I need a cheap thermostat that I can put a passcode on

[SAWYER]

Every single morning I wake up freezing, one of my kids has put the thermostat down to 67-68 degrees. Of course neither owns up to it, I want to get a thermostat that I can lock. Any suggestions? I dont need anything fancy

 

[shabby]

Try one of these...

Oh wait nevermind, i think the nest has an ability to set a temp limit.

 

[CA19100]

If a 72-degree limit would be adequate (highest heat setting and lowest A/C setting), here's an option:

https://www.amazon.com/ControlTemp-CT72-Basic-Tamper-Thermostat/dp/B00AU2V93U


If you want a programmable one, this one might be better, as it has a touchscreen lockout as well as adjustable temperature stops:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044UYVFW

 

[Red Squirrel]

Is your schedule fairly consistent, like do you always get up around the same time? Crude but cheap, and sneaky idea: You could setup a timer that turns a relay on/off at the furnace's thermostat wiring. I'm assuming in this case they are turning on the A/C, so you'd have a "normaly closed" relay in series with the yellow wire and a proper voltage wall wart plugged into the timer that powers the relay (ex: 12v if it's as 12v relay). Set the timer for the hours they tend to mess with it so that it opens the relay. Even if they crank the AC on at the thermostat, with that relay off, the compressor will never start. You could do the same for blower if you don't want that to start either.

 

[DrPizza]

Consider yourself lucky. My wife seems to believe that when the house hits 73, it'll get cooler much quicker if she sets the AC for 62 degrees. And, it can drop into the 50's overnight outside. So yeah, the AC succeeds.

How about just getting one of those covers for the thermostat? E.g., https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-CG...469750675&sr=8-1&keywords=lockable+thermostat Because while I'm not 100% sure - I've never had a thermostat that you could set a password on - I'm going to go out on a limb and declare that there's a way to reset the password, and if your kids are over 10 years old, they'll Google that and figure it out in no time - then you're out $60 or so for the thermostat. (Note to where I work: yes, yes I did Google how to reprogram the occupancy sensor to change it to 30 minutes instead of 120 seconds.) Regardless, any method is far from foolproof. I doubt your kids would go to extremes to "win" - wet paper towels in the winter time to get the heat to turn on. A desk lamp place near and aimed at it to get the AC to turn on. (We have thermostats in our rooms, but it's still managed centrally to not exceed certain temperatures; I hate it too warm, but a few faculty do this regularly.)
Or, a cheaper solution: threaten the kids. Tell them you'll finger print the keypad or hide a wireless cam to catch the one who did it and if they do it again, they'll be grounded/punishment of your choice.

 

[me4get]

My Thermostat Has a heating maximum temp setting and cooling lowest temp setting.is just a cheap honeywell 5-1-1 digital

 

[smackababy]

Best solution: act like the parent and discipline your kids.