Patent ID: 7575179

Claim:
A programmable and reconfigurable thermostat in which settings can be programmed and which is adapted for copying the settings of the thermostat electronically, thermostat-to-thermostat, directly onto any of a plurality of similar thermostats, the thermostat comprising: A wiring terminal block having at least two terminals adapted to receive and connect to thermostat wires that provide thermostat power to room comfort apparatus to turn the room comfort apparatus on and off; A temperature sensor; A microprocessor coupled to the at least two terminals and to the temperature sensor, including a clock for tracking time of day and day of week, and capable of connecting the thermostat power to said terminals to turn on and off one or more room comfort apparatus in accordance with the temperature sensed at said temperature sensor and settings stored in said microprocessor; A display for showing a plurality of modes and respective time and temperature settings of said thermostat; A plurality of selector keys coupled to said microprocessor permitting a user to switch into each of a plurality of modes and to adjust program time and temperature settings; and Means for establishing a data output mode and a target mode, whereby when in the data output mode electrical contact of the at least two terminals of the wiring terminal block of the thermostat directly to similar terminals of a wiring terminal block of a second one of said similar thermostats, by means of temporary connection of thermostat conductor wires, when the latter thermostat is in the target mode electronically transfers the settings of the first-mentioned thermostat via said temporary connection of thermostat conductor wires into the microprocessor of the second thermostat.