SmartZone-2X : 2 Zone HVAC Controller KIT w/ Temp Sensor; Dual Climate Control to Replace Honeywell, EWC, Zonefirst, Zonex, Durozone & More

I needed to replace a Ztech dual zone controller (about 30 years old) that repeatedly blew the controller's board fuse. The Ztech board did not use a separate 24V AC transformer. The Ecojay board is less expensive and has excellent indicator status LEDs plus an easy to install temperature sensor used to display temperature on the control board of the heated or cooled air going out of the vents (the supply air) into your home. It uses a separate dedicated 24V AC transformer so be sure to already have a separate dedicated transformer for your zone system (don't tie it into the existing 24V AC transformer powering your internal HVAC system board) or order it from Amazon (plus wire needed to power and connect the transformer to the Ecojay board). See my photo that includes the transformer installed above the Ecojay. I also connected a separate 2-amp standard size auto fuse holder to the red line (see photo) from the new transformer although the transformer had built in protection. Better safe than sorry. You may want to add this as well and get that part and fuse. I installed this myself following the excellent color printed installation booklet and the Ecojay YouTube instruction video. I called Ecojay to confirm it is compatible with my system and thermostat wiring and reasons why my existing board went bad before I decided to order this replacement. The phone voice tech help was outstanding, clear, patiently provided, and friendly. He confirmed their board is fully compatible. The board worked perfectly after I first completed the wiring to the board per color coded instructions, then plugged the new transformer using an extension cord and my HVAC system plug into the electric plug outlet in my attic. I mounted it vertically above the HVAC unit in the attic so I can easily read the display and indicator lights. I also labeled all wiring for thermostats, dampers, and power with a silver marker on electrical tape prior to disconnecting wires from the old zone controller (that was already powered off). You don't want to lose track where those wires go so be sure to pre-label wires to make the reconnections to the new zone controller easy and do one wire group at a time.

I usually don't leave a review but long story short. I have a dual zone single HVAC unit that is 4 years old. It all of a sudden stopped working downstair in my house, no air blown at all. The second floor was working but giving erratic results and not accepting the temperature limit set on the thermostat. A local A/C company came to check for 10 minutes and told me that they did not like to work on this type of HVAC with this type of board as it required significant troubleshooting. This A/C guys wanted to get out of my house very quickly which I found odd. He promised to call later with an estimate. I had to call them 5 times and escalated to the manager and never got a call back. Fast forward to the end of the chapter and I came to the conclusion that the local A/C company broke the previous dual zone controller board made by ECOJAY's competitor. The A/C guy told me that the board was going to cost me upwards $700 but he had no clue exactly. I noticed later that the board now had no power on the LCD and had a broken resistor near the fuse.After no resolution, I shopped for the same board and found out that it was only sold through contractors and distributors. I then found Ecojay. I gave it a try and bought because I thought I could change it myself by copying the exact same wiring that was in place before.The product arrived to my house in 2 days and I swapped the boards and the second floor started working right away. The first floor remained with the same problem. I had a suspicion at this point that the damper for the downstairs zone was busted or something. But bear with me, I didn't even know how to locate the damper. But as the LED for one of the dampers was showing as red on the ECOJAY smart zone board, I decided to call ECOJAY's sales support at 5:04pm which was 4 minutes past the end of their work day. That is when a miracle guardian angel called "Jeff" answered the phone and helped me. He had the patience to stay on the phone with me for 1 hour and 16 minutes, testing the smart zone board, waiting for me to splice cables to test terminals, waiting for me to find screw drivers, walking me through how to reset damper motor and force the damper lever. The net net is that I had a 76 minutes crash course on my A/C system, I made the damper move, we fixed the 2 zones, including downstairs. At the end, he said that one thing was still suspicious as the air temperature on the LCD was 67 degrees as opposed to the expected ~55 degrees. He recommended me to replace the sensor with the one that comes with the ECOJAY since I had re-used the old sensor that was there. That is when Jeff said that I should take some time off from all the work and heat in the attic and wait until morning to go back to the attic and replace the sensor. I could not wait until the morning and replaced the sensor. The HVAC is working now 100% correctly in the past 36 hours. Thanks again to my guardian Angel Jeff. I can tell you that while we were on the phone he was drilling or screwing something with some power tool in the background and never, ever, lost focus on what tests I had to do on my side and what to look for. He even started driving, probably back home as it was past the end of his day and still helped me on the phone. Anyway, sorry for all the hype but I never ever had this kind of customer service experience. When the A/C broke, I was out of town and my wife made my life miserable. I had 5 miserable additional days of Texas heat before I finally decided to buy and received this board. I thank God I met Jeff. I highly recommend anyone who needs products in their portifolio to buy from these guys. There is no contractor/distributors/schemers in the middle. At the end of the day, if I had a friend like Jeff or ECOJAY before all this aggravation took place, I could have probably just bought a $20 dollar sensor and had my problem resolved. I was very close to spend thousands of dollars for nothing with a bad local A/C company. In summary, In an industry that I learned to not completely trust, I really think these guys from ECOJAY have the right mind and God in their hearts. More importantly, a product that works perfectly and has a best in class sales support.