Lennox iComfort S30 Smart Thermostat Review HVAC

Review of the Lennox iComfort S30 WIFI Thermostat for your Lennox communicating HVAC system.
My home system is the following which was installed in July 2017
(1) 90,000 Btu Lennox Signature Collection SLP98V Variable Speed blower Gas furnace (Modulating GAS Furnace) - Downstairs
(1) 90,000 Btu Lennox Signature Collection SL280V Variable Speed blower Gas Furnace (TWO-STAGE GAS FURNACE) - Upstairs
(2) 3 TON Lennox Signature XC25 air conditioner (Variable)
S30 iComfort (2)
PureAir System (2)
Upflow Coil (2)
www.lennox.com/products/comfort-controls/thermostats/icomforts30
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[@stephaniegamino3527]

*Used to supplement the up stairs when it gets hot outside this works very well and **Fastly.Cool** Also works good when the upstairs gets too hot in the Winter from the heater.*

[@jacobjohnson5992]

Hi. I work for a HVAC company in the northern Illinois suburbs of "Chicagoland". We are a lennox dealer. Without reading the other comments I can tell you a big red flag from my perspective is the duct work on the "return side" of the furnace. The installer did what we refer to as a "tap and cap" in respects to how the return air from the house was attached to your air cleaner (filter rack). By the way, kudos for getting the wider filter. While there is no magic wand to improve upon the original ducting that was installed when your house was built, installing a media cabinet such as what you have will improve both the quantity and cleanliness of the clean air the furnace provides. However, without a radius elbow coming off the air cleaner nor a turning vain inside the duct, the blower motor works harder to draw the air and pushes less air because of it. I hope your happy with your set up because the S30 is above and beyond what is offered from the nest co. If you want to save even more money on your electric bill and extend the life of you blower I suggest doing something about the air flow on the return side. Always cool to see homeowners that have the kind of knowledge you do about there hvac equipment. Keeps us on our toes and weeds out the hacks. God bless and good day

[@TechFan]

Thanks for the feedback, come down to NJ and I will pay you to fix it :). Installers are there to get the job done as fast as possible these days. What you pointed out the home owner would never know about so it's best effort. I wish I knew a few years ago, I might have actually got them back in but now it's too late. What would it take to fix it parts wise?

[@alj.granda8252]

Thanks for your review. I am purchasing a single level condo with the controller. Condo recently added this along with Lenox furnace and A/C (compressor, condenser fan). Maybe its removable to paint behind, when your are repainting your walls. Going today to have condo inspected. Hope my inspector is familiar with this controller and set up. Does the gateway come with every Thermostat? Is there anything else that should have come with the package? Thanks Ok, did more research. It looks like the package should include the Thermostat, Smart hub and mag mount. Is that correct?

[@gilbertrodillo387]

Do you know if the "humidification set point" the humidity level that the thermostat (and humidifier) is supposed to get to? I recently had a humidifier installed. Before installation, humidity was in the low 30s; however, after installation, it ranges from 40 to 50 no matter what a put the humidification set point to (e.g. 35).

[@1981fuentes]

How do you connect the smart hub to icomfort thermostat .. just got a message saying it is not connected?

[@carenbunny]

How to change the humidity pad on this system

[@Ifitallfails]

It's supposed to be low airflow for humidity control. Low airflow across a cold coil properly dehumidifies the house especially when the temperature is already satisfied. The higher stages of flow are to lower the sensible temperature. Your installer was correct to not fiddle with it too much as it was recently installed and it can be tuned later. Usually there is a quality audit some time after an install to correct any issues that may be present after an install.

[@TechFan]

They failed to set it at all until I had them look at it. Original default out of the box low airflow setting was not pushing enough airflow over the coils as it was set to 530 CFM. It's balanced now and working fine but little tweaks were made and that's the idea like you said.

[@TheRobbSki]

Great video! Thanks! I'm having just about the same system(s) installed in a couple weeks. Nice to be able to control the upstairs thermostat from the downstairs one. Is there only one way to LOCK/UNLOCK the thermostats? Pressing the screen for 5 seconds? Just wondering if they can be locked with a PIN? Great review!

[@TechFan]

Yes you can set for it to lock the options (3 modes) 1 - full 2 - partial for set points and 3 for no changes can be made. You can also set the screen to go dark if you have it in a bedroom for example. It will wake with a wave of the hand in the front.

