Written by Dimitrios Saranteas, IMEC Technical Specialist
In 1953, Honeywell introduced the T87 Round Thermostat - a ubiquitous and easily recognized device due to its classic round shape. It was easy to manufacture, easy to install, reliable and easy to use. To this day, Honeywell still manufactures a variant of this thermostat (the CT87 is the current model).
For its longevity, the residential thermostat that we all know hasn't fundamentally changed in the last 60+ years. It is still mounted to a wall, wired to an HVAC system and responds to the reactive input of a user's desired temperature. For homeowners, the way to interface with their HVAC equipment has been limited to the analog input and output of the thermostat. There’s no feedback or other way to make intelligent decisions.
