The Hunter 44860 7 Day Programmable Touchscreen Thermostat is attractively priced at $70. It is a powerful thermostat with a good range of functions and some interesting innovations.

The Hunter 44860 is compatible with most HVAC systems including multi-stage heat pumps. It can deal with up to 2 stages of heating and 2 stages of cooling. It can also be hardwired into the HVAC to draw its power, thus making battery changes unnecessary.

It is a 7 day thermostat that gives the user a choice of 0, 2 or 4 periods of heating/cooling for each day of the week. It has a 9.1 square inch touchscreen display with backlight to make programming easy. The display can be changed to English, French or Spanish.

This thermostat features auto recovery (adaptive intelligent recovery) that brings a room up to the set point before the start of a programmed period. It has 3 fan settings to make sure the air circulates properly. It has 3 hold settings to cover any situation where people want to make quick changes.

The Hunter 44860, like Honeywell thermostats, makes automatic adjustments for daylight saving and keeps programmed settings even after a power outage. There is also an Energy Monitor to let the user check running times and estimate bills.

The only thing unusual (and possible detrimental) about the Hunter 44860 is that it has an auto change-over function that requires you to input a cooling and heating set point and a span between the two points. This function cannot be disabled. It is a function that is designed to keep a room within a certain temperature range. In this respect it is very much like swing control.

• 7 Day Programmable Thermostat + 0, 2 or 4 Periods Per Day
• Auto change-over
• Auto Recovery (pre-heats and pre-cools room)
• Runs off HVAC (batteries not needed)
• Temporary Hold
• Home Today
• Vacation Mode
• 3 Fan settings
• Energy Monitor
• Default Energy Star settings
• Compatible with 2 stage heating and 2 stage cooling; and heat pumps with auxiliary heat
• Backlit 9.1 square inch display
• Display in English, French or Spanish

• Real Time Clock keeps track of daylight saving
• Keeps settings even after power outage
• Energy Star approved + 1 Year Warranty

Click the link to buy a cheap Hunter 44860 7-Day Progammable Touchscreen Thermostat on Amazon