[@TheRobbSki]

Tech Fan Thanks for the reply! I was wondering how bright it was gonna be in our bedroom at night. So when it goes dark, it's COMPLETELY out? How long does it stay on when re-activated? I really wish you could lock it with a PIN/code, though. Thanks again.

[@TechFan]

Yes goes totally dark and it has brightness settings, when it goes on it goes off fairly quickly, also think you can set that. We have it in our bedroom and it's just fine, no issues with having it located there. I initially thought it was going to be a problem and had them locate it in the hallway. After the first night I had them come back and move it to the bedroom. Keeping the right temperature in the master is key not the hallway :). I think the lock can be done with a lockout so no one can change anything without a passcode. I never set it but see it in the menu.

[@robhomebrook36]

How do you change the accuweather location?

[@justinsurpless4137]

Curious if you use this with Homekit? If so, what functionality is exposed?

[@pdevine43]

Thanks for the video. So we just moved into a house that has one furnace with 2 thermostats, one for each floor. I believe you call this a 2 stage furnace. I was going to get the best thermostat but are you saying in your other responses I am not able to get the nest in my case?

[@TechFan]

The two thermostats are to turn the unit on (Call to Heat or Cool) and then control dampers to send the heat in different directions such as first or second floors. 2 stage is for hi or low in either the blower or the heating exchange, same goes for the outside compressor can be hi or low with 2 stages. Today's newer higher end units have variable stages or speeds to adjust to the exact demand thus being more energy efficient. Hope that helps?

[@scottsworld21]

So after using this a while, do you still like it? I am building a house and upgraded my HVAC. I have just read so many negative comments on this thermostat, I’m a little nervous about it, but it doesn’t sound like I have much of a choice. I too am coming for the easy peasy nest.

[@TechFan]

It works with no issues, the features are not as smart as a nest but not that bad either. If you have the higher end Lennox system then there is no other choice if you want to take advantage of all the system features and benefits.

[@marysmith2261]

My Lennox is locked how do I unlock it? Pushing five seconds on the icon is not working. Any advice?

[@txhorn10]

Look at the books that came with it. Sounds like it’s a 3 ton unit. Two stage heat pump would be 1200 cfm high and 800 low. Variable would be set up differently... the books hold the info in them.

[@GE0RGl0S]

I have (2) CBX32MV-024/030-230-6, 2 Ton Air Handlers basement/attic. Does the S30 smart hub connect to furnace board or air handler? Do I need to connect both smart hubs or can I just use one smart hub for two thermostats?

[@josephvasco2755]

You need the E30 thermostat (basically the S30 but universal for any other system). Both thermostat come with their own dedicated smart hub the connects to each air handlers control board.

[@prabinsharma1205]

I couldn't set up a schedule in cool only mode. Do you know if we can do it? Without the ability to set a schedule in cool only mode, it almost feels like the thermostat has limited functionality than my old honeybee. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[@TechFan]

Just set the heat to really low and it will never go on. Set the heat to the lowest set point, at that point it will never activate, set the cool to the desired set point. Really not a big deal when you set it like that.

[@newporg6887]

...i've had these idiot installers out 4 times.. at one point i had 5 of them at my house at the same time. They left the CFM high normal at default, 600! I don't have a Low CFM cooling.. but i cranked that bad boy up to 1200, Now i actually have AC upstairs in the bed rooms! Thank you so much for this video.

[@TechFan]

Yea that would do it, however the number is a high and a low if your unit is variable and in your case it sounds like it's not. I set mine to 1050 low and 1300 high but that was based on a calculation I did. All depends on individual setups with which equipment and size they have installed.

[@bizzybone485]

Any experience with the iHarmony Zone system with dehumidification? Curious how well it works.

[@BERTO929]

I have a icomfort thermostat on my Lennox system. Will the S30 install without any wire changes on the system?

[@TechFan]

You are should compare the two, S30 is a simple 4 wire setup, basically power and data communications. The stat is not direct to the handler as there is a gateway in between them. Hope that helps as your question is vague.

[@briand6973]

I'm having trouble finding whether or not this thermostat retains programs after a power outage? I have an older iComfort Wi-Fi we got when we got the SLP98UHV furnace and it loses all the programs after a power outage, which it extremely annoying, especially since I have schedules for Sunday-Thursday, then Friday & Saturday. It's astounding to me that you can't either: A: save the settings to internal flash memory or B: backup your settings to your app, then have the option to re-synch the saved settings from your phone app back to the thermostat.

[@TechFan]

The S30 saves the current setup, either in the gateway, main controller or stat, not sure which holds the actual settings. During a power outage everything is there after the power returns for me.

