Carrier Infinity Thermostat

[zaphod]

I need to replace my furnace and it looks like I will go with a Carrier.  Apparently the newer more sophisticated furnaces require a Carrier Infinity WiFi T-stat.  Does anyone know if this is actually true or I can use something else, like a Nest or C4 T-stat instead?  This part of my house used to have a C4 T-stat but I had tons of trouble with it so I replaced it with a fairly basic digital t-stat a couple of years ago.

[rosenqui]

I have an Infinity furnace/AC with the Infinity (non-WiFi) control. You can use a 3rd party thermostat with the Infinity line, but you'll lose some of the advanced capabilities of the overall system. The Infinity controller only uses 3 or 4 wires to connect to the furnace and talks its own special protocol. It can identify the Carrier equipment and run diagnostics etc.  If you have a humidifier, dehimidifier, or HRV/ERV, they connect to the furnace control board and the controller turns them on/off as necessary to maintain the desired temp+humidity comfort level.

 

The controller will also do things like run the fan once a day and check the static pressure of the system. If it sees the pressure rise above a certain point it will assume that your filter is dirty and prompt you to change it.

 

You could get some of the capabilities with a Nest/Ecobee/C4 T-stat, but you might need lots of extra wires for multi-stage heat/AC, humidifier, HRV.

 

There's an interface board from Carrier that installs at the furnace and provides 2-way communication with 3rd party automation systems. Unfortunately it's not easy to find and is rather expensive, but you'd get the best of both worlds that way: all of the smarts of the Infinity system handling the climate controls, with tie ins to the C4 system.

[zaphod]

Thanks, your answer goes to 11!

[thecodeman]

 

 

There's an interface board from Carrier that installs at the furnace and provides 2-way communication with 3rd party automation systems. Unfortunately it's not easy to find and is rather expensive, but you'd get the best of both worlds that way: all of the smarts of the Infinity system handling the climate controls, with tie ins to the C4 system.

You're talking about the SAM (system access module), right? I think Houselogix might carry that.