Patent ID: 7802618

Claim:
A method for automatically switching between heating and cooling modes of a single thermostat, comprising: setting a heating target temperature for a single thermostat; setting a cooling target temperature for said thermostat; sensing the temperature within a conditioned region; placing the thermostat in a heating mode when the sensed temperature is less than the lowest of the heating and cooling target temperatures by a first amount with the heating target temperature being above, the same as or below the cooling target temperature; placing the thermostat in a cooling mode when the sensed temperature is greater than the highest of the heating and cooling target temperatures by a second amount with the cooling target temperature being above, the same as or below the heating target temperature; maintaining the thermostat in the heating mode even when the sensed temperature becomes greater than the cooling target temperature when the cooling target temperature is less than the heating target temperature and the thermostat has entered the heating mode following operation during a cooling mode; and maintaining the thermostat in the cooling mode even when the sensed temperature becomes less than the heating target temperature when the cooling target temperature is less than heating target temperature and the thermostat has entered the cooling mode following operation during a heating mode.