Best Thermostat to Use?

luke456 · Apr 18, 2012

Hello all,

Just joined yesterday and I already know im going to love reading through all of your postings. So many knowledgeable people in one place. Anyways, just finished installing a 45,000 BTU Beacon/Morris heater this last weekend. Its working great but I am questioning the thermostat I put in. Its a Honeywell 1 week programmable unit from Home Depot. I was reading some reviews on it yesterday and some people commented the unit wont function below 32 degrees. I live in Wisconsin so this is a slight concern for me. If you try to switch it from off to heat it will display "low" and wont kick on the heater. Has anyone herd of this happening with Honeywell thermostats? it seems odd that it would work that way. I am wondering if i need to return this one and look for something different.

Link below if anyone needs to look at it.

Thanks for your help!

http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Materials-Heating-Venting-Cooling-Thermostats/h_d1/N-5yc1vZasjh/R-202216462/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051

Garage Flooring · Apr 18, 2012

Digital thermostats, especially those requiring a touch screen LCD should have printed tolerances on the packages. I have never had much luck in cold applications.

RKA · Apr 18, 2012

What happens if you put a warm set of batteries in it? Could be the batteries are just too cold and it seems to be battery operated only.

Another option is this...(Yes it's mine...just remembered I listed it a long time ago)...
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128092&highlight=pro+t771

It's made for garage heaters, low set point temp, however, no programming features on it.

BD1 · Apr 18, 2012

I'm old fashion. The cheap ones, used to be a Honeywell T 87. Basic round or rectangular. Some have fan on off switch. Nothing fancy. Sometimes manufacture will recommend a stat. Check info from heater.

cowboyjosh · Apr 19, 2012

Any t-stat that says Honeywell gets my vote.

luke456 · Apr 20, 2012

Thanks for your answers. The thermostat says it has temp set range between 40 and 99 degrees F. There is nothing on the package or instruction manual that says it wont function or "not call for heat" if the temp is below freezing. I'm wondering if I can find out a way to test it. I like the thermostat so I would like to keep it if I can.

luke456 · Apr 20, 2012

I may be interested in your thermostat if this one doesn't work out. Doesn't matter to me if its programmable or not.

-Luke

RKA said:
What happens if you put a warm set of batteries in it? Could be the batteries are just too cold and it seems to be battery operated only.

Another option is this...(Yes it's mine...just remembered I listed it a long time ago)...
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128092&highlight=pro+t771

It's made for garage heaters, low set point temp, however, no programming features on it.

jon1953b4 · Apr 20, 2012

"Low" should be suggesting battery life for the display feature.

I have found a T-stat that operates at 25 degrees and up.

Link-http://www.pro1iaq.com/distributor/thermostats_t771.html

Really in a garage application programmable won't benefit you unless it's to be conditioned all the time and you work in there on a schedule.

I agree with BD-1, a Honeywell T87K1007 should do the trick. It's not digital so no worry of low temperatures and no led screen to mess up with garage hands. Heat only should be a two wire application. Power and on/off command. Go out to the garage before you plan to work switch on and set desired temp setpoint.

Good luck,

Jon

tonym · Apr 21, 2012

anyone heard of the nest? its a learning thermostat
http://www.nest.com/

6768rogues · Apr 21, 2012

I have a regular old fashioned mercury thermostat that is mounted out of level so I can turn it down to 40 degrees.

WVBrady · Apr 21, 2012

6768rogues said:
I have a regular old fashioned mercury thermostat that is mounted out of level so I can turn it down to 40 degrees.

I have one also, but for a different reason. None of the ones that I looked at said that they have a "fail-safe" feature; in other words, that they would keep the house at some nominal temperature while in failure mode. Maybe it was here that I read about someone whose battery went bad and the thermostat kept the house at maximum temperature and caused a lot of damage.

RKA · Apr 21, 2012

tonym said:
anyone heard of the nest? its a learning thermostat
http://www.nest.com/

Sure, PM me if you have questions. Not really relevant to what the OP needs, so we can take the conversation elsewhere.

Stuart in MN · Apr 21, 2012

Is the question whether the thermostat will control the heater at lower temps, or if it will function at all if you've left the furnace off and the temps have dropped below freezing?

If the thermostat you have is electronic it may well not function properly at low temperatures (at the very least, the digital display may not work.)

