A:Answer Short answer:yes. All smart thermostats require a c-wire to some degree. There are ones that claim they do not require one (nest.)However they draw the power they require by essentially short cycling your furnace when it is not in use, which may or may not be an issue depending on your situation. There are ones that come with power extener kits (ecobee) that people seem to like. There is always that garbage trick of jumping wires and sacrificing your fan control, or paying someone $300 to run new wires. However there is always the reasonable solution of purchasing an adapter kit for like $25 and that will be the easiest, cheapest, and you don't sacrifice any functionality. So if you really want a specific thermostat don't let a 4 wire system hold you back.