location of thermostat for upstairs zone.

Fred Rappuhn

I have a hot water system with 2 zones, 1 for the downstairs and another for the upstairs.

The upstairs is mainly bedrooms and stairways opens into a large hallway. The steps at the bottom of the stair, (1st floor) , has a door and at the bottom of stairs  there is a large CI rad.



I am finding the the CI rad at the bottom of the stairs sends too much heat up the stairs and shuts down the heat for the bedrooms. The stat for the upstairs is located in the large hallway, no rad's in the hallway.



I have been using the door at the bottom of the stairs as a damper for controlling the heat rising up stairs. 



I can not trotttle back the CI rad at the base of the stairs, (valve inoperative).

Should I move the thermostat into the master bedroom.



Suggestions???????

Jean-David Beyer

I have a similar situation.

I do not have an answer, though. I have two rooms upstairs and a flight of stairs to get there from downstairs. Upstairs is one zone, and downstairs is another. The heat loads of the upstairs rooms is about the same, and they have the same length of baseboard in each. Flow in the baseboards is high enough that they run at about the same temperature. The heat from downstairs (I have no door there) is not sufficient to heat the upstairs by itself. So the thermostat up there, in the hall at the top of the stairs, does not go off unless the baseboard is running. So I do not actually have a problem.



When I had just one zone heating, the upstairs was always too cold, and the cold air coming down the stairway made that part of the downstairs cold too. With two zones, I can get enough heat upstairs so that does not happen.



I could imagine a problem if the heat loss of the two rooms were different. Since their baseboards are in series, I would have to adjust the length in one of the rooms to balance them. For me, I could have put the thermostat in one of the rooms, but that would have been difficult.



If the rooms upstairs are always too cold, you could just turn up the upstairs thermostat. That assumes that the rooms upstairs are balanced.

NRT_Rob

yes, move it

thermostats in hallways are horrible practice. drives me NUTS. the only place you will be comfortable is the hallway? that's the only place you care the least, typically.

Fred Rappuhn

location of thermostat for upstairs zone.

I was thinking master bedroom, interior wall, in a area that won't be bumped it.

STEVE PAUL_3

Thermostats for bedroom zones

Should be located in one of the bedrooms. The only reason to locate the thermostat in the hall is if you have been banished from the bedroom and have to sleep in the hall. Generally I locate the thermostat on an inside wall, approximately 5'-0" above the floor. Put it in the Master bedroom where you have control over the setting.

                      YOU ARE THE MASTER OF YOUR DOMAIN

MikeG

Experiment first

After some remodeling I found the original location for a T-stat was not working out.  Before fishing new wire I spliced in a good length and strung the wire to different locations with the t-stat temporarily until I found the right place under some different conditions.  Had to live around the wire strung arund for a while but now it's in the right place.  If your master bedroom is the average condition for the zone, than that usually is a good location. 

Fred Rappuhn

location of thermostat for upstairs zone.

If I locate the thermostat to where I sleep and I will be comfortable.........how about the garage???

Mark Eatherton

Go Wireless...

Take it with you and where ever you go, comfort will follow, including the dog house :-)



ME

Fred Rappuhn

location of thermostat for upstairs zone.

Does that include the old round honeywell's, mercury and all?????



You guys make me laugh.







Looks as if I will be fishing new wire for the stat to be located master bed room.



thanks,

Jean-David Beyer

Fundamental Law About Thermostats.

A wise engineer with whom I worked for 5 years or so had this to say about thermostats:



A thermostat acts to keep itself comfortable.

icesailor

Upstairs Thermostats:

Don't do that!! Go Wireless. The Honeywell Red Hat Wireless thermostats are the nuts. You can to any room you want. Last Fall, I split a second floor radiant ceiling into two circuits in an antique museum type 160+ YO house and they were the nuts. Absolutely no way to run thermostat wires.

As far as locations, here are MY picks (FWIW). Never in a hallway or at the top of stairs. The heat coming up from downstairs will keep it off and the rooms will be cold. If you have four rooms, and the house is oriented N,S, E and W, put the thermostat in the room on the NW corner. The prevailing wind will make the north rooms colder. If you put it into the NE room, the morning sun will heat the room and the thermostat won't call. If you put if in the south rooms, the North rooms will be cold because of morning sun. Second floor zones really lend themselves to set back thermostats. If they come on at night, they will only heat the second floor. The first floor will try to heat the whole house. In my own house, I do not have the thermostat in the room I sleep in. But it is cold when I am sleeping and always warm when I get up and get in the shower.

You may get other opinions and any opinion will work. I just know that the above really works well for me in the windy location I live in and for my customers.