The changing look of thermostats

Who needs photos on the wall when you can get something like the ColorTouch wall-mounted thermostat? Developed by Venstar Inc., the touch-screen thermostat lets users upload their own photos to serve as background wallpaper on the display. The unit should go for less than $200.

Among the thermostat's other features is that it lets users see how much energy they've used to heat and cool for the past seven days. Other interesting features include an automatic screen lock that can lock the screen minutes after it has been touched and requires a pass code for access so kids or guests can't change thermostat settings.

Through use of a free utility program, users can customize the appearance of their ColorTouch thermostats using their own photos for the screen savers and background wallpaper. Users may install up to 100 photos for the thermostat, all of which can rotate as a slideshow when the thermostat is in screen saver mode. If desired, any of these photos may also be selected as the background wallpaper for the thermostat.

The thermostat user puts images of interest on a memory card that in turn plugs into the thermostat. This card can also be used to move settings from an existing ColorTouch thermostat to other thermostats so the user doesn’t have to program each one individually.

The thermostat is also compatible with most heating and air conditioning equipment and controls gas/electric or heat pump equipment, with up to four heating and two cooling stages. It is dual-fuel capable.

More info: www.venstar.com