The following information has been confirmed by a phone disscussion with Mr. Rhoads and is valid.
The thermostat will retail at around $189.00 plus installation. They stressed that the dealer is free to set his own price so it may vary. If you contact a dealer in your area, be sure to specify the VIP model. This stands for Visually Impaired Programmable. It was also stressed that this product is so new that many dealers may not be aware of it as yet. They can contact Smartway Solutions to obtain it.
Complete contact information is available below. You may phone or use e-mail. If you are unable to locate a dealer that handles it, you may contact Smartway and they will provide a list of dealers in your area. As a last resort you may order the Thermostat directly at the prices quoted below.
As mentioned, we manufacture two models of the Talking Thermostat as follows: List of 1 items (contains 1 nested list) . VT1000: The original thermostat that requires a sighted user to program its settings. List of 1 items nesting level 1 . VIP1000: An enhanced version of the above that allows blind and visually impaired users to program settings and has greater audio playback capability. list end nesting level 1 list end
The VIP1000 has just been introduced and only a handful of blind users
currently have one. One of these users, Mike Calvo in Orlando, FL,
recently
did
an internet review of the VIP model.
You can download and listen to his review by logging on to
http://www.freedombox.info/mp3/vip1000.m3u
Mr. Calvo can be reached at
mcalvo@freedombox.cc
Please note the price Mr. Calvo quotes in his review was special
pricing for
a "beta" test unit.
Talking Thermostats are distributed through authorized heating and cooling contractor dealers who are free to set their own pricing (including cost of installation).
In Nebraska our dealers are:
McCarthy Heating & A/C
John McCarthy, Sr.
14302 C. Circle
Omaha NE 68144
402-333-5000
Steve Simmons
3617 Howard Blvd
Columbus NE 68601
402-564-2255
Please note that the VIP1000 model is so new some of our dealer contractors
may not be aware it's available from SmartWay Solutions. If so, just ask
them
to contact me to procure units.
If there isn't a dealer contractor that can service the area the blind / visually impaired homeowner resides, SmartWay Solutions will sell a VIP1000 thermostat directly to them. They can then have their customary heating & cooling contractor install it. As mentioned the direct cost is $151.00 + $15 S&H = $166.00 total cost.
If I can be of any more help please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank
you
again for your interest in our thermostats.
Sincerely,
Fred Rhoads
Customer Service
SmartWay Solutions, Inc.
1309 Dealers Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70124
phone (504) 733-5888
fax (504) 736-9620
fred@smartwaysolutions.com
Web Site:
http://www.smartwaysolutions.com
This thermostat is also available from.
http://www.talkingthermostats.com
Smartway Solutions Website
Visit The Talking Thermostats Website.
Listen To The VIP Thermostat Audio Instruction Manual
Listen To The Talking Thermostats Demonstration of The VIP 1,000 Talking Thermostat From November 18
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Updated on ... November 20, 2007