Effect of Warm Wall on Thermostat

too hot in cold

How much is a thermostat affected by the temp. of the wall it is on?

I found that there is a return pipe from one of my radiator zones running in the wall almost directly behind my kitchen thermostat. There is a speaker volume control mounted in an outlet box below the thermostat. I think this box must be touching the pipe. The sheetrock just above this box is 74 - 78 degrees, depending on the weather. A few feet above or below it is cooler. A foot or so to the side the wall is 72 or 73.

My kitchen has radiant heat and in very cold weather the area near the windows is 67 when the thermostat reads 71. Now I am thinking that the thermostat is warmed by that pipe in the wall. I am thinking of moving the thermostat over to the next bay, which does not contain a pipe. Do you think this will help?

Bill Nye_2

Absolutely

Yes,move it!

jeff_51

move it

your t-stat is being lied to. If it isn't reading the proper ambeient air temp it can't work accurately.

BillW@honeywell

Your stat is being \"confused\"...

Usually, it's the stat sensing wall cavity temp, so the cure is to plug the wire hole with insulation. In your case, move the stat to an inside wall, away from any heat emitters and out of the sun. The themistors used on many of the more modern stats are extremely sensitive, and will respond to any variation in temperature very quickly.