Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Early floor heat thermostat failure

bobhoff6852
bobhoff6852 Member Posts: 1
in THE MAIN WALL
Installed floor heat in the bathroom 7 years ago, in 2014. It’s been working fine. Recently the thermostat just quit. Tried reset button, GFCI test. Even with off it always shows the time, now nothing. There is power to it. One thing is, this is a season house. House heat is set for 50F in winter so no freezing, but I’m wondering if heating from that temperature to the 75 or so, where it’s set when we’re here, is hard on the thermostat? I’m just wondering if thermostat failure after 6 1/2 years is normal and what if anything I can do to extend the life of the next one.
Thank you for any help

Comments

  • PC7060
    PC7060 Member Posts: 1,521
    By season house, do you mean the house is not used in winter? If that’s the case wouldn’t the electric floor heat be turned off?

    As a FYI, it’s standard practice to wire a second backup sensor.  Open the thermostat box and see if you have another set of wires non connected, those would be the spare sensor. 
    This is the exact reason I’m not a big fan of electric floor heat. Even with the big improvement of brands like Schluter Ditraheat, it’s still a crap shoot on reliability.  Don’t understand putting a 10 year product under a 20 year (or more) floor). 
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    It could just be a fluke or a power surge.
    There also may be an issue with the electric floor mat. Are you handy with an electric meter? I would recommend checking the mat for a short before you hook up power and then check the amp draw once you have it running again.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
  • bobhoff6852
    bobhoff6852 Member Posts: 1
    Thanks for the quick replies. To clarify, yes the floor heat is off when we’re not here. We do come up periodically in the winter and the house is kept at 50f when we’re away, so I’m assuming the tile floor in the bathroom is around that temperature when we arrive and turn it on. It is in a rural area so I do wonder about a surge. I don’t think anything in the installation is faulty as it’s been working fine for almost 7 years and there’s been no water or other damage. I guess I’m just wondering if this was a common problem with floor heat systems.
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    edited February 2021
    It's probably just a thermostat gone bad. The digital ones don't last as long as the old school type. I would guess that there is 95% chance it is a t-stat issue and a 5% chance the issue is with the mat (and it smoked the t-stat).
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
  • PC7060
    PC7060 Member Posts: 1,521
    did you look in the control to see if you have a backup sensor?

Categories