Hey folks, we found an opportunity to uncross some wires and clarify some language within our compatibility checker, so we’re sending out this quick guide on how to easily make sense of your wiring configuration and be prepared for your new Wyze Thermostat. Here we go!
Tip 1: Pull gently to remove your old thermostat cover
Please make sure to find the appropriate switch, breaker box, or fuse box and turn off the power to the area before exposing any wiring. Careful - old thermostat covers could be rigid and hard to remove, and sometimes there are screws to loosen first. Once the cover is removed, you should be looking at a set of thin wires and terminals with letter labels. In this example below, you would select, R, C, G, Y and W1 in our compatibility checker because those terminals are connected.
Tips 2: Check for jumper wires
Some folks have a jumper wire connecting two terminals, which can be a bit confusing when filling out the compatibility checker. If this is you, please look for the terminal with a wire going back into the wall and disregard the one that it’s connected to.
Remember for later: Wyze Thermostat won’t need to use any jumper wires, so you’ll need to remove them when it comes time to do your installation.
Tip 3: Don’t sweat if you have two lines of terminal labels (we want to have a link to this tips in our app during installation)
Some thermostats have both “Conventional” and “Heat Pump” modes, causing them to have two lines of terminal labels. Your system is only using one of these two modes, so you’ll just need to figure out which mode is in use and then use that set of labels for the compatibility checker.
If you don’t know what system that you have off-hand, no worries! Here are a few dead giveaways:
- Try turning on the heat, then check if your outside condenser/air conditioning unit starts running. If it does, you have a heat pump system.
- If turning on the heat doesn’t make your outside unit run, you’ll probably hear sound coming from your basement, a closet, or the ceiling when your heat is on. This would mean you have a conventional system.
- Check out the labels on your condenser or indoor air handler for a model number or name. You likely can search this up to figure out what type of system you have.
Tip 4: Re-routing a 3 wire system
If you only have Rc, G, and W1 wires (or for a heat-only system, R, G, and W) you might have noticed that our compatibility checker states that your system is not compatible with Wyze Thermostat. Good news: The G wire can be repurposed as a C wire when you install your new Wyze Thermostat, and you can totally do it yourself!
- Take note of which wire is connected to the G terminal.
- Disconnect the G wire and re-route it to the C terminal.
- On the thermostat, label the G wire from the old thermostat as C wire.
- Follow the Wyze App’s instructions for the rest of the installation - selecting Rc, G, W.
NOTE: To keep fan control to your system, you’ll need to add an additional jumper wire between the G terminal and the W terminal on your control board. Please consult with a professional if you need help with this!
-Your friends at Wyze