The good the bad the ugly of OKW renovations (update pg 13)

[MELSMICE]

Were you in a villa that had been refurbished? If so what #?

Yes, we were in a refurbed 2BR unit. I think we were in building 13 - 2nd floor. I can't remember the exact # of the unit though......maybe 1326??????

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yes, we were in a refurbed 2BR unit. I think we were in building 13 - 2nd floor. I can't remember the exact # of the unit though......maybe 1326??????

Where was the thermostat located? Was it in the hallway by the bedroom, or in the living room near the 2nd bedroom door?

 

[MELSMICE]

Where was the thermostat located? Was it in the hallway by the bedroom, or in the living room near the 2nd bedroom door?

Living room near the 2nd bedroom.

When it was cold we would turn the temp up & it would get warmer. When it was too hot we'd turn the temp down & it would get cooler.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Living room near the 2nd bedroom.

When it was cold we would turn the temp up & it would get warmer. When it was too hot we'd turn the temp down & it would get cooler.

Well yours worked a whole lot better than ours then. It was either too hot or too cold, and usually it was least comfortable in the bedroom.

 

[MoonPet]

But, if I'm reading the swtiches correctly, the only switch you changed was switch #2, from off to on. This would not give you full control. It only allows you to manually turn the fan on and off...so the auto switching between heat and cold would still be there, and I didn't see any setting for that.

You're right.

I'm actually thinking maybe this was the photo of the thermostat at some point through the changes. I absolutely do remember making changes to switches 4 and 5.

Sorry for all of the confusion. I hope that some of this information is helpful though. Now perhaps dcamdad can share the programming secret???

I know that we played around with the thermostat a few times before we got to a point where the room would stay at a constant and comfortable temperature and stopped going from heat to ac to heat again.

 

[dianeschlicht]

You're right.

I'm actually thinking maybe this was the photo of the thermostat at some point through the changes. I absolutely do remember making changes to switches 4 and 5.

Sorry for all of the confusion. I hope that some of this information is helpful though. Now perhaps dcamdad can share the programming secret???

I know that we played around with the thermostat a few times before we got to a point where the room would stay at a constant and comfortable temperature and stopped going from heat to ac to heat again.

Perhaps Melsmice had a room where someone had "fixed" that problem like you did!

 

[BobNed]

This might work...

I found the entire manual online. You cannot override the automatic heat/cool switch. The thermostat will change between heating and cooling whenever the temperature in the room changes by more than 3 degrees. For example, if you set the thermostat to 70 and room cools to 67, it will change to heat and bring the temperature back up to 70. The temperature would then need to rise to 73 before it will switch back to cool.

According to the manual, you can temporarily bypass the settings (but not the automatic heat/cool switchover). This bypass only disables the motion sensors and door sensors. Here is what it says:

Soft Bypass

To cancel Soft Bypass mode, press the Power and Fan buttons at the same time.

At times it may be necessary to bypass the energy management features of the SensorStat.

Typically this is done when a guest complains that the room temperature is not kept at the set point when not in the room.

To bypass the unit, press the Power and Cooler buttons at the same time. The display will show ‘BP’ which means bypass. The SensorStat will act as a thermostat only for 48 hours.

To cancel Soft Bypass mode, press the Power and Fan buttons at the same time. The display will show ‘CA’. The SensorStat will automatically cancel soft bypass mode after 48 hours.

We'll be there on Saturday so I plan to try it out.

 

[dianeschlicht]

This might work...

I found the entire manual online. You cannot override the automatic heat/cool switch. The thermostat will change between heating and cooling whenever the temperature in the room changes by more than 3 degrees. For example, if you set the thermostat to 70 and room cools to 67, it will change to heat and bring the temperature back up to 70. The temperature would then need to rise to 73 before it will switch back to cool.

According to the manual, you can temporarily bypass the settings (but not the automatic heat/cool switchover). This bypass only disables the motion sensors and door sensors. Here is what it says:


We'll be there on Saturday so I plan to try it out.

While that MIGHT work, the problem with the master bedroom being a different temperature than the living room isn't likely to be helped by anything with the thermostat. We found it was always too hot in the bedroom and too cold in the living room where the thermostat is.

 

[BobNed]

While that MIGHT work, the problem with the master bedroom being a different temperature than the living room isn't likely to be helped by anything with the thermostat. We found it was always too hot in the bedroom and too cold in the living room where the thermostat is.

I just wish they had left it alone. I really liked the old set up with the thermostat in the hall. I know they're trying to save money and go green, but the new setup seems to me to be much worse with the switching between heat and cool. And the problems with keeping the entire villa at a constant, decent temperature. I agree with you about the bedroom and living room differences. Last time we were there we were always adjusting the temp trying to get it right.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I just wish they had left it alone. I really liked the old set up with the thermostat in the hall. I know they're trying to save money and go green, but the new setup seems to me to be much worse with the switching between heat and cool. And the problems with keeping the entire villa at a constant, decent temperature. I agree with you about the bedroom and living room differences. Last time we were there we were always adjusting the temp trying to get it right.

Yes, and that is probably ultimately the thing I liked LEAST about the renovations. Well, that and the ugly coffee table finish!

 

[BobNed]

Yes, and that is probably ultimately the thing I liked LEAST about the renovations. Well, that and the ugly coffee table finish!

At least we can throw something over the ugly coffee table. I can't sleep when it is too warm in the room.