[@briand6973]

@@TechFan Thanks. I don't know why the model I have does not. It seems like a really basic need to me.

[@pc7225]

is you up stairs thermostat only connected to 12v power and wireless connected to gateway?

[@TechFan]

Both S30 thermostats need to connect to each own hub, it goes from the HVAC output terminals to the HUB, then the HUB to the S30. R I+ I- C goes to the HVAC and + - 12 VDC along with A COMM and B BUS go to the S30. The S30 is 12VDC with the other pair carrying communications to the HUB. The S40 unit goes direct to the HVAC unit using the R I+ I- and C with no hub. When you buy the S30 it comes with the HUB.

[@pault477]

Should the Lennox dealer be able to set this up appropriately? This seems like way too much work for a thermostat compared to the Nest I have.

[@TechFan]

The Nest is a non communicating thermostat which means it can't interact with the equipment in a two way fashion. That is the big difference. Basically if you do not have a Lennox system or one that is newer that communicates then the Nest is ideal. While the older non communicating systems can do similar stuff they require the settings to be static and set on the system control board of the system. So Nest is a learning thermostat that is designed to save you off your monthly bill by learning your comfort settings to work around it. A Lennox dealer should be able to setup the system, the folks I had install the system just were not educated enough on this type of install. In the end it worked out as they gave me a credit of $2500 towards the install after the negotiated agreement we had in place which was competitive.

[@curtisbme]

​@@TechFan Depends on what thermostat you have as to whether the communication makes any notable difference. I have the SL280v and there is little that is missing. My Lennox dealer didn't even suggest it is he said it is only required for the SLP98V and said trying to convince folks to switch off their Nest is a losing battle. I asked but didn't do the S80 as they wanted $1100 for a 4+ year old product so I passed. The Nest does the two stage heating and the variable speed fan is controlled by the board on the furnace (and you can make adjustments to the high and low speed via dip switches). So diagnostic info is missing and possible additional controls via that confusing menu you highlighted but that isn't $1100 worth of value to me. Especially when you have to deal with their bad phone app if you want remote control. That said if I can find one on ebay for

[@ronaldgednalske1557]

Last summer I upgraded our system (both Lennox heat pump and 90% furnace). The dealer installed this thermostat but my problem is I can't lower the heat below 60 degrees when we go south in the winter. Is there anything I can do about this? Thanks.

[@TechFan]

@ronaldgednalske1557 Yes, you can change the range, it's in the settings under hot/cold. There is a button that says set wider range. 40-99 is the set point after you change it.

[@ronaldgednalske1557]

@Tech Fan thanks for the reply. When I get back home I'll try it. The dealer say something to the effect that the furnace would soot up the heat exchange? Don't know what to believe. Thanks again.

[@Slider68]

I too discovered that most installers don't have a clue how to properly set up these advanced HVAC controllers. When it comes to airflow settings for AC the key is to understand that maximum humidity removal occurs when the evaporator (a-coil) is just above the freezing point and maximum cooling (temperature reduction) occurs with maximum airflow. You can relate this to how water condenses out of the air when it cools (like evening dew). The colder the air gets, the more water will condense out and the slower the air blows past the evaporator, the colder it gets. With older/classic single stage AC systems that have single rpm fans, the air flow (rpm or CFM) is selected to provide a compromise between adequate humidity removal (lower fan speed) and efficient/powerful cooling (higher fan speed). If the fan moves too much air you will end up with a less comfortable, muggy, high humidity, but cool home. If the fan doesn't move enough air the most common issue is the evaporator freezing into a block of ice that further restricts air flow. If you have a single stage AC compressor but a modern thermostat (like this one) that controls summer time humidity, it will take into account the current indoor humidity and desired humidity when deciding on what fan speed to use. When setting up the thermostat you want the minimum (humidity removal) fan speed to be just fast enough to keep the evaporator from freezing into a block of ice and you want the maximum fan speed to be as high as you can handle noise wise. For maximum efficiency and maximum rate of cooling you want the maximum fan speed set as high as possible (eg after returning home from a weekend away with the HVAC system on low or off you want the house to cool down quickly). Higher end AC units also have the ability to vary the rpm of the compressor and/or vary the amount of restriction/expansion through the expansion valve. With these the thermostat needs to select both the fan speed and amount of cooling. Although more complicated, the same principles apply. Ultimately getting the fan settings right has a HUGE impact on how well your humidity is controlled during the summer.

