by High Performance HVAC | Thermostats |
Thermostat Wiring Colors Code Page Navigation
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- Essential Thermostat Wiring Color Guide Including Manufacturers Instructions
- Thermostat Terminal Designations Quick Guide - Detail Wiring Color Guide Below
- Red-Wire - connects to the R terminal with the red wire
- RC-Wire - connects to the RC terminal RC red
- RH-Wire - connects to RH terminal RH heat
- Y-Wire - connects to the Y terminal and is for cooling stage 1 with the yellow wire
- Y2-Wire - connects to Y2 terminal and is for cooling stage 2
- W-Wire - connects to W terminal and for heat stage 1 with the white wire
- W2-Wire - connects to W2 terminal and for heat stage 2
- G-Wire - connects to G terminal and for fan operation with the green wire
- C-Wire - connects to C terminal (common 24v power) with the C wire
- O or B-Wire - connects to O or B terminal and is for reversing valve operation
- E-Wire - connects to E terminal and is for Emergency heat
- X or Aux-Wire - connects to X terminal and is for auxiliary
- S1 and S2 Wires - connects to S1/S2 terminals and is for outdoor temperature sensor
- Thermostat Wire Color Code Chart
- Tracing the Wire to the Source
- Additional Resources
What you will learn in the
Thermostat Wiring Colors Code article:
- First, what thermostat wire colors is likely to go to which terminal on the thermostat in your heating and cooling system
- Secondly, the function of each wire terminal on the average thermostat highlighting some of the differences in those HVAC system functions from manufacturer to manufacturer as recommended for thermostat wire color
Thermostat Wiring Colors Code | HVAC Control
Always follow the thermostat manufacturer’s instructions whenever changing the thermostat. Always turn the power off at the air handler and the condenser and make sure there is no voltage at the transformer before proceeding.
Furthermore, the thermostat wire colors below are the most likely colors used for most installations; however, your thermostat wire colors may be different than what the indication is here. There is no official standard for thermostat wire colors. Additionally, thermostat wiring colors are not standardized. However, these are the most wiring methods used based on my years of experience in the HVAC field, where I successfully wired a lot of thermostats and as recommended by manufacturers and common sense for thermostat wiring colors code.
For instructions on how to wire a thermostat, please see how to wire a thermostat page. Refer back to this page for thermostat wire colors.
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by High Performance HVAC | Buyers Advice, Carrier HVAC Reviews, York HVAC Reviews |
York Versus Carrier Air Conditioners - Every manufacturer has their own parts system and sometimes these parts are readily available aftermarket and sometimes the parts are proprietary and can only be purchased through the manufacturer of that equipment. Carrier is one of the HVAC manufacturers that has proprietary parts and sometimes you will pay a premium for those parts.
The manufacturer can hold the customer hostage especially when it comes to repairing the unit. Of course, York is one of the big HVAC manufacturers and they too have proprietary parts however the parts are usually more reasonable for purchase as far as cost is concerned so people would lean towards purchasing a York simply because the replacement parts are not sold at a premium where with SOME Carrier parts are sold at a premium and are not easily replaceable except through a Carrier dealer.
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by High Performance HVAC | Buyers Advice, Carrier HVAC Reviews, Trane HVAC Reviews |
Trane Versus Carrier Air Conditioners - The first thing we need to do when comparing a Trane Versus Carrier is to make sure we are comparing similar models with similar features.
Each manufacturer makes various models from a builder’s grade unit, which is usually the HVAC manufacturer’s cheapest model up to the unit that has bells and whistles, and some of these have bells and whistles for the bells and whistles. You want to make sure you are comparing apples to apples and not an apple to an orange.
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by High Performance HVAC | Heat Pumps |
Heat Pump Frost Ice Buildup. Hi. I noticed that one of my outside heat pump condensing units was laboring throughout the night. This morning I found ice frost buildup on the heat pump condenser fins. I live in Tucson, Az. It has been colder than normal (below freezing) with a bit more moisture in the air than usual as of late.
Can you please tell me what causes this frost ice buildup, and how I go about rectifying it? Does this mean that the condenser pump is shot? I’m originally from the Midwest and have never experienced this before. What should I be doing? Thank you for your help. (more…)
by High Performance HVAC | Refrigeration |
Old coil with HVAC Refrigerant Leaks
Old Leaking Condenser Coils (also referred to as freon leaks) can cause serious issues with HVAC heat pump equipment. HVAC refrigeration circuits are designed and built to hold the refrigerant. It is a sealed hermetic system. The HVAC refrigeration circuit should never need refrigerant. An HVAC refrigeration system does not burn refrigerant. The refrigerant is used over and over again to move heat from one place to another. Aside from a leak, once the refrigeration system is properly charged, the system should never need refrigerant for the life of the equipment. (more…)
by High Performance HVAC | Refrigeration |
Condensing Unit Frozen Wont Turn Off - What you can expect to learn from Condensing Unit Frozen won’t Turn Off article: this article is an answer to a question taken from our email by a visitor to High Performance HVAC. We often use the questions we get in the email as a guide to writing articles. The topic is a condensing unit that will not turn off, and it is freezing up. From my experience in the field and using my HVAC knowledge, I offer the readers a list of what could cause this problem. We hope it helps you.
What’s the possible problem with a frozen air conditioner condenser that won’t turn off except with the breaker? (more…)
by High Performance HVAC | Commercial HVAC |
This chilled water unit is a new ammonia chiller. This unit is also unique in that it has no compressor. Instead, it uses the chemical properties of ammonia and heat from natural gas to condense the refrigerant which is ammonia. A chiller provides chilled water to a chilled water loop. (more…)
by High Performance HVAC | Air Handlers |
Air Handler Components 3 - Hot water coils inside of air handler units combine a boiler system or a special capacity hot water heater and forced air to provide forced-air heating. The concept is simple and used a lot in commercial and some in residential.
Commercial systems almost exclusively use a boiler to provide hot water to the hot water coil inside the air handler unit while the residential systems use mainly special capacity hot water heaters to provide hot water to the hot water coil inside the air handler unit.
On a call for heat, a pump is energized to begin the circulation of hot water from the heating source to the coil. The air handler unit blower motor energizes and the air begins to move across the coil. Heat is exchanged from the hot water coil to the air and the air is delivered to its appropriate destination through the ductwork.
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by High Performance HVAC | Refrigeration |
Condensing Unit Too Close to House - This condensing unit was too close to the house to effectively reject heat. It was a bad HVAC condensing unit installation job by the HVAC installers. A mechanical inspector rejected the final permit until the condensing unit was correctly installed.
It is recommended that condensing units have at least 2 feet of space so that they can effectively reject heat. It needs space to breathe and pull air into the coils so that there is a proper heat exchange taking place when it is running. On this air conditioner condensing unit there are four sides to the unit.
By installing the air conditioner condenser too close to the house the installer effectively reduced the capacity of this unit by nearly one-fourth which will cause problems with the unit in the way of higher head pressures and that will cost the homeowner more money in the long run.
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by High Performance HVAC | Air Conditioning |
What you will learn from the
Frozen Air Conditioner article:
- the major two reasons why your air conditioner has ice on it somewhere (otherwise you likely wouldn’t be here)
- the difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner in winter and summer operation
- why airflow is essential to a central air conditioning system
- enough about HVAC refrigeration to help you determine the problem of a frozen air conditioner.
We have many other related articles. Use the search feature to the right to help you find other related articles. (more…)
