Hi all
I was hoping it was possible to have a temperature sensor for a thermostat in a room and the thermostat in a remote location. I have a hot air furnace and school groups will be in the room where the thermostat should be placed. Any help or words of wisdom (pertinate-would be great!) are greatly appreciated.
Replies
There are systems available that will do what you want, but they are usually part of an automation system and just a single station would probably not be pratical.
If you look at http://www.smarthome.com you can probably find some parts to put something like this together.
But by not just a tamper proof thermostat or tamper proof cover that can be used with almost any thermostat.
There are a few companies that make a t-stat that can use a remote sensor. This will allow you to put a sensor in the room to sense the temperature of the conditioned space, but place the actual t-stat in an office or other spot. The ones I have used in the past are made by Robertshaw, models #300-201 and #300-225. They are a little pricey, but still less than a commercial type control system. Hope this helps.
thanks I'm calling robert shaw right now!
If it's people messing with it that you are trying to protect against, you can install a locking cage.
I remember in High School all the rooms had an individual t-stat and each had a clear plastic cover over it with a lock. Im sure the lock would could easily be busted, but I dont think, well I would hope, a child wouldnt go through all that trouble just to mess with the thing..
If you are familiar with the Grainger Co. catalog, go to page 3288 for various plastic and metal guard boxes. These are a good first option - about $16 and available in different sizes depending on size of thermostat. White-Rogers also makes a thermostat and sensor combo but cost would be around $160 plus wiring.
The location where the thermostat (sensor) needs to go is visually sensitive -so the cage is out. I haven't been able to get a visual on the Robertshaw 300 series but I have found a commercial thermostat from Robertshaw that would work. It sounds similar to the one you suggested from White-Rodgers. The price is close too.
Thanks
Josh
This reminds me of a story that a guy I once worked for told me.
Years ago his dad was the GC for the construction of a restaurant; this was the third or so for the owner. His dad was unclear why the prints had called for two t-stats in one room. The owner quickly cleared up the confusion by saying actually one goes in the return air vent and the wall unit is just a dummy. So everybody on the wait staff can play with it all day and be satisfied they made the temp perfect.
Scott R.
Oh you have no idea how true that is. I used to bake/manage and we went through at least 3 covers and a couple of thermostats. If I had only known this information then we could have made everyone happy and saved lots of$$$
Josh
Earlier this year I designed a heating/cooling system for a convenience store and for each of the two rooftop units, put a remote sensor in the return and the controller in the back office. The returns are in the ceiling. Recently, got a call from the Architect telling me the system didn't work.
The system was designed for continuous air flow through the supply and return. They were operating it in a cycling mode (letting the thermostat start and stop the unit fan when there was a call for heat). I explained that the fan(s) must run constantly to work properly (