How to program thermostat for more frequent cycles?

Bigpickle18 · November 22

I have a 34 year old weil mclain gas fired steam boiler, regularly maintained. The steam main is about 2 inches in and 28 feet long. Pressuretrol is set at 1.6-1.7. Cuts out at about 1.65 PSI (according to a 0-3 psi garage, this is the lowest the pressuretrol can go without the system “collapsing” and not cutting back in. I have a Honeywell thermostat RTHD6306, all settings in the installation menu are set for steam.

My house is old and needs a lot of work and remodeling. The home’s insulation is poor and does not retain heat well. I am wondering on how i can adjust the settings to get longer and more frequent cycles to keep the house warmer through the winter.

I am very well aware it’s not ideal for the system, and will result in increased fuel bills, however it’s a temporary but necessary need.

I’ve attached a picture of the installation settings, appreciate insight

Jamie Hall · November 22

Option 200 — 3

Option 205 — 12

I don't see an option for cycles per hour on that schedule. You might try Option 205 — 9 and see if that makes for more frequent cycles.

However. If you have more frequent cycles, they will be shorter, not longer, and it is quite possible that the overall heat will be more uneven from room to room.

More frequent, longer cycles will simply put more heat into your building, but at the risk of the obvious — so will simply turning up the thermostat to a higher temperature. If you want it to be warmer…

Bigpickle18 · November 22

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1821806#Comment_1821806

thanks Jamie, i’ve seen your responses on many discussions, always detailed and informative. Are there any concerns with the pressure the system is building up? From the discussions i’ve read here it seems the lower the pressure the better.

ethicalpaul · November 22

I don't understand your goal. You say you want longer and more frequent cycles, but those two things are in opposition to each other.

If you want it warmer, turn up the thermostat.

Bigpickle18 · November 22

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1821815#Comment_1821815

i apologize for confusion, i use google translate because English isn’t first language. very sorry. It’s easy to turn up the temperature but i can only do so much. So if i keep at 68, the thermostat doesn’t call from heat often. Sometimes throughout the night id need to raise to 70-72. even during the day to get heat. I want to keep thermostat at 68 all times, but want to see if the boiler can fire more often to keep that 68. While the thermostat reads 68, it doesn’t feel like 68.

i hope this makes sense

ethicalpaul · November 22

If you doubt your thermostat is accurate, then get an accurate one to compare it to.

68 doesn't feel especially warm, why do you want to feel cold? If you feel cold, increase the thermostat…it really doesn't matter what the numbers are if you feel cold.

LRCCBJ · November 22

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1821819#Comment_1821819

This statement is the opposite of what you originally stated as your desire. Therefore, Jamie's suggestion is counter to your true desire.

Set option 200 to "1"

Set option 205 to "1"

This achieves the narrowest differential that this specific thermostat will achieve. The only way to "feel warmer" is to raise the setpoint on the 'stat. You do know it is programmable and you can set it to raise the temp slightly in the middle of the night if you are uncomfortable.

Bigpickle18 · November 22

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1821824#Comment_1821824

my sincereat apologies for any confusion i have caused, thank you 🙏

LRCCBJ · November 22

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1821826#Comment_1821826

NP………we'll get over it.😁

jesmed1 · November 22

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1821821#Comment_1821821

As @ethicalpaul said, it doesn't really matter what the number on the thermostat says. What matters is feeling warm.

I will say that we have two of these Honeywell RTH6360 thermostats at church, and they don't always give you an accurate reading of the room temperature. After doing extensive troubleshooting on a furnace problem there, I found that the "anticipator" function built into these Honeywells often will "over-report" the room temperature during a heating cycle. During very long (like multi-hour) heating cycles, the Honeywell can "over-report" the room temp by as much as 2 degrees. After the heating cycle is finished and some time passes, the thermostat will eventually reach equilibrium and will then read the correct room temp. Since your heating cycles are shorter, the Honeywell won't over-report the room temp quite so badly, and the error in your case may be negligible.

But because of this weird built-in "anticipator" function that can't be adjusted, I don't use Honeywell thermostats any more if I can avoid them. For your case, as paul said, the number doesn't really matter. Just turn it up until you're comfortable.

Jamie Hall · November 22

Looks like your pressuretrol and pressure gauge are in reasonable agreement — those small gauges are none too accurate anyway. Also I like the settings on the pressuretrol. Should be good for a conventional steam system.

As I said above on cycles. If you set it to 200 = 1 and 205 =1 you will, as has been said, get short cycles and many of them. It won't raise the temperature — in fact, you may discover that it can't even hold the set temperature. You are welcome to try it, of course — but I doubt that you will be happy with the result. You are dealing with steam — which heats slowly and cools slowly.

If you want it to be warmer, as has been said — turn up the thermostat to a higher target temperature. What is magic about 68? Nothing. Some people will be happily warm at 68. Some will be cold. I'd be hot. Set it to where you are comfortable!

bburd · November 22

Sometimes a thermostat is installed on a wall that has heating pipes inside it, or the hole where the wire comes into the back of the thermostat is not sealed up and warm drafts from the basement affect the ability to sense the actual room temperature. You might check for these things.

How to program thermostat for more frequent cycles?

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