Thermostat troubleshooting - the details matter

mikeg2015

Had trouble with measuring humidity on my Lennox S30. Got even worse this winter controlling a steam humidifier.

Found this behind the mag base. Sigh. Wall has a pocket door behind it and I think it’s balloon construction. I get humid air in the wall from the attic in summer and dry air from basement in winter. Not a lot of air movement but enough to throw off humidity by 5-15%. Use foil tape and silicone caulk to seal it. Was seeing 50% upstairs when 30% reading on this downstairs thermostat.

Not happy with the contractor. A list of other issues and sent them a ultimatum today including this picture.

Lesson learned. If in a small rural town, DIY if you want it down right.

This also explains why reading temperature changes were sluggish. Poor measurement of control variable results in poor control of the system.

EBEBRATT-Ed

That's thermostat101 grab some toiler paper and plug the hole around the wire

mikeg2015

> @EBEBRATT-Ed said:
> That's thermostat101 grab some toiler paper and plug the hole around the wire

Nice! Guess my contractor didn’t take the class.

JUGHNE

I use the thin foam packing the t-stat comes in.
Save the TP for more serious matters.