Venstar Introduces Add-A-Wire Thermostat Accessory; Allows Five-Wire Thermostats to Work With Four Wires

CHATSWORTH, CA--(Marketwire - Feb 1, 2012) - Venstar®, a leading thermostat and energy management systems supplier, today announced the Add-A-Wire™ thermostat accessory, allowing for the easy addition of extra wiring to virtually any 24-volt thermostat in applications where additional wiring otherwise cannot be added.

Add-A-Wire thermostat accessory is easy to install (much easier than running new wires); allows five-wire thermostats to work with only four wires; allows five wires to work like six wires; and allows users to add a second Add-A-Wire thermostat accessory to allow five wires to work like seven wires. It is compatible with Venstar's 24-volt commercial and residential thermostats as well as 24-volt thermostats from virtually any manufacturer.

"Add-A-Wire thermostat accessory is an easy and quick solution for installing a thermostat in a location with wiring challenges and is compatible with virtually all 24-volt thermostats from any manufacturer," said Steve Dushane, president and CEO of Venstar Inc. "It adds a great deal of flexibility to the wiring capabilities of a thermostat and can eliminate the need to re-wire. Our thermostat installers love this product because it helps make their job faster and easier."

Add-A-Wire thermostat accessory is compatible with all of Venstar's 24-volt commercial and residential thermostats, including:

ColorTouch Touchscreen Thermostat (residential)

ColorTouch® is the multi-functional, simple-to-use, richly featured, programmable touch screen thermostat that thinks it's a digital picture frame. ColorTouch has customizable backgrounds, including the users' own photos, and more than a dozen preset themes, including holiday themes. Compatible with virtually every type of heating and air conditioning system, ColorTouch can be configured to display one of three languages: English, French or Spanish.

ColorTouch Touchscreen Thermostat (commercial)

ColorTouch Commercial is a multi-functional, simple-to-use, touch screen thermostat designed for commercial installations. With ColorTouch Commercial, users can display their business logos, advertisements or promotions on their thermostat screens as a slideshow screensaver or background wallpaper. ColorTouch Commercial also includes a 365-day holiday calendar, field updatable firmware, and added passcode security for use in public areas. ColorTouch Commercial is priced at approximately half the cost of competitive commercial touch screen thermostats.

Slimline Family of Thermostats

Venstar's Slimline family of thermostats includes very popular residential and commercial models. Currently, millions of Slimline thermostats are in use throughout North America. Specialty Slimline models include:

• Slimline Platinum, a commercial thermostat (Model T2900) with light activation that turns the thermostat on and off based on the level of light, helping facilities save energy and go green.
  
  
• SchoolStat™ (Model T2900SCH), a commercial programmable specialty thermostat that helps schools go green while keeping classrooms comfortable. SchoolStat is the thermostat designed to keep classrooms comfortable during the school day and save energy when school is out.
  
  
• EZStat™, the thermostat that is as easy to program as using an alarm clock. The EZStat also features oversized indicators on the display for easy reading.
  
  

About Venstar Inc.

Founded in 1992, Venstar Inc. is a leading thermostat and energy management system (EMS) supplier, known for providing value to its customers via ease of use and installation, proven cost savings, improved energy efficiency, quality and reliability. Venstar is one of the largest thermostat suppliers in the world and designs and produces Venstar-branded products, as well as OEM thermostat products for the biggest names in HVAC. Venstar's Surveyor is a leading energy management system, typically saving small-box retailers 25 percent of their energy costs, which translates to millions of dollars in savings and dramatic reductions in C0₂ emissions. Surveyor currently controls the energy usage of more than 13,000 retail locations across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

Web site: www.venstar.com