Low Battery Problem with RiteTemp 6030
I recently installed a RiteTemp 6030 (or 6000 series) digital thermostat to control our central air. As the seasons changed, I decided to test out the heat on a colder night—but what? The heat refused to turn on. Immediately, I thought, crap, the heat’s broken, but I couldn’t find the time to call around and set up an appointment for someone to check it out. Thankfully so!
I then noticed that there was a low battery indicator flashing on the display. It just so happens that when the low battery indicator is flashing, your heat might not turn on. Go figure. So I replaced the batteries, and voila the heat turned on.
But then, the next day, I realized the batteries were low again. What the heck! I swapped in new ones, and the same thing… Low. Now, is there a problem with my thermostat? Well…
It just so happens that I was using rechargeable batteries, and for some reason rechargeable batteries will always set off the low battery warning. The thermostat needs 3 V (2 x 1.5 V); my rechargeable batteries only put out 2.4 V (2 x 1.2 V). (The thermostat flashes the low battery light at 2.6 V and stops working altogether at 2.5 V.)
So that’s how I fixed our heat. I replaced the low batteries with new non-rechargeable batteries.
