Honeywell Thermostat Recovery Mode: How to Override

Are you looking for a way to increase the comfort of your home? Installing a Honeywell thermostat should top the list of your priorities. With this kind of thermostat in place, be sure that you will be able to warm or cool your house the way you please. This is because it will sense the temperatures in your house and then trigger the HVAC system to either cool or warm your house.

Besides this, the device can be controlled remotely. As a result, you can add it to other smart devices that can be controlled remotely via computer, Android device or even an iPhone. Consequently, you can be able to manage the temperatures of your home even when you are miles away from home. However, this device is not immune to some diagnostic issues. One of them is that it may get stuck in the recovery mode. In this article, we shall take a closer look at how you can override your Honeywell thermostat recovery mode alongside other vital facets.

How Does A Honeywell Thermostat Work

To start with, Honeywell is a household name when it comes to home appliances. For air purifiers to alarm systems, there are a plethora of home devices that this company makes. Besides this the company is an industry leader when it comes to heating and cooling devices. To put it into perspective, the company is known to make a myriad of smart thermostat options. Each one of them offers its own set of features and functions with the Honeywell Home app.

If you have a Honeywell thermostat at home, chances are that you are wondering how it works. Simply put, this device automatically senses the temperatures in your house and then use that information to turn on the furnace or the air conditioner on and off so as to maintain the temperatures you have set on the device.

For instance, if the Honeywell thermostat detects that the temperatures in your house are one degree cooler than your chosen temperature, be sure that it will trigger the heating and cooling system in your home. Consequently, these temperatures will be raised slightly to the desired level.

What Is The Honeywell Thermostat Recovery Mode

Like we mentioned above, the Honeywell thermostat in your home works hand in hand with the HVAC system in your home so as to achieve the desired temperatures. Typically, it turns on the HVAC system before time so that your room can get warm or cool on schedule.

This can be attributed to the fact that there is always a delay in reaching the desired temperatures as the whole process is not instant per se. Therefore, it may take a few minutes or even hours before the desired temperatures are achieved.

In most cases, most homeowners usually opt to set their Honeywell thermostats to remain off for the better part of the day and then switch them on once they return home. The duration taken by your thermostat to leave the energy-saving mode so that it can reach the desired or set temperatures is what is commonly known as the recovery mode. The recovery mode is one of the energy-saving features that come with the Honeywell thermostat.

Why Was Recovery Mode Introduced In Honeywell Thermostats

It is imperative to note that the recovery mode was introduced in these devices so as to prevent users from ‘cold shock’ effects. Before this function was introduced in these devices, everything used to be instant. For instance, your outdoor temperatures could be 35 degrees, and then the set temperature on the thermostat is 15 degrees.

Since you might have set it to attain that temperature at 8.00 PM, the temperatures will be reduced to 15 degrees by that time. Such sudden change of temperatures without giving your body time to acclimatize used to be disastrous to some users. Consequently, your skin and other body parts would be adversely affected. In fact, you can get sick due to the cold shock wave.

With the recovery mode in place, be sure that these effects will be kept at bay. This is because the recovery mode function helps maintain the temperatures of your home close to the setpoint temperatures with respect to the temperatures in the outdoor environment.

Therefore, once you get home, be sure that you will feel more comfortable as your body will have an easy time acclimatizing to the set temperatures, whether high or low. Besides allowing you to enjoy more comfort once you get home, the following are the other benefits of the recovery mode:

1) Helps to save energy

If you have a two-stage heating and cooling system, the recovery mode on the Honeywell thermostats helps to conserve energy. This is because the thermostat will not trigger the HVAC system in your home to generate warm or cool air instantly. Instead, the recovery mode helps the system to gradually raise or lower the temperatures to the desired level. This process helps reduce energy consumption by a large margin.

2) Less pressure on the HVAC system

Also known as the Adaptive Intelligent Recovery system, the recovery mode mentioned above helps to reduce the pressure on the HVAC system as it will not trigger it to generate large amounts of warm air or cool air immediately. Since there is less load on the HVAC system, be sure that your system will remain in a pristine condition for longer.

3) Convenience

The convenience offered by the recovery mode is unmatched. For instance, you can ensure that your Honeywell thermostat remains off for the better part of the day when you are away at work. If you are going to get home by 9.00 PM, you can program the Honeywell thermostat so that it can enter into the recovery mode a few hours before you arrive at home.

