Troubleshooting

Why isn't Sensi keeping the schedule I set?

If it seems that the thermostat is turning your HVAC equipment on and off and the wrong time, first make sure your AM, PM, and temperature settings are all correct.

If you’re using Sensi with Wink or Ecovent, they override the Sensi app programming to reflect the settings in their respective apps.

There is also an Early Start feature that could be turned on. This feature is designed to start the program early to achieve your desired setting by the time you specify in the program. If that isn’t what you want, you can turn it off in the app.

Here are some examples of how Early Start works on different system types:

Single Stage (Conventional) Gas, Oil or Electric Heating / Standard Air Conditioning

For heating, assume during winter you set your thermostat back at night to 65°F and it’s scheduled for 70°F at 7 AM.

• Early Start will turn on the heating system approximately 5 minutes early for each degree difference between the room temperature (65°F) and the scheduled comfort temperature (70°F). This works out to approximately 25 minutes.
• At 6:35 AM the thermostat set point will change to 70°F and the heating system will start warming up the house.

In summary:

• In single stage heating applications, Early Start allows approximately 5 minutes for each degree needed to bring the room temperature up to the desired setting. The maximum allowed recovery time for single stage heating is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• The thermostat uses actual room temperature, so if the room temperature only drops 2° overnight, the heating system will start approximately 10 minutes early to bring the room temperature up to the desired setting.
• Cooling systems take longer to lower building temperatures, so single stage cooling allows 15 minutes per degree with a maximum early start of about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Heat Pump or Heat Pump with Electric or Gas Auxiliary / Emergency Heating

For heating, assume during winter you set your thermostat back at night to 65°F and it’s scheduled for 70°F at 7 AM.

• Early Start will turn on the heat pump system approximately 15 minutes early for each degree difference between the room temperature (65°F) and the scheduled comfort temperature (70°F). This works out to approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• At 5:45 AM the thermostat set point will change to 70°F and the heating system will start warming up the house. It will not bring on any Auxiliary heat until approximately 30 minutes before your scheduled comfort temperature, and then only if it requires three or more degrees to reach your selected setting.

This allows the Heat Pump to recover from a temperature setback efficiently and minimizes the use of Auxiliary heating.

In summary:

• In heat pump applications, Early Start allows approximately 15 minutes for each degree needed to bring the room temperature up to the desired setting and uses the heat pump to do most of the work.
• The thermostat uses actual room temperature, so if the room temperature only drops 2° overnight, the heat pump will start approximately 30 minutes early to bring the room temperature up to the desired setting.
• The maximum allowed recovery time for heat pump heating is approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. Heat Pump cooling uses the same timings because the performance of a heat pump heating and a heat pump cooling is similar. Cooling allows 15 minutes per degree with a maximum early start of about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Multi-Stage (Conventional) Gas, Oil or Electric Heating / Standard Air Conditioning

For heating, assume during winter you set your thermostat back at night to 65°F and it’s scheduled for 70°F at 7 AM.

• Early Start will turn on the heating system on low approximately 8 minutes early for each degree difference between the room temperature (65°F) and the scheduled comfort temperature (70°F). This works out to approximately 40 minutes.
• At 6:20 AM the thermostat setpoint will change to 70°F and the heating system will start warming up the house. It will not bring on all additional stages of heat until approximately 30 minutes before your scheduled comfort temperature, and then only if it has three or more degrees to reach your selected comfort temperature setting.

In summary:

• In multi-stage heating applications, Early Start allows approximately 8 minutes for each degree needed to bring the room temperature up to the desired setting, and uses 1st stage heating or low fire to do most of the work. The maximum allowed recovery time for multi-stage heating is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• The thermostat uses actual room temperature, so if the room temperature only drops 2° overnight, the heating system will start approximately 16 minutes early to bring the room temperature up to the desired setting.
• Cooling systems take longer to lower building temperatures, so single stage cooling allows 15 minutes per degree with a maximum early start of about 2 hours and 45 minutes.