Log in

View Full Version : Concerning Two-thermostat Home


matthew86
Nov 10, 2008, 03:35 AM
Several years ago I moved into the second floor of my aunts home which she rents as an apartment. Originally the home was only one floor but many years back her late husband added on a second floor.

Both floors have baseboard heating and it appears both are connected to the same gas furnace.

When I first moved in there were two of those old, circular, mercury-switch thermostats, one on each floor. For the most part heat worked fine on both floors. However, last year she had her kitchen and living room remodeled a bit and among the changes she had the downstairs thermostat moved and replaced with one of those newer electronic digital thermostats (I apologize I'm not very specific, I'm not very savvy with this stuff).

Since that time, the heat upstairs has not been coming on at all. At first I thought it may have just been the old thermostat up here, so I replaced it. But the heat still does not come on even when it's cranked to max.

So my question is, does it sound like when they installed the new thermostat they messed up the connection for the one upstairs? If so, how would I go about fixing it? If not, what other problems could cause the heat upstairs to not come on?

Thank you for your help :)

hvac1000
Nov 10, 2008, 04:35 AM
It could have been messed up when they made changes but more than likely they removed any control you had over the heat. Just because a thermostat is on the wall does not mean it is hooked up and working. Due to the high cost of heating it is possible your aunt wanted complete control over that expense so the easy way to do that is to disconnect your thermostat. They just left the thermostat in your area so you might not find out about the change. I am not trying to make your aunt out to be a mean person but a large home can have huge energy bills especially in the winter.

Best thing to do is ask her and if there was a mistake made during the new thermostat install have her call the company back to make corrections. Good luck.