24

I have a HVAC that has the usually wiring C R G W Y Pinouts

What wires do I need to connect to turn on Heating?

What wires do I need to connect to turn on the A/C?

Is there a risk of damaging any circuitry in doing this?

Is there a way of finding out what the HVAC current condition is, based only on the wiring voltages?(cooling and heating)

Jack
  • 32,647
  • 1
  • 21
  • 56
Ashitakalax
  • 519
  • 2
  • 6
  • 12

1 Answers1

33

A thermostat basically just energizes the individual circuits (G (fan), W (heat), Y(cool) ) which in turn (via the furnace controller) powers a relay which provides line voltage to the actual units (like the fan or A/C. In the case of heat, it instructs your furnace to open the valve supplying gas).

R (or Rh and Rc) provides the 24VAC power. To turn on the fan, you'd connect R and G. To turn on the fan and AC, you'd connect R and Y (or R, G, and Y on systems where the thermostat controls the fan). To turn on the fan and heat (as you asked), you'd connect R and W together (or R, G, and W if you have say an electric furnace where the thermostat controls the fan).

If you make a mistake you could potentially fry your furnace controller.

As for finding out what is running - yes there should be 24VAC on the circuit if they are turned on. However note that this is just instructing the logic board in your furnace to turn on the other components; your furnaces controller might not always obey this. For example, some units will keep the fan running for a few minutes after the A/C or heat is turned off (sometimes this is implemented in the thermostat too).

One other thing I will add based on your comment is about the C line. This is essentially the neutral back to the transformer (or furnace), so you can use it to power your device (most thermostats use this these days). You should have 24VAC between R and C.

Never connect R and C, this will either blow the fuse on your board or fry the board all together.

ThreePhaseEel
  • 79,142
  • 28
  • 127
  • 220
Steven
  • 27,426
  • 9
  • 51
  • 86
  • 1
    Awesome just what I needed to create my own networking thermostat. – Ashitakalax May 14 '12 at 18:43
  • 1
    Cool, good luck! I added a comment about using the C wire to power your device. – Steven May 14 '12 at 19:14
  • 2
    Also, if it answers your question could you also upvote it? – Steven May 14 '12 at 19:14
  • I would love too, but I can't upvote till i have 15 reputations. I will once I have 15. – Ashitakalax May 14 '12 at 19:40
  • Please publish your network based thermostat. (code and parts list) If it's been working since 2012, I'd love to build one for my home based on yours. – Billy left SE for Codidact Dec 13 '16 at 23:25
  • I think this explains why the fan does not turn on with the heat. Based off of what I can tell, thermostats, with fan in auto mode, do not connect the R and G. It relies on the heater/AC to send the signal. – dko Jun 12 '17 at 01:44
  • 1
    @dko "Auto" usually just means it only turns the fan on when calling for heat/cooling. "ON' means "always on" – Steven Jun 12 '17 at 13:47
  • To give you a background. I have a boiler multi-zoned heating system. The AC is it's own blower. On one thermostat I have both. I have R, RC, G, Y, and W. The W and R go to boiler. the G,RC,Y go to the blower fan and compressor. The G and RC go directly to the blower where the Y takes a detour at the compressor before coming back on B. If the heat is on, the fan does not kick in. If the Cool is on the fan kicks in. How is it smart enough to know that the heat doesn't engage the fan? I should also mention that there is a W on the blower that is not hooked up. – dko Jun 12 '17 at 17:21
  • I have something very odd happening. My Honeywell (battery powered) has C, R, W, G and Y. When Honeywell turns on A/C it seems to engage Y and G, and compressor kicks in. But if I try to achieve the same using hot wiring, I cannot get the compressor to engage. Trying to solve this first, because I am trying to switch thermostats and it isn’t turning on A/C, and I figure if I can’t even hotwire it, I should solve that first. But the Honeywell works!! It’s driving me nuts. Any tips are appreciated. Volt meter shows R to C have 25V as expected. – petehare Nov 23 '20 at 20:05