Thermostats

matt74

I have a Weil Mclain LBG steam boiler Are you able to use two thermostats on a one burner system

nicholas bonham-carter

So many questions-so little time!
A conventional thermostat is a simple switch, so it cannot average the temperature mesured in two different areas. There are more advanced thermostats which can take the average from several different locations to control the system.
Use of these more sophisticated thermostats requires the system to be in perfect balance, with the radiators receiving steam all at the same time. This is achieved with generous main venting.
Tell us what you are trying to accomplish, and we will help with a solution.—NBC

matt74

Nichols what is going on here is I have two units that do not heat up like the others they're on the Northside so they get all the Minnesota Northern wind in the winter and putting the thermostat one of them units there's four of them on ground level stay above what my thermostat is set for so the rest of the building gets cold because the boiler is not kicking over so my final attempt was putting the thermostat in the coldest room on the Northside basically what I want to know is I able to jump another thermostat and put it in the other unit on the Northside was in

Jamie Hall

You can put two thermostats in parallel, quite easily, if they re conventional two wire thermostats. If they are fancier three wire thermostats, then it's a little more complicated.

However.

That will not solve your problem of imbalance in heating between your two northside apartments and the rest of the building.

Those two apartments lose heat faster than the others -- wind, and no sun. There are ways to attack this problem, but two thermostats together isn't one of them.

What is your heating system? Steam? Hot water? Forced air?

How is the insulation in the building? How tight are the windows and doors?

matt74

All right my system is Weil Mclain steam boiler made in 92 the thermostat is set for 74 degrees insulation I do not know building was built in 1878 it's only isolated to them to Apartments i also live on site live on the third floor on the Northside but I do consider the downstairs to Apartments the dark side so that will work jumping thermostats so both units will control how the boiler turns on

Jamie Hall

If you parallel the two thermostats, yes -- the boiler will run whenever either one is calling for heat.

This will not solve the temperature imbalance between the various spaces.

If -- and only if -- the steam mains in the basement are properly vented, you may be able to improve the balance by adjusting the vents on the radiators (assuming this is one pipe steam).

KC_Jones

@matt74 You have an imbalance issue and a thermostat will not fix that problem.

For example, you say the thermostat is in the warmer apartment (74) and others get cold lets say 68. If you move the thermostat to the colder apartment then it will get to 74 and the warmer apartment will get to 80. The temperature differential won't change (significantly) when you move the thermostat.

matt74

heres a update. ever since I relocated the thermostat into that one unit it's been holding steady at 75 degrees all day this is in my apartment an im on the darkside but on 3rd floor