Background: Closing on a custom built home at the end of August.
House Facts:
Total Sq Ft = 3400 (1st Flr is about %60 and the 2nd flr is about %40)
Air System: (2) Amana 14 Seer; 1 for the 1st flr & 1 for the 2nd flr.

Each floor will have it's own Air/heat and it's own thermostat.

My questions is what is typically the best place to put the thermostat?

I always thought you were suppose to center it, as best as possible, in the house to ensure as consistent a temp as possible throughout the house. My builder has for some reason not done this. While checking out the house this past weekend I found that the 1st floor thermostat is about 20 feet from the front door, on the wal that is in the main/front entranceway to the house. This open area of the house has no second floor and it's where the open formal dinning area and study are. The Master BdRm & Bath are twice the distance from the thermostat then the front door is.

The second floor thermostat is in an even worse spot. It's inside the middle bedroom on the back side of the house. This makes no sense to me. It's not as far from the center of the upstairs as the thermostat on the 1st floor but it's inside one of my little girls bedroom. AT some point she's going to want to close her bdrm on occasion. How in the heck can a thermostat regulate the air correctly in that kind of setup?


I'm insisting that the builder move the thermostats or provide in writing a guarantee that the average temp throughout the hsoue will not deviate by more then 2 degress from the thermostat else come out and make the system work and if they can't then move them or pay the extra cost it will take to cool/heat the outer areas of the house.

Thoughts?

Thanks

temp throughout the house will not deviate by more then 2 degrees from

Good luck with that one.

Thermostat location is always a difficult choice. You cannot have it to close to an opening like a door to the outside because every time you open and close the door the thermostat will be activated when actually not necessary.

Usually a location somewhat close to a cold air return is good. That is because on a properly designed system the sample at the return air will be a combination of all outlets but remember we do not live in a perfect world.

If you really have to control the temperature that close I suggest you spend the $$ to have temp sensors installed in all areas then let the computer in the thermostat make a judgement call as to when to activate the system for proper comfort. See example of a company that makes a system for this purpose at the below link.

Venstar Thermostat Accessories Venstar Thermostats and Accessories - VenstarThermostats.com

Ventstar has a great system for this purpose and it is designed to work with there remote control thermostats. I also have the Comfort Call system that allows you to call on a regular phone or cell phone to adjust the temperature by remote control. I find it very useful and a great accessory for the times when I am going back home from camp. I can call the house from my truck and start the cooling process so when I arrive it is just perfect.

A single thermostat should not be able to control your temp within 2 degrees in all the rooms on the same floor. I think you are asking a bit much from your contractor. Now if you spent the extra bucks and had a Manual D and a Manual J done on your house by an HVAC engineer you could get very close to your wishes. Sorry to say that costs a bit extra and the fancy kitchen cabinets or some other item you wanted burned up any extra $$ that were left. This is the normal situation in any house weather track or custom it makes no difference more money is spent on items you can see and not the HVAC system that is hidden.

I'm emailing you directly because the last time I replied to your reply to one of my posts the thing never appeared under my original post and I want to verify that you are getting my reply backs.

Thanks so much for your answers, they have been very helpful. As far as the thermostat issue goes I figured the 2 degree value was to small ana mount to be realistic. I used it as a way to counter what I'm getting back from the builder and reale estate rep as the acceptable termprature range. I'm being told that only when the temperature change is greater then 10 degrees is the system considered to be in need of change. To me there's no way any reasonable person would say it's OK in my brand new home that my master bdrm is 10 degrees warmer (in the Summer) then the front hallway where the thermostat is located. Using that logic one would have to set the thermostat to 64 in order to get an acdcetable temoerature in the master BdRm.

Don't you think the placement of a thermostat inside an upstairs bedroom is a very dumb discission? If a thermostat is located in the true center of a house that is pretty much square (as opposed to long and thin like a Ranch style house) what is reasonable to expect in the difference of temp between the outer portions of the house and the area closest to the thermostat?

Thanks Again!
Ed C


The 10 degree thing is BS that is far too much to be considered normal.


Don't you think the placement of a thermostat inside an upstairs bedroom is a very dumb discission?

YES very dumb. Not able to sample the air for the entire area from that location.

