Honeywell thermostats have a worldwide reputation for both reliability and ease of use; and here is another example: Honeywell Home/Bldg Center RTH2300B1012 5/2-Day Programmable Thermostat
There is a known fact that I mentioned earlier in another review; many of the programmable thermostats are never being programmed. They keep running on the pre-set configuration! This particular thermostat comes with an efficient program, so you will not need to change much – if you wish 
Let’s look into the overall features of Honeywell RTH2300B1012:
- One program for weekdays, a separate program for weekends-4 periods per day
- Backlit digital display
- Compatible with heating, cooling and heat pumps without auxiliary heat
- Does not work with electric baseboard heat (120-240V) OR multistage HVAC systems
- Accurate temperature control of +/-1-Degree F for consistent comfort
- Display options: Fahrenheit or Celsius temperature display
- 12 or 24 hour clock
Honeywell Home/Bldg Center RTH2300B1012 5/2-Day Programmable Thermostat Installation and Setup
You do not need to be an expert to install Honeywell RTH2300B1012 Thermostat. With basic knowledge of wiring, you can do it yourself with a little bit of research. Usually it takes no more than 15 mins to install this one. But as I usually say; better to be on the safe side: If you are not really comfortable with the installation, please hire someone for this work. Yes, hiring someone will cost you some money; but spending some money is much better than to end up with a furnace problem or -even worse- with a fire…
Installation is pretty easy and isn’t any harder than any other thermostat. The thermostat needs only 2 wires; for R and W ports. If this is your case, you will need to remove the jumper as well.
Since there is no C wire, the thermostat runs on batteries. If you will buy this one, don’t forget to change the batteries once a year – otherwise you may wake up at the middle of the night with frozen cold home
Features:
The Honeywell RTH2300B1012 Thermostat comes with all standard features which a thermostat should have. Here is a short list:
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- Program weekdays and weekends, each with 4 program periods per day.
- Easy to use, basic operation keeps programming easy
- Precise ±1 degree Fahrenheit temperature control
- Backlit display for easy viewing even in dimly lit rooms or hallways
- Compatible with Gas, oil or electric furnace, central air, hot water systems, millivolt system, central heating and cooling system and heat pump without auxiliary/backup heat
This thermostat cannot be used in heat pumps with auxiliary/backup heat or on multistage systems.
Special Features
The Honeywell RTH2300B1012 Thermostat is a very basic programmable thermostat. With this price tag, there is not much special features. The device does the work – properly, that’s it.
If you need the operating manual for this thermostat, here is the link: https://customer.honeywell.com/request.cf
Cons
The Honeywell Home/Bldg Center RTH2300B1012 Thermostat maintains temperature to +/- 1 degree, which means 1 degree. At whatever temperature you set, if your room temperature changes by 1 degree, your furnace goes on. When it recovers that 1 degree, it shuts off. You may see your furnace go on and run for three minutes and shut off. Three minutes later, it goes on again and repeats the cycle. It does this continuously until the next set-back. Because of this feature, you may not see the real savings on the power bill – all due to the frequent cycling of the system. I suggest you opt for a thermostat that has a 2-3 degree cycle range. It will still maintain a comfortable temperature without running as frequently.
Conclusion
Honeywell Home/Bldg Center RTH2300B1012 Thermostat
If you are in the market for a basic thermostat, and if you are not a geek who is looking for the latest and the greatest, you can give a try to this thermostat.