Patent ID: 7306165

Claim:
A method for programming a scheduled set point of a programmable thermostat having a touch screen as part of the thermostat, the thermostat adapted to sense a temperature at the location of the thermostat and to control an HVAC system in accordance with the scheduled set point, the scheduled set point having a time value and a corresponding temperature value, the method comprising the steps of: providing one or more touch regions at predefined known locations on the touch screen for use in setting a time value and a corresponding temperature value for the scheduled set point, both the time value and the temperature value for the scheduled set point being simultaneously displayed in a numerical format at predefined known locations on the touch screen; monitoring the one or more touch regions for touching by a user; changing the time value for the scheduled set point if the monitoring step determines that the one or more touch regions associated with the time value have been touched; and changing the temperature value for the scheduled set point at the predefined known location on the touch screen for the temperature value while simultaneously displaying the time value if the monitoring step determines that the one or more touch regions associated with the temperature value have been touched.