An option would be to hook up a simple toggle switch in parallel with the thermostat, to force the heater to run - flip it on when you come in, and after the garage has warmed enough for the thermostat to work flip it off.

sarman47 · Apr 22, 2012

Hi Luke

I installed this one in my garage. It run's a Mr Heater 45,000 Big Maxx. Worked great all winter.

http://www.prothermostats.com/product.php?product=174480

Welcome to the journal.

Jeff

2drx4 · Apr 23, 2012

WVBrady said:
Maybe it was here that I read about someone whose battery went bad and the thermostat kept the house at maximum temperature and caused a lot of damage.

Most of the digital ones are meant to fail 'on' if the battery goes. Nasty surprise if it's not that cold out and your 100K BTU furnace goes nuclear. It worries me about my house, and I actually plan to revert to a non-programmable one because of it.

KCarGuy · Apr 23, 2012

I love the Digital Programmable Ones for the House.
But...In my Garage, I go with a Mechanical Honeywell.
Its a Completely different Environment. Dirty, Dusty, Spray Painting, Cold, Hot and maybe Days between use.
Mine is Simple Therostat...a "Low Temp" Garage style that can be set at 35 Degrees, if I want it on just above freezing.
A "Heat" only that has a Heat "On" and Heat "Off" switch that makes it very simple to walk in the door, hit the switch and it turns right on to the set temp.
Cost me about $18 Two years ago. Cheap and Effective.
And, best of all...No Batteries to deal with!

WVBrady · Apr 23, 2012

2drx4 said:
Most of the digital ones are meant to fail 'on' if the battery goes. Nasty surprise if it's not that cold out and your 100K BTU furnace goes nuclear. It worries me about my house, and I actually plan to revert to a non-programmable one because of it.

I have thought about getting a programmable one and putting the heating part in series with a mechanical one set at maybe 80 F. That way, it would shut off the heat at 80 F in the case of failure but work normally below that. What do you think of that? I don't know why they wouldn't all be made like that.

nwav8tor · Apr 24, 2012

WVBrady said:
I have thought about getting a programmable one and putting the heating part in series with a mechanical one set at maybe 80 F. That way, it would shut off the heat at 80 F in the case of failure but work normally below that. What do you think of that? I don't know why they wouldn't all be made like that.

Why would you have the fail-safe back up set so high? I'd assume that the only time the b/u would be needed is if you weren't there and if you're not there, why keep it so warm? If you were there, I'd think you'd tend to notice that the heater wasn't operating according to the program if the battery was dead... If your plan works, just set the b/u at the same (or 1-2 deg higher) than the programable's highest setting.

Paul

WVBrady · Apr 24, 2012

nwav8tor said:
Why would you have the fail-safe back up set so high? I'd assume that the only time the b/u would be needed is if you weren't there and if you're not there, why keep it so warm? If you were there, I'd think you'd tend to notice that the heater wasn't operating according to the program if the battery was dead... If your plan works, just set the b/u at the same (or 1-2 deg higher) than the programable's highest setting.

Paul

No reason; I was just throwing out a number that would work without any worry about tolerances. You would hope that it would never have to operate.

I take it, you have no other objection?

Charles (in GA) · Apr 24, 2012

I bought THIS model Honeywell low temp garage thermostat, and am not really impressed with it, other than it works. I ended up playing with it to establish exactly where the setting needed to be for the temp I wanted and making pencil marks on it. Pointer and temp numbers are so out of align and vague as to be useless. It does have an on/off switch however.

I replaced a White Rodgers that came with the heater, and it also had a pointer and numbers that didn't line up well, ended up making pencil marks on it too. It didn't have a on/off switch, so you have to move your setting lever to lowest setting and click it thru to the off detent. Messed up your setting every time you operated it.

Find an old round Honeywell mercury thermostat at the flea market. Best thermostat you can get.

Charles

Mr onetwo · Apr 25, 2012

I routinely use the Johnson Controls A419 series of temp controls for this application.It is available in 120V and 24V versions.It is fully adjustable for setpoint,differential,action and cold temps do not effect it at all.Also it has the advantage of using a remote sensor so you can mount the control anywhere, but put the sensor away from doors,windows,ect.I have used this control for years and it is dead reliable!Not expensive wholesale either......or online for that matter http://www.pexsupply.com/Johnson-Co...le-Stage-Digital-Temperature-Control-24v-SPDT The install manual is online if you want to check it out....this is the one to use IMHO :thumbup:

stephnsons · Oct 14, 2017

Very informative thread.

Best Thermostat to Use?

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