would need to call the repairman in shame. Before doing this, I decided to open the furnace up. Apparently, whoever installed the furnace never saw your video. For some reason, he had installed the C-wire to the wrong terminal. After correcting his mistake, it works perfectly.
Ben, you are an amazing teacher! Clear diagrams, crystal clear explanation it is extremely helpful. Thank you very much for sorting out the HVAC wiring so easily!
You said 2 wires from the stat white and red come to contactor? But what I see, 2 wires white and red to contactor came from control board, not from the stat, am I right or am I wrong ? Thanks for the great video.
Absolutely the BEST video on thermostat and boiler wiring, thank you!! well Done!
I know this video is a little older now but its still helping people with their home systems and projects, thanks alot! Im making my own smart thermostat and this is such a great rundown of everything.
Great video! I'm researching a new thermostat and had a ton of questions before I choose the best fit for our HVAC setup. This answered all my questions and will make set up a breeze. Thank you!
Glad to have been able to help!
What would be a problem with a C wire not being able to send a signal to the ac but I have power at the thermostat. I take off the c wire and put batteries in and now the ac works
@@BenjaminSahlstrom Got a question when my heat kicks on, the thermostat will turn off just the display but the heat and everything is still running like normal what do you think is causing that? I have a Lux CS1 thermostat. Thanks
After watching your video , I don’t need to call an HVAC guy anymore. I just hook up the thermostat wirings myself to my new furnace from watching your video and that saved me $500. Thanks my good man for the good lesson of the thermostat wiring.
One of the best informative videos I've ever watched. A couple things were a little redundant for me but as far as the thermostat itself was mind-blowing compared to all the other videos out there. Thank you!
Bravo, excellent video. I am a retired electrician and have never seen this subject covered so masterfully. If anyone asks me how a thermostat is wired I send them a link to this. Thank you very much. Btw love the brief history of older units.
Thanks for such a great video, you're the best teacher I found, straight to the point with demostrations. Man I learn a lot, you answered all my questions.
Thanks for the info. I had a repair guy come out and replace my board. A week later my outside unit wouldn’t come on. Looks like he didn’t connect one of the wires for the outside unit to the c terminal. You just saved me several days of sweating. Again, thank you.
Perfect. Thorough, succinct and straightforward. Thank you.
Installing an ecobee3. Present thermostat doesn't have a C wire hooked up but the C wire is wrapped around unused behind the thermostat. It isn't connected at the furnace either. Can I just hook up the C wire to the C terminal on the furnace? And then just connect the thermostat to that C wire? Sorry hopefully I'm asking it correctly.
What a great explanation! I’ve switched out thermostats several times over the years but had no idea what the colors represented.
Thanks to you I was able to connect with great certitude the c wire for my new wifi thermostat. I bought 2 smart thermostats a while ago, one for the family room and one for the basement. I installed the one for the family room without a problem. It had all the required wires but I could not do the same for the basement as it did not have the c wire. Today I decided to try again thinking that if there is a c wire upstairs there should be one downstairs and sure enough it was tucked wrapped behind the wall and it wasn't connected in the furnace. After I came across your clear explanations I understood what needed to be done in order to have the c wire connected. Thank you very much, not only did you teach me something but you also saved me some $$ since I was getting ready to go to the big bucks store to get an adapter for the c wire.
Thanks for the video I was going crazy after I installed my Honeywell Wi-Fi system and I didn’t know where to put the red and white wire for the AC. Thank you
Well explained and detailed video. Thanks!
you did awesome explaining this! I install home automation systems, and when installing thermostats it's really nice to know what those wires do. very handy! thanks :D
I have an Hvac central system in my house. How do I convert it in to a heater.? I'd really apreciated all your help. Thank you
Thanks Benjamin for the crystal clear tutorial - I felt like a pro after watching it!
Great to hear!
Allgood wire insuling inside fixed 24v all good Rc juper is .w 2v4v het wG fan c.
Very nicely done!! Thank you. You have made many things very clear compared to lots of other videos that simply force you to memorize things without clearly understaning the full system operation.
Thank you!! You save me from having to call an A/C repair company $$$$. I had a blown 3 amp fuse.
I installed countless smart thermostats, in place of existing over the years. Your explanations were simple and precise. Very old heat/AC systems might not have a "C" wire available to power the thermo programming. About 30% of my smart thermo installs, require installing an additional cable to produce the "C" connection between the air handler and thermo. For DIY people, Shut the power, I work live. I been doing this 40 years. If you make one mistake on the printed circuit inside the air handler, the 3A fuse will protect printed circuit, but there is a very good chance, you could short a circuit board, then the entire control board inside the blower will need replacing. My helpers caused this problem by not following my detailed instructions
Most informative vid on this subject I've seen! Thank you so much!