[@TechFan]

Exactly, well said! I still can't say for sure if my current settings are prefect but after having the unit running for three years everything has been fine. I balanced much of it based on noise and runtime to cool. Humidity reduction could be better upstairs but close enough during the summer months. Thanks for the response!

[@Slider68]

@@TechFan BTW the humidity sensor in our programmable Lennox WiFi thermostat has stopped working properly. It always thinks the humidity is about 10% regardless what it realty is. It has been acting up for years but in the past blowing compressed air on it fixed it (most likely was dust) but this past summer this stopped fixing it. I've tried cranking up the offset in settings to the max and now it reads 17% all the time. I was hoping our monthly service contract would cover repairing it but they say "nope". Any suggestions? I'm giving Lennox a call to see what they say.

[@Slider68]

Frustratingly Lennox has a 5 year warranty (ours is 7 years old) and doesn't offer any options to service the thermostat. Most likely the humidity sensor on the board needs to be replaced and it looks like we'll be forced to buy an entire new thermostat to get it repaired. I'm not sure what today's prices are like but we paid almost $1000 for the thermostat in 2013.

[@TechFan]

@@Slider68 Which one? the I-S30? I find that mine is on the high side, I put a humidity monitor next to the therm and it's off by 5% or 10% but not stuck like you. I see the replacement would be $485 for that unit.

[@Slider68]

@@TechFan Ours is the predecessor to the I-S30, The Lennox iComfort WiFi. Speaking to the local service manager this is a super common issue. Basically all of the old iComfort thermostats suffer from a failure of the humidity sensor after about 5 to 7 years. Luckily it should be covered by our extended parts and labor warranty (paid $1560 for the warranty extension) but I'm concerned its such an expensive repair (replacement thermostat) they might try to get out of it some how.

[@kennyg572]

1) For 4 years I have wondered why my system was running high all the time trying to keep up. I would set it to 76 when the outside temp was maybe 100 and it would run fast and high and the temp in the middle would go UP to 77, 78 and even 79 and 80 and it would struggle--just yesterday I thought I would change the fan setting to "circulate" vs "on" which it has always been set at ...it seemed to make a difference, it was colder , I could feel more "push" of the air flow--could that have been the issue?-- 2) I also saw another video that said if you have the humidity setting on the system will pay more attention to the humidity setting and basically ignore the set point for temp...can u address these 2 issues plz (plz ignore the line thru -dont know where that came from)

[@TechFan]

Circulate runs at intervals which can be set to go on every hour for x minutes. I set mine to 10 minutes during the hour. It useful to circulate stale air, but in the summer peak heat my unit runs constantly anyway so it's doing the same thing. There are three settings for humidity control as well as a temp overcool settings. I set mine for smart control based on the current outside weather. If your HVAC company didn't set the airflow duct settings correctly your unit could be too low to control the humidity and not able to cool the air correctly. I have mine set to 1050 on the low side and 1250 on the high side, this keeps things in check. The defaults are 550 low and 1550 high. Also there is a setting for ideal humidity which is around 52 to 55 in my case. It's really comes down to making sure your settings in the setup menu are correct and ideal for your situation. Hope that helps.

[@kennyg572]

@@TechFan OOOO Thx so much --I will check those settings --by the way I have an XC-25 Lennox-25 Seer-dont know if that makes a diif?

[@pault477]

So you have a zone sytem?

[@TechFan]

Yes but its really 1 zone for each system, I just have 2 systems, one up and one down.

[@JonathanPerez-th7nw]

So I could replace my ecobee with this thermostat?

[@TechFan]

I would only suggest this thermostat for Lennox communicating equipment like the SLP98V and XC25, if you have an older system stick with Nest / ecobee / Honeywell offerings as they will be less expensive. The s30 integrates with Alexia but not others like Wink, Samsung etc. With the Nest or ecobee they will not support two way commutation with Lennox equipment or any other brands like Carrier. These can do the basics like turn on and turn off for call to heat or call to cooling. The S30 can make system adjustments from the touchscreen, give realtime system feedback (or error status), run diagnostics with feedback, enable features or disable them. The system diagnostic features are valuable to quickly diagnose system issues since the errors and or faults are displayed on the touchscreen. These are the features of a communicating system, in a non you have no idea if the system is running or not aside from visual, feeling or hearing it. There is also the application support side for controlling the system from the outside but most third parties support that too so there is no advantage aside from in this case getting feedback of your system status. Hope that helps?

