Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - need help installing new thermostat

I tried to install a new Honeywell RLV430A programable thermostat and didn't get too far. We have baseboard electric heat. The installation instructions were rather sparse. It only has 2 black wires to hook up so it looked easy, but when I took the plate off our old thermostat it has 4 wires, not 2. There are 2 reds and 2 blacks hooked up to red/white combos and black/white combos. I couldn't figure out by Honeywell's little drawing what to hook to what and didn't want to screw up our heating, so I put the plate back on and said forget it. The instructions said the wires weren't polarized so it wouldn't matter which black was hooked to whatever, but what do I do with the extra 2 wires? Does one black go to the white or the red? do the whites hook together? Help please!

It sounds like a single pole thermostat. The safest way to switch 240 volts is to switch both hot lines. That way there is never voltage present in the heater even when it is off. Switching one pole will turn the heat on and off the same way. If your thermostat has only 2 terminals, then put a wire nut on the two red wires and connect the two black wires to the terminals on the thermostat.

Ken

thanks - I'll try that. If that doesn't work, I'll have my co-workers husband take care of it - he's an electrician and I just found out he moonlights!