During this period, the thermostat will prepare the HVAC system in your home and thus raise or lower the temperatures as required. By the time you arrive home, you will find your home with the desired temperatures. Therefore, you will not need to adjust the temperatures manually, once you arrive home.

4) It may signify that your AC has issues

Apart from the above-mentioned function, the recovery mode may expectedly turn on if the AC has issues. For instance, if the AC vent has dust, dirt or debris, it may not work optimally. Consequently, the thermostat will be prompted to go on recovery mode. If it turns on when you least expect it, chances are that the AC has issues, and it needs to be diagnosed immediately.

Reasons Why My Honeywell Thermostat Is In Recovery Mode

Your Honeywell thermostat may be in recovery mode due to various reasons. They include:

  • You programmed your Honeywell thermostat to enable recovery mode in the setting section.
  • Your air conditioner may be functional and thus not circulate air as expected.
  • Due to a glitch in the thermostat
  • Failure of the furnace to make the house warm or cold as intended.

Can I override My Honeywell Thermostat Recovery Mode

Although the recovery mode has a number of benefits, such as the ones we have mentioned above, sometimes, you may want to override or disable it. The good news is that you can now override the recovery mode of your Honeywell thermostat. By overriding the Honeywell Thermostat’s recovery mode, you will be shortening the duration taken for the temperature to change. Here are the steps that can help you get started:

  • Go to the ‘Settings’ section on your device’s screen
  • After that, go to the ‘Preferences’ section and then click it.
  • By clicking the ‘Preferences’ section, you will see a number of options including energy saver, temperature, recovery mode and so forth. Click the ‘Recovery Mode’ option and then go to the next step
  • Since your Honeywell thermostat used to be in the recovery mode, chances are that this option is enabled. To override this function, you just need to disable the recovery mode.
  • Once you are done, touch the ‘Previous menu’ option
  • Choose the ‘Home’ option on your screen and then see if the recovery mode is turned off.

Once you have disabled the recovery mode, you should not expect to see results immediately. Instead, give your device several hours and see what happens when the recovery mode would have been switched on. Chances are that your device will not go back into the recovery mode again.

However, if your Honeywell thermostat goes back to the recovery mode again after switching it off, chances are that it has an issue. Calling a professional to inspect it can work magic. One of the reasons why your Honeywell thermostat can go back to the recovery mode is due to the discrepancies in the heating and cooling system in your home. For instance, if the AC vent gets dusty, it may not blow well and thus could prompt the Honeywell thermostat to enter into recovery mode again.

How long Is The Recovery Mode Time

The time taken to achieve the scheduled temperature can vary due to a number of factors. These include differential of the room temperature, outdoor temperature and the scheduled temperature.

For instance, if the outside temperature in your locality is 40 degrees, that of your home is 25 degrees, and that which you have scheduled in your home is 30 degrees, the duration taken to warm your house from 25 degrees to 30 degrees is what is commonly known as recovery mode time. The larger the differential, the higher the recovery mode time.

Is Recovery Mode Present In All Thermostats

Typically, you would expect all thermostats to have a recovery mode. However, this is not always the case. The good news is that modern models such as smart thermostats come with this feature. With this feature in place, you will be able to conserve more energy and even enjoy more comfort. However, if you are not comfortable with it, you can override it.

Why Is My Recovery Mode Inconsistent

If you have a Honeywell thermostat at home, you may notice that there are certain days that the recovery mode works, and there are those days when it does not activate. When this happens, you should not freak out as the recovery mode may be set to activate at a particular time.

You can now schedule the recovery mode to get active at a particular time eg.7.00 PM, 9.00 PM, 8.00 AM and so on. All these timelines can be set in the settings section. By doing so, you will already find the house warm or cool as you would like it to be.

Final Words

From allowing you to enjoy more comfort to enabling you to save on energy costs, there are many benefits of activating the recovery mode of your Honeywell thermostat. However, there are scenarios when it may get stuck in this mode and thus prompt you to override it. By considering the ideas mentioned above, you will have an easy time disabling or overriding the recovery mode of your Honeywell thermostat. If the recovery mode gets activated unexpectedly after overriding it, contact a professional technician for further assistance.

Related Articles