 

[dianeschlicht]

At least we can throw something over the ugly coffee table. I can't sleep when it is too warm in the room.

True, and the temperature discomfort in both renovated rooms we have had (a 1 bedroom and a GV) far exceeded the problem with the ugly coffee table. Actually, our coffee table usually has two lap tops and a bunch of papers on it, so that hides it pretty well anyway!

 

[WDWMom]

Curious as to how the new thermostats will work for us. We usually leave the patio doors open while we are in the villas. They are open from early morning (first thing DH does every morning is crack the door open so we can smell and hear all the great things of FL) until late at night. Now when we leave the villa they are closed. In April it is usually perfect for us to do that and not need a/c or heat.

 

[BobNed]

We are at OKW now and the thermostat has been giving us fits since we got here. The instructions I posted earlier did not work. I did some additional digging and found that if you press and hold the F/C button on the left side of the thermostat is does disable the motion sensors and door sensors - BP will display for a second, and the sensors are disabled for 48 hours, but that just keeps the thermostat from changing the temp setting when you open the doors (including the patio door). It does nothing to stop the automatic changeover from heat to cool.

As mentioned above, it is impossible to keep the villa at a constant temperature. It is either too cold or too hot. If you turn the temp down, it switches to AC and gets too cold. If you bump it up one degree, it switches to heat and it gets too hot. Today is supposed to reach 89. It will be interesting.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yes, that is exactly the issues we had as well. It is especially bad in the master bedroom. In the GV it was horrible in the living room. The upstairs would be too hot, so the air would turn on while the heat was on in the living room. So the hot air from the living room would rise to the upstairs, causing the air conditioning to stay on longer. It was just a vicious circle. We tried keeping the ceiling fan on, but that seemed to do nothing for the situation.

WDWMom, we often do that with the patio in the spring, and we did a little bit last month as well on our 70 degree days. LOVE the fresh air. Of course, then those danged Roman shades gave us fits.

 

[MELSMICE]

We are at Vero right now & they have the same thermostats here. We had an issue with it yesterday.

I don't remember having the issues at OKW with the thermostat, but DH said that we did........I guess I was comfortable enough & oblivious. I would turn it up when cold & down when hot.

Anyway, we came back in to our studio yesterday & the heat immediately went on. I turned the temp down & the heat remained on. We have the door open right now.

They have the roman shades here too, but the difference is that the up/down mechanism is not attached to the door. It is up high & "free" so it is much easier to pull the shade up & down.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We are at Vero right now & they have the same thermostats here. We had an issue with it yesterday.

I don't remember having the issues at OKW with the thermostat, but DH said that we did........I guess I was comfortable enough & oblivious. I would turn it up when cold & down when hot.

Anyway, we came back in to our studio yesterday & the heat immediately went on. I turned the temp down & the heat remained on. We have the door open right now.

They have the roman shades here too, but the difference is that the up/down mechanism is not attached to the door. It is up high & "free" so it is much easier to pull the shade up & down.

Interesting. So it looks like they truly ARE standardizing DVC rooms instead of making them follow the theme. Sad to hear they are using those crumby thermostats elsewhere too.

 

[Shadeaux]

Another thing about those thermostats that is annoying....they don't show the current temperature. I told my husband I was bringing a thermometer next trip.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Has anybody tried any of these changes? It doesn't sounds like the motion detector is a problem but I know when I was at Kidani in January I was miserable with heat coming on when I thought it should be cooling. I did the part I have bolded (had the "new" thermostat so had to use those directions) and after that everything was perfectly comfortable and no more heat when it had just cooled and could adjust the temp as I wished. Just thinking that maybe they installed the same units at OKW that they placed at Kidani.


TO CHANGE AC THERMOSTAT SETTINGS THE THERMOSTAT HAS TO BE PUT INTO "SERVICE MODE" IT IS SIMPLE TO DO BY PRESSING THE FOLLOWING KEYS ON THE FRONT OF THE THERMOSTAT.

EXECUTE THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE:

1. PRESS (AND KEEP PRESSED) THE F/C KEY

2. PRESS (AND RELEASE) THE OFF/AUTO KEY

3. PRESS (AND RELEASE) THE DISPLAY KEY.

4. RELEASE THE F/C KEY.

UPON SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING THIS SEQUENCE, THE LCD WILL DISPLAY PAR (PARAMETER) AND THE PARAMETER NUMBER.

1. PRESS THE UP ARROW KEY AND SCROLL UNTIL # 6 APPEARS. (NEW MODELS # 24)

2. PRESS THE OFF/AUTO KEY

3. THE CURRENT LOW TEMPERATURE IS DISPLAYED.

4. PRESS THE DOWN ARROW KEY AND SCROLL UNTIL THE DESIRED ROOM
TEMPERATURE APPEARS
5. PRESS THE F/C KEY

Disable motion detector:
The thermostat has two buttons on the left (ON/OFF and AUTO/FAN) and two buttons on the right (UP and DOWN)

1) Press the ON/OFF and AUTO/FAN buttons together. The digital display will change to 'CA'.

2) Press the ON/OFF and DOWN button together. The digital display will change to 'OR" (or something similar).

You have just deactivated the motion sensor. This will last for three days at which point you will have to repeat the process.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I don't think these are the same as the ones at Kidani, but I can't remember for sure.