Honeywell Thermostat Recovery Mode: How to Ignore

When I just replaced my old offline thermostat with a Honeywell Thermostat, it turned out to be one of the finest moves I’d made in my whole life. It has made me feel more ‘at home’ than I have ever felt before since it has made it feasible for me to go into my room and find it at the appropriate temperature.

I noticed that my thermostat was in ‘Recovery Mode’ a couple of weeks ago and decided to look into it more thoroughly. That it was, in fact, a rather common feature on smart thermostats that I was completely ignorant of required some investigating on my part to uncover.

Generally speaking, if your thermostat is operating in Recovery Mode, it is making its way towards a specified temperature that has been previously established in the program.

All Honeywell thermostats come pre-programmed with Recovery Mode activated. The Recovery Mode may be turned off by going to “Settings,” selecting “Smart Response Technology” under “Preferences,” and then turning off “Recovery Mode.”

In the event that you want Recovery Mode to be active on certain days of the week, you may plan it according to your needs. Activating the feature on your thermostat may be done at any moment.

What is Recovery Mode on Honeywell Thermostats?

Honeywell Thermostats include a Recovery Mode that shows when the thermostat is returning from an energy-saving mode. In order to maintain an adequate temperature, your thermostat activates the HVAC system 15 minutes before the scheduled time.

An innovative feature, similar to EM Heat, that activates when there is a delay between turning on your thermostat and achieving the desired temperature.

Suppose you set your Honeywell thermostat to 70°C at 9 a.m. and want your house to be at that temperature at 9 a.m. In that case,  when your thermostat will begin heating up your home roughly an hour before that time to ensure that you are at the appropriate temperature at 9 a.m.

The thermostat begins reducing the temperature before the predetermined period when the weather is warm.

Advantages of Recovery Mode

How To Reset Honeywell Thermostat

Conserves Energy

When your thermostat is set to switch on ahead of schedule, the HVAC system begins to adapt to the desired temperature. The function, which is similar to EM Heat, is activated when there is a delay between turning on your thermostat and reaching the temperature you want to set.

If you set your Honeywell thermostat to 70°C at 9 a.m. and want your house to be at that temperature by 9 a.m., your thermostat will begin heating your home about one hour before that time, ensuring that you are at the perfect temperature by 9 a.m.

The thermostat begins to reduce the temperature before the predetermined period when the weather is warm. Recovery Mode is a feature of programmable thermostats that are designed to be energy efficient.

It is common for the load on the HVAC system to rise when there is a significant variation between the temperature settings. This may lead to spikes in power usage. The Recovery Mode assists in gently raising or lowering the temperature, which ensures that the burden on the HVAC system is distributed evenly.

The fact that the thermostat begins working towards the desired temperature before the planned time allows it to preserve energy throughout the process.

Convenience

As previously mentioned, the Recovery Mode in the Honeywell thermostat saves energy by pre-heating or pre-cooling your home before the start of the heating or cooling cycle. It assists you in reaching your preferred temperature at the precise moment you want it.

If you do not engage the Recovery Mode, the thermostat will only begin to function at the time that it has been set. After then, it would take an hour for the air to circulate throughout the whole space.

Easier on the HVAC System

In addition, the ‘Adaptive Intelligent Recovery’ function on your Honeywell thermostat reduces the burden placed on the HVAC system significantly.

There is no demand for abrupt or significant volumes of intensely heated or cooled air to be delivered by selecting the Recovery Mode.

Heavy load on the HVAC system, particularly in two-stage heating or cooling systems, may result in premature breakdown of components.

How to Override Recovery Mode on Your Honeywell Thermostat

A few of my friends have experienced a situation in which their thermostats were trapped in Recovery Mode. Although the Honeywell thermostat’s popularity may be attributed to the ability to configure it to meet your specific requirements, having too many choices might be overwhelming for folks who aren’t extremely tech-savvy, such as my parents.

If you believe that deactivating Recovery Mode on your Honeywell thermostat would be the best option, use the procedures outlined below to override Recovery Mode on your thermostat:

  • Choose ‘Settings’ from the menu bar on the display screen.
  • Select ‘Preferences’ from the drop-down menu.
  • Select “Smart Response Technology” from the drop-down option.
  • Recovery Mode may be turned off by selecting ‘Off.’
  • Select “Previous Menu” and then “Home” from the drop-down menu.
  • You have now returned to the home screen of your device.
  • Your thermostat’s Recovery Mode has been switched off for your safety.
  • It’s possible that you’ll wish to turn off Recovery Mode at a certain moment on occasion. You’ll need to rearrange your schedule in order to do this.

Consider the following scenario: you set your thermostat to reach 72°C at 9 p.m., but what you actually mean is that you want the air conditioning to begin working toward 72°C at 9 p.m. Instead of reaching 72°C at 9 p.m., you want it to start working toward 72°C at 9 p.m.

This means that you must set your thermostat for a couple of hours after 9 p.m. in this scenario. As a result, the Recovery Mode will be activated only after a short period of time.

Your heating and cooling system would also benefit from this. If you are still seeing “Recovery” on your Honeywell thermostat’s display, you may need to reset your thermostat.

Reset Honeywell Thermostat.

Final Thoughts on “Recovery Mode” on Your Honeywell Thermostat

You should keep in mind that Recovery Mode may be engaged if your HVAC system is suffering issues; as a result, it is important to inspect your system on a frequent basis to prevent any unpleasant surprises down the road.

I noticed that my thermostat was in ‘Recovery Mode’ a couple of weeks ago and wanted to look into it more fully. That it was, in fact, a rather common feature on smart thermostats that I was completely unaware of required a little investigation on my part to find

Generally speaking, if your thermostat is running in Recovery Mode, it is working its way towards a predetermined temperature that has been previously set in the program, according to the manufacturer.

Recovery Mode is activated by default on Honeywell thermostats.. The Recovery Mode may be turned off by going to “Settings,” selecting “Smart Response Technology” under “Preferences,” and then turning off “Recovery Mode”

If you want Recovery Mode to be active on certain days of the week, you may schedule it according to your requirements. You have the option of reactivating the function on your thermostat at any time.

Best Seller List of Honeywell Thermostats:

FAQs:

Question

1. How do I bypass the Honeywell temperature limiter?

To access the installation settings, go to the Menu button on the display. Enter the password and then pick ‘Installer Setup’ from the menu bar. Now scroll to ‘Minimum Cool Setpoint’, enter the temperature you want, and click ‘Done’ to finish.

2. To complete the bypass, choose ‘Yes’ on the ‘Do you wish to save changes?’

How do you reset the schedule on a Honeywell thermostat? Using your Honeywell thermostat’s “Hold” button, you may restore the schedule to its default setting. When you release the button, the previously established schedule is overridden, and you will be prompted to input a new one.

3. How do I unlock the temperature on my Honeywell thermostat?

To access the thermostat’s menu, press the ‘Menu’ button. To get to ‘Lock,’ hit the ‘+’ or ‘-‘ keys on your keyboard. Select ‘Off’ from the drop-down menu. The temperature has been unlocked at this point.

-our editorial board has reviewed this article and has been approved for publication according to our editorial policy.

Last update on 2025-03-21

Lance Ulanoff is a renowned tech journalist, commentator, and on-air expert with over 36 years of experience. He has held esteemed positions including Editor in Chief of Lifewire and Mashable, where he delved into the impact of technology on daily life. Lance's expertise has been featured on major news programs globally, and he has made appearances on Fox News, CNBC, and the BBC.