Im taking intro to air conditioning and refrigeration, and this was a great video. Really helped me put everything together. Thanks
This has to be the best tutorial I have seen... both diagrammatically and with the actual devices shown virtually at the same time than isolated. Keeping this one bookmarked .Thanks for taking the times ot put it all together.
Glad that it was helpful!
Totally agree, anyone can explain how to attach what color wire to what terminal, but this breakdown of EXACTLY what each wire does is invaluable, and just as important, easily understandable. And as you state, the diagram and devices make it even better, definitely bookmarking also.
Excellent explanation of everything including the why’s and how’s of each component. No second guessing or speculation about function. Great troubleshooting advice as well and pointing out the fuse should a mistake happen. Well done!
Glad it was helpful!
I like the video but I think I have a few things to add. I believe the senario you gave about the y terminal affecting the speed of the fan might be only on whatever type furnace you are working on because I am not familiar with it. In my experience, the green terminal always energizes the high speed fan ( regardless if the y terminal is energized or not) for cooling or for air circulation alone with the fan switch on the thermostat. The low speed on the fan is actually part of the W terminal operation. On a call for heat, as the burner fires up the furnace delays the operation of the low speed fan until the burner comes on and runs for a minute or two which allows the unit to blow warm air from the start when the fan finally comes on. Low speed fan is used for heating because any type of high speed fan causes a cooling effect, something you do not want on heating operation.
@ibrahemnaser2309 Most indoor fan motors have a common wire and also three wires that can be energized by the hot side for low, medium and high speed. Only one can be energized at a time! Most of the time only high and low speed is used with medium being a spare. On a normal furnace you can just exchange the high-speed lead for the medium speed lead at the circuit board or relay. If you know the sequence of the fan operation you can write a program to control all three speeds thru WiFi modules. For the fan in cooling operation, it energizes immediately but runs for a minute or two after the compressor shuts off so it can blow all of the residual cooling effect out of the coils. VERY IMPORTANT - Modern furnaces have several very important safety and limit switches in them. I have seen them bypassed by people who did not understand them, and a system failure could cause a fire without those safeties and limits working properly. Be very careful or do not try any modifications!.
Howie... different question if you feel like answering.. i have a summer/winter change over (which i'm not even sure means). oil burner that has baseboard radiators for heat but no a/c. will a fancy new thermostat like the nest work with this set up?
@@unclefreddieDied Not familiar with oil burners or radiators but if your system currently works off of a standard thermostat now it should have no problem working with a nest. All a nest or a standard thermostat does is close an electrical circuit when you need heat. May need to run a common wire from the transformer to the nest to give it a constant 24-volt power to operate. As far as a summer winter changeover, if you have no AC then that would not even apply for your application. Not sure how your system is actually wired so I can't get specific about wiring.
@@Howie875 thanks for the fast reply! I haven't even looked at it yet.. just dreaming right now. Probably take a look this weekend. Just that all the nest videos seem to be for houses with central air/heat. Oh well. thanks again!
@@unclefreddieDied No problem! You caught me bored and online. Good luck with your project.
You just literally walked me through fixing the old wiring in my 40 year old house that now has modern HVAC equipment and a Nest thermostat that I couldn't figure out why it was going dead. It didn't have the C wire to power it!
This really helped me figure out the wiring in my thermostat. Mine had only four wires going to it, and the blue wire was connected to the Y terminal. Looks like when the previous owner had cooling put in, the technician used the common powering the thermostat to control the cooling, instead of running a new wire to the thermostat. The thermostat was using battery power only.
Saved on copper lol
Great Video! I am a retired electrician and stumbled on to your Video. Perfectly explained plus you have a very calm demeanor. You should go into teaching. Great job!
Great explanation and a beautiful drawing .The drawing makes it much easier to understand 👍👍👍
Yep! Nicely done, sir! 👍👍
Excellent presentation for the DIYer. Thanks so much for taking the time to make this video. It helped me out considerably.
Fine video (2nd time through) - thanks!
Next level: can you make one for Heat Pump wiring? ;)
The best explanation I have seen! You saved me $100s by making a reference to the fuse on the control board. Thanks!
Finally! ... great explanation thank you
This is by far the BEST explanation I have ever seen on this system thank you very much
I'm also wondering about the O (Orange) wire, I've heard this is a reversing valve wire that is needed for heat pumps to move between Heat and AC ?
Thank you. Kinda of a beginner with HVAC issues. Great video. New house and no a/c. I believe thermostat issues. I took theirs out and put mine in. Found a box tied into the tstat wiring at unit. Hopefully removing that fixes my issues. Video was great on explaining wire functions past red wire. Thank you.
Thanks Ben, I'm studying this at the trade school and it seems a little complicated!!!