[@kurtmcintosh14]

Only on lennox 25 series

[@alexburgos5040]

Yes you can use this thermostat with any system you need a smart hub to use it for non communication systems. I have it connected to a straight cool goodman

[@nocturnal_nick1]

Lmao bro this thing is so complicated for no reason, helpful video tho so thank you

[@confetti199]

we hav one!

[@TechFan]

I have the following (1) 90,000 Btu Lennox Signature Collection SLP98V Variable Speed blower Gas furnace (Modulating GAS Furnace) - Downstairs (1) 90,000 Btu Lennox Signature Collection SL280V Variable Speed blower Gas Furnace (TWO-STAGE GAS FURNACE) - Upstairs (2) 3 TON Lennox Signature XC25 air conditioner (Variable) Hope that answer it

[@josephvasco2755]

Best systems on the market. My E30 shows “Unable to display current temperature” on the app disabling the use of the app. Have you run into this problem?

[@TechFan]

@@josephvasco2755 So it shows on the term but not when you log into the app? Are you able to control the temps and unit while in the app, but just not seeing the current temp?

[@kennyg572]

I know this video is in 2017--can u still answer a question?

[@TechFan]

Sure, what is the question?

[@mrp3ero]

How does it work with HomeKit/Siri?

[@TechFan]

Not sure only connected it to Alexa which works fine but honestly using the myconnect app is ideal overall. With Alexa I can adjust the temperature but that is really all I find it good for. Speaking to adjust etc. Hope that helps.

[@omrail]

It works good for me. I have only used it with heating at this point as we have not had are air conditioner installed yet. Also it does not work to adjust humidity settings

[@gold7181]

It works with HomeKit provided you have an Apple device that can function as a hub (HomePod, AppleTV, iPad). Once set up, you can control it from the iOS "iComfortHome" app, the "Home" app, or Siri. (The iComfortHome app has the nicest interface).

[@bobm3378]

The reason the s30 thermostat can be removed ,is to be able to repaint the walls

[@TechFan]

It's a silly design, if it had a battery that lasted more than 5 min it would have been a great design.

[@Hany0217]

How do you adjust the allergen defender?

[@TechFan]

Allergen Defender is working - When Internet weather is enabled and pollen count is high in the home's location, the fan will run between heating or cooling systems to help clean the air. This feature can be turned on under modes / schedules on the home screen. Select the fan icon located in the upper right-hand of the screen. It's off or on, nothing else can be adjusted.

[@bizzybone485]

Thanks for sharing! Great Information

[@CCCC-tq8yo]

5 yrs later did it brake

[@TechFan]

Still going to this day.

[@roberthoward2610]

This control does not have what the I comfort Stat has is the flame thrower and the snowflake falling in motion also it don't have the fan spinning for there top of the line Stat it should have those things that's why I didn't want this Stat sorry it's just me but I like moving icons and stuff more realistic!

[@tytig94]

3 ton condenser should be 1200CFM for cooling. Lower CFM for low stage, or dehumidifacation.

[@charlesgornowich7874]

We had a house built, I asked for 3 individual zones. The builder said they only use Lennox. I had a Carrier 3 zone system in the last house and loved it. This Lennox is garbage, the program rarely works right, the masterbedroom is set at 68 degrees and it bounces from 65 to 74. First the fan was blowing so hard it was difficult to open the bedroom door, now it does not blow much at all. My advice, RUN to another brand

[@alexburgos5040]

Not the brand sounds like your duct system is the problem. Bypass may not be set correctly

[@alexburgos5040]

Jesus who wired that smart hub

[@victorvek5227]

This thing sucks. $750 for a thermostat that came out in 2015. It’s unreal. And I feel like 1000CFM is really high for your low setting, no? You guys must scream at each other.

[@rayvegter]

I got a better idea. Stay away from Lennox. Period. I've had one since 2012 and have had no less than three service calls a year for something that screws up on it. They aren't worth the money.

[@TechFan]

All brands are the same, made out of county and cheap as possible. Not like the good old days, with that said, knock on wood, I have been fine.

[@robbrown6667]

Reviews are absolutely horrible on the Lenox site!

[@TechFan]

Most Lennox stuff gets poor reviews but so does many of the other brands. Things are not built or made like they used to be. Overall the thermostat works and I haven't had any issues, the phone app works well too. Ones milage will vary depending on exact setup.

[@kawaiibtslover1012]

Just a piece of crap. Just walking down the hall hit that f thing with my shoulder and f thing fall off and screen shattered