If a thermostat is located in the true center of a house that is pretty much square (as opposed to long and thin like a Ranch style house) what is reasonable to expect in the difference of temp between the outer portions of the house and the area closest to the thermostat?

Actually there is no reasonable temp difference. I know that in my home I would be very unhappy if the temp was off over 1 degree but my situation is different. To take a stretch I would say 2 to 4 degrees is the absolute maximum. I always hate it when you go from room to room and have large temp swings. Women depending upon age are really susceptible to this if you know what I mean.

I could use the old saying that I feel your pain but all contractors are not the same and in new housing they are really not paid that well for what they do. This is a fact. If I were building a home I would always pick the contractor myself for at least the HVAC and plumbing.

If they installed dampers in the duct like they should have done then the system can be balanced a bit better that what is it now. Did they install dampers in the duct? (I am not talking about partially closing the register vents because that really never works.

Since you did not activate or allow answers to you on the PM I cannot answer you there. It is also better to post back here because other people can join in with answers and others can see what is going on with your job so they do not make those mistakes themselves.

HVAC1000 - Hopefully I've got my profile set now so there are no restrictions. I was in a rush to get my first question out when I created the acct on this board and so I did not go through and check any of the profile setup.

Thank you for following backup again. I hope this reply from myself shows up in the thread because the last time I did this it didn't (still learning the ins & outs of this forumn).

I'm relieved to hear the 10 degrees is not realistic and I am actually OK with a 2-4 degree change. I just heard back from my Real Estate agent although I sometimes wonder if she's working more for the builders benefit then mine even though the builder has their own real estate agent. I think mine is more interested in closing this out (and of course getting paid) then in looking out for my & my wife's best interest. It's either that or she is just a bad communicator and being a 10+ year experienced real estate agent I find it hard to believe she's not communicating what she intends to.

Thanks again for the reply and yes I do know what you mean about the female sensativity to temp change.

YSLGuru

I just heard back from my Real Estate agent although I sometimes wonder if she's working more for the builders benefit then mine even though the builder has their own real estate agent.

She just wants to close. As soon as it is closed you will never hear from her. LOL

The contractor wants his money. He will be less inclined to do anything for you once the he has the money.

If necessary hold 30,000.00 in escrow with your signature only release. This way he has a reason to come back.Please post all reply's here.

Thermostats need to be away from drafts, the effects of windows and radiation from windows and outside walls. Hallways work pretty well.

With some tstats, you can place a tstat in a convientient lacation, but have the sensor elsewhere. Say, tstat in kitchen and sensor in a hallway.

You can zone with motorized dampers and/or registers. You can do an ersatz zoning system when you want to "temper" an area. Have a tstat control the register, but not the furnance/AC, so if it gets too hot the register turns off. If it gets too cold the register turns off. I'm planning to do this in a laundry room.

I didn't know you could do this kind of thing. Would doing something like this allow the buyer to still move in after closing? We close the end of this month and I really have to move in after closing as I have the rest of my family coming. I can't fit them all in the 1 BdRm apt I'm currently in till the house is done. If escrowing part of the money allows me to still take possession then I'm all for it.

The loan mortgage people we are using are friend sof family members and not some bank or other financial instituion. This has allowed us to save on cost associated with this kind of thing. Since they are working for us and do not represent the builder in any way, would they be the ones to approach about escrowing money? I'm seriously considering doing this although I'm think less then $30K as that's probably too hi to pull off. A smaller amount like $10k-$15K might be more realistic. Then again I've never done this so I have no idea what is reasonable.

The house sell price is $215K (rounded up to the $1K). Would it take as much as $30K with held to ensure the builder keeps up their end or would something smaller like $10K still do the job?

Thanks for the great info and ideas!
YSLGuru

First of all you have to figure WHO is he going to sell it to if not you. Is the market so good in your area that another buyer is waiting to take your house if you do not buy it. I do not think so with the economy the way it is.

I can tell you that the more you hold the faster it will get fixed. Many years ago we used to go into homes that another company screwed up and we ended up getting paid out of the escrow. Now what happens in your case I have no idea. If it is that bad you might want to contact a lawyer OR notify the bank where your loan will be. Trust me the bank does not want to hold paper on a improperly built home. Good luck.