I recently tried changing an old mercury dial thermostat (4 wire R,G,W,Y) with a Honeywell T6 WiFi ( requires c wire ) ... I failed.. This great video has enlightened me and I will try again. I will jumper the Rc to R and also use the cut off blue wire as my C wire. Hopefully it will all work. Thanks
How'd it go? I am about to do the same. I'm replacing my mercury dial to t6 honeywell pro smart
Thanks for clarifying the thumbnail. Lol
Thank you so much. That was by far the easiest to understand explanation on the internet
Your thumbnail should have been your thumbnail.... Great explanation (as always)!
Thank you for this tutorial. You just saved me a call-out fee and the cost of a contactor . All was good except for the two leads going from the air handler to the outside unit.
You did a great job explaining everything.. I wasn’t expecting to learn about the contacter I replaced last week. Going to go back and make sure I did that right. Really great video. Thanks!
Great explanation and you touched on a number of questions I had regarding using a Nest thermostat that doesn't need "C" but I believe stresses the battery and in some cases will not provide enough power to recharge the batteries without the "C".
I wish you were in my city where i live. You are a good teacher! Thanks for the great details.
5 years later and still the best video on UA-cam for explain Wiring in the HVAC system 🤯🤯
Thanks. I watched several other videos and your video really made sense to me. You not only connected the heater/thermostat while explaining the air conditioning/thermostat function, you really tied it all together the best possible way. I got my wires all prepped for installation now. I already have the circuit breaker off.
Hello Benjamin, your video was very excellently explained with diagrams, video and involved with loads of information and with slow and clear English, great job buddy.
Easy to understand thank you I just had my old ac replaced and saved it to use in my shop and I don't want to bother the techs too much and but simple things as this. Saved me time thanks
Benjamin is Great!! At the end of the video , he said any question... after such a great explanation .. No questions ask..
Thanks for taking the time to explain it what I’d like to know is can I connect a smart thermostat for my steam boiler.
Man, your video is so good. It is very useful. I learned a lot from it. Thank you so much. I am trying to replace my thermo. My current TRANE thermo is not backed up by battery. Each time the power gets off, the thermo setup will be lost.
Well done Ben. You helped me understand the wiring in this 100 year old house with a high efficiency furnace. Thank you!
Great job explaining basic wiring and theory but the additional explanation regarding why wires must terminate on the "Y" terminal made this outstanding. I don't think I've seen another video explain this.
Excellent video, I think you nailed my ongoing AC issue: I'm off to check that Y wire to the new furnace control board now!
Great informative video. As an electronic hobbyist it was a pleasure following your detailed explanation. Thank you.
Very thorough explanation. You should mention that some thermostats do not use the 24v, but use batteries instead. The only reason I mention this is if you ever need to then install a thermostat that uses the 24v from the furnace, sometimes the C wire is not there or is not connected at the control board. Keep making great videos!!
Very true. Thanks for pointing that out! Maybe I'll make a video specifically about the common wire/battery relationship.
@@BenjaminSahlstrom Ben please do. I tried installing a ecobee t-stat and it was only a two wire thermostat, oil burner. The zone relay control board is only controlled by dry contacts I think. I know some control boards have an optional 24 volt supply but this one didn't.
After watching this video, am I correct to assume I would need to power the Rh terminal with 24 volts and also use the common or C terminal with a separate transformer?
This is the best video that explains everything about how it works and it helps me understand and fix my problem. I'm kinda in the weeds here, I think my C and G Wires are crossed. When I went ahead and wired it, neither the heat or the AC came on. I think I need to rewire everything again. Any help would greatly be appreciated!!!
It took 8 previous videos (worthless info) to find THIS GUY! Absolutely TO THE POINT, VISUAL REFERENCES AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND! I do all my home fixes and a/c with a new wi-fi thermostat wanting a C-wire (when I only had 3 (R G Y) at the old thermostat. Now I need to run a new 5 wire and use R G Y B (B=C). I was HOT (angry) before viewing this video and now COOL AS A CUCUMBER with A/C working and wi-fi thermostat ‘talking’ to system. THANK YOU - KEEPS THESE VIDEOS COMING.
How about a video on old steam boiler and replacing the old blow off strainer (filter silt, gunk out). Also, replace blow off mechanism with new one. I’ve done both and people need to see they can do this with basic tools but MUST get the CORRECT (BOILER MODEL) PARTS PRIOR.
I need you as my journeyman please 😅🙏 dude awesome video your diagram is so simple
Kudos. Of all the videos on UA-cam about this topic, this is the best one I have ever seen. I only wish it was around before I installed my smart thermostat. I had to infer a lot of what was presented in a very straight-forward way here. Thanks.👍
I'm starting on the field and watched the video, it had a very good explanation