dual thermostats for single zone steam

Jamie Hall

I have three thermostats on my single zone (but large) steam system -- a nice programmable in the middle of the building, which does almost all the heavy lifting; one in the kitchen in case the lady of the house gets feeling chilly; and one in a room on the side exposed to the wind, which is set to 45 (it's a special low temperature Honeywell) which is there only as an emergency override when the fancy electronic one dies. Works fine.

Richard_23

dual thermostates for single zone steam

While it in the 45-60 degree range my upstairs can be 3 degrees cooler than my downstairs. I keep a door closed between the two to keep the upstairs from getting to hot from the heat rising. This ceases to be a problem once the heat starts cycling more on colder days.
Does anybody see a problem with another thermostat on the second floor connected in parallel with the first floor thermostat just to help balance the heat?
Regards and thanks to all.

Fred Harwood_2

Balance

What's your present thermostat?

Also, two thermostats would require a zone valve and possibly an additional steam main. You probably can get better results with additional venting and a thermostat such as the Honeywell T87 that uses anticipation to help control cycle time.

Richard_23

Using Honeywell programable (steam rated) Not looking to make another zone. Just trying to get the upstairs a few degree warmer when needed. Could acheive the same by just keeping the downstairs warmer but this way I could just use the upstairs themostat to add more at specific times (just before retiring) Yes still would be adding heat downstairs above what was needed, but would be able to keep it to a minimum.
BTW> This is also telling me the upstairs is loosing heat a lot faster than the downstairs and I better do something about that as well.
Thanks

bob young

tribute to rube goldberg

each one would be a simple operating control and would over-ride each other. i have done it & as far as i know works o.k. low tech but solves a problem. kinda like the double -hung regulators but more modern. lol