First let me say that I'm a newbie and have zero electrical experience. I'm an IT Guy and thought "Hey, its electronic, so I can probably figure it out." I appreciate any feedback/suggestions you folks may offer. I have installed a $20 Honeywell thermostat and the air blows, but not cold. The AC Unit wont kick on outside. This only happened after I installed this new STAT. I have a 5 wire bundle and an additional 2 wire bundle. As you can see from my photos, I have connected 4 of the 5 wires, based on the obvious W to W, R to R, etc etc markings. I do not know if I need to hook up the black. I am almost sure that the reason I do not have the AC Unit kicking on, is due to the 2 wire red and white not being connected. My question is, where do the 2 wire red and white wires connect on the Thermostat? Again, I really appreciate you folks taking the time to reply Everything at the furnace looks good. There seems to be an extra cable at the thermostat, which might be an old abandoned two wire thermostat cable.

You'll also notice the C wire just hanging out, which should be either used or capped off. besides that, everything looks good at the thermostat too. I'd investigate where that abandoned cable goes. I'd start by looking in/near the furnace. Hp Touchscreen Laptop SaleBut based on what you've shown, I wouldn't suspect the problem is with the wiring.Outdoor Patio Furniture Redwood CityBrowse other questions tagged electrical thermostat or ask your own question.New Orleans Jazz Basketball T Shirt 1,472 posts, read 2,686,453 times 4,221 posts, read 7,025,500 times 19,534 posts, read 39,623,807 times Originally Posted by seque5tra After they come out and go through all the other factors and so fort and finally get down to replacing

(probably repairing) the section of faulty wire... it should stillbe under their minimum charge. But when you call? Cut the soap opera drama and get down to "just the facts" when asking for help. Originally Posted by Zippyman Zippyman, thank you for your insight! Originally Posted by MrRational Thanks for your help, MrRational. And yes, on the phone I just ask about the cost of the thermostat wire. 342 posts, read 947,030 times 1,940 posts, read 6,665,304 times it costs us $100 just to drive a service vehicle from our shop to a customers house. so take that into consideration before you call someone a crook. 2,322 posts, read 2,396,739 times Originally Posted by southgeorgia Truth be told, some of your colleagues (people in the HVAC business) are crooks. I am shopping around for a contractor to replace the furnace and a/c unit in my home and the disparity in price is astronomical. Some of them just walk into my home and automatically assume they can earn their annual salary off this one gig.

Total waste of my time. The job isn't major by any means, one would expect that having an informed customer wouldn't inflame you. If it costs your business more than $100 to do a 15 minute repair, the problem isn't the customer, it's your excessive overhead. An honest contractor doesn't need to gouge on minor repairs - they'll get referrals & repeat business if they show a little mercy once in a while. That kind of repair doesn't require any expensive tools, training, or certification, and it's no more dangerous than replacing a doorbell button - they're both 24 volt systems. It doesn't cost us $100 to do a 15 min repair; that's just for the drive over. this is close to the national average. you need to understand that a service company doesn't get 8 billable hours a day. they won't be worth the money lost. so why is the homeowner calling someone else to do it?What you will learn from How to Wire an Air Conditioner for Control - 5 Wires article:this article includes a comprehensive list showing thermostat wire terminations for an air conditioner and a source of heat that includes five wires.a detailed description of where each wire goes in the air handler and condenser and what it controls.a detailed diagram illustrating where the wires go for 5 wire air conditioner and heating system control.resource and related links to help you with wiring

and installing a thermostat.How to Wire an Air Conditioner for Control - 5 WiresHow to Wire an Air Conditioner for Control - 5 Wires  – The diagram below includes the typical control wiring for a conventional central air conditioning system. It includes a thermostat, a condenser, and an air handler with a heat source. The heat source for a basic AC system can include heat strips for electric heat or even a hot water coil inside the air handler that is fed from a water heater. Every conventional residential AC system uses 24-volts for the control of the system. All the relays in the system have 24-volt coils.Circuit boards or printed circuit boards found in modern systems utilize 24-volt control which originates from the control transformer. Typical systems that do not use 24-volt control are window unit air conditioners, ductless mini split systems, and baseboard electric heating systems. Honeywell Thermostats Available Here If you are unsure about the control voltage of your system consult an HVAC professional as some appliances use high voltage and this can be dangerous.

Related Link: Standard 18 gauge thermostat wire is used for all control wiring.(opens in a new window) How to Wire an Air Conditioner for Control - 5 Wires - Thermostat Wiring DiagramHow to Wire an Air Conditioner for Control - 5 Wires - Breakdown of colors and terminalsThe R terminal is the 24 volt hot feed from the control step down transformer that will power the relay, contactor, or complete the circuit in the circuit board feeding it with 24 volts when the thermostat calls for whatever it is set for.The W terminal is for heating including the heating for gas furnaces, electric furnaces, boiler systems and the back-up heat for heat pumps.The G terminal is for the blower fan located in the air handler. It is the fan that circulates air throughout the duct work system.The Y terminal is the terminal that will turn on the air conditioner and typically is terminated at the compressor contactor in the condensing unit located outside. It will be one of the few control wires (thermostat wires) that will terminate at the condenser in a split system air conditioner and heating system.

Typically, the yellow wire will be ran to the air handler where at the air handler this wire is usually connected to another wire (typically by wire nut but could be connected via a terminal strip in the air handler) and then ran outside to the condensing unit along with at least one other wire in an air conditioner split system set up. The other control wire will be the common wire need at the compressor contactor where the coil in the compressor contactor needs a hot and a common from the control transformer to work.Finally, the C terminal is the common terminal and this terminal feeds the common side of load from the control transformer.Related Link: Control Circuits for Air Conditioning & Heating - Delve deeper and learn more about HVAC (opens in a new window) Honeywell Thermostats Available HereTerminal Strip where wire terminations are made during installation. Typically inside the air handler.Additional resource links for wiring a thermostat: 1) Thermostat Wiring Colors 2) How to wire a thermostat