LUX Products TX9600TS Programmable Large Touchscreen Heating Cooling Thermostat, White

A straightforward, capable touchscreen thermostat that rewards a bit of setup

I installed the Lux TX9600TS in a mid-2000s, single-furnace/split AC home that lacks a common (C) wire and wanted something simple, dependable, and programmable without adding Wi‑Fi or cloud services. After a couple of weeks of daily use, it has settled into that sweet spot between basic and overbuilt: a large, legible touchscreen, flexible scheduling, and some thoughtful control features that actually help optimize run time.

Installation and compatibility

Setup was refreshingly uneventful. The backplate is clearly labeled, the terminals clamp wires securely, and the on-screen prompts walk you through initial settings. If you don’t have a C wire, the thermostat will run on AA batteries, and that’s how I started. If you do have a C wire, you can power it from the system; more on that below.

A few practical installation notes from my bench:

• Turn off power at the breaker, label your wires, and take a quick photo before you disconnect the old unit. The Lux terminal labeling is intuitive, but photos save headaches.
• The footprint is modest; if you’re covering paint lines or an old junction box, plan on a trim plate or wall plate. Lux offers one, and it makes for a cleaner look.
• If you’ll run on batteries, open and close the housing a few times before final mounting to learn the latch motion. It’s not difficult, but it’s easier to learn on a workbench than on a wall.

In my setup, the Lux worked with a standard forced-air gas furnace and central AC, but it’s designed to be broadly compatible with most North American HVAC systems. If you have something uncommon (e.g., specialty hydronic controls), consult the manual or Lux’s support before you commit.

Interface and daily use

The headline feature is the big, backlit touchscreen. It’s easy to read across a room, the touch targets are generous, and there’s no cryptic button sequence to remember. Tap to wake, adjust setpoints, and you’re done. Without the backlight, the display is still visible, though it’s clearly optimized for lit use; in dim hallways I found myself tapping just to bring up the light.

Programming is flexible but not fussy. You can choose 7‑day independent schedules or a 5/2‑day split (weekdays/weekends), with either two or four periods per day. That covers most people—wake/sleep, or wake/day/evening/sleep—and makes it easy to keep a consistent routine. A few things I appreciated:

• Copy-and-paste scheduling between days speeds setup.
• Temporary holds that naturally expire at the next program period (so you don’t accidentally lock the house at the wrong temperature for days).
• A touch-pad lockout and adjustable temperature limits. These are underrated: great for rentals, guest rooms, or any home where you want consistent settings without surprises.

Comfort controls that matter: swing and limits

The standout control is the adjustable swing (also called differential or deadband). This defines how far the room temperature can drift from the setpoint before the system turns on. Being able to fine-tune this—down to small increments—lets you balance comfort against equipment wear and energy use. Too tight and you get short cycling; too loose and you feel temperature drift. I landed on a tighter swing for cooling (to keep humidity in check) and a slightly looser swing for heating to promote longer, more efficient furnace runs. The Lux makes these tweaks straightforward, and the changes are noticeable.

Temperature limits are also handy. If you’ve ever come home to a thermostat someone “fixed” by cranking it to an extreme, you’ll appreciate being able to cap heating and cooling setpoints within a sensible range.

Performance and consistency

Once programmed, the Lux was steady. Against a reference thermometer, the displayed room temperature and setpoints stayed within a degree in normal conditions, and the system cycled predictably based on the swing I chose. The thermostat logs run time for the system (and fan), and that data is more useful than it sounds. It helped me verify that the differential adjustments were doing what I expected—longer, fewer cycles for heating, and slightly tighter cycling for humidity control during cooling.

There is a “recovery” behavior that starts heating or cooling ahead of schedule to reach your next setpoint on time. It works, but it’s conservative—there’s a limited preheat/precool window. If you have a slow-to-respond system (think many hydronic setups in cold climates), you’ll likely want to schedule earlier rather than rely on recovery alone to make large temperature jumps.

Power: batteries vs. C wire

The Lux runs happily on batteries. If your home lacks a C wire, this is a practical, low-friction option, and battery longevity in my use has been reasonable. The only annoyance is that changing batteries requires popping the faceplate off the base; not a dealbreaker, but take your time the first few times so you don’t tug on the wires.

With a C wire connected, I noticed a subtle shift in heating behavior in a tight wall cavity: the unit was a bit slower to call for heat compared to battery power alone. My working theory is minor self-heating when powered from 24 VAC in a low-airflow pocket. It’s not universal, but it’s plausible in tight or uninsulated wall boxes. Two easy mitigations worked for me:

• Add a thin foam gasket or insulate the opening behind the thermostat to isolate it from wall drafts and temperature bias.
• If you don’t need a C wire, simply run on batteries; the control logic behaved very consistently in that mode.

What I liked

• Large, backlit touchscreen that’s readable and easy to navigate
• Flexible scheduling (7‑day or 5/2‑day, 2 or 4 periods) with quick copy between days
• Adjustable swing/differential for smarter cycling and better equipment wear
• Temperature limits and lockout features for shared spaces or rentals
• Run-time tracking for system and fan, plus filter timer reminders
• Broad system compatibility and battery-only operation for homes without a C wire

What could be better

• The display is a bit muted without the backlight; I often tapped just to wake it
• Battery compartment access is awkward after mounting—learn the latch before it’s on the wall
• Recovery is conservative; slow systems may require earlier scheduled setpoints
• On some installs powered by C, the thermostat can read slightly warm and delay calls; insulating the wall pocket or using battery power addresses it
• No Wi‑Fi, app control, or “smart” features—by design, but worth noting if you want remote access

Who it’s for

The Lux TX9600TS is ideal if you want a solid, programmable thermostat with a large touchscreen and you don’t care about Wi‑Fi, phone apps, or motion learning. It’s particularly well-suited to:

• Older homes without a C wire
• Rentals or shared spaces where you want temperature limits and key-lock
• Owners who want to tune cycle behavior with swing control
• People who value run-time visibility (system/fan hours) for maintenance and optimization

If you’re shopping for remote access, geofencing, or deep integration with smart-home platforms, this isn’t that thermostat. Likewise, if your system absolutely depends on aggressive adaptive recovery to meet big setpoint jumps on a tight schedule, plan your programs accordingly.

Recommendation

I recommend the Lux TX9600TS for anyone who wants a dependable, easy-to-read, and genuinely tunable programmable thermostat without the complexity or privacy trade-offs of a connected device. Its adjustable swing and temperature limits translate into real-world comfort and efficiency gains, the scheduling is flexible without being fussy, and battery-only operation solves the no‑C‑wire problem cleanly. The drawbacks—conservative recovery, backlight dependence for best readability, and the occasional C‑wire quirk—are manageable with a little setup attention. If your priorities are reliability, control, and clarity over app features, this model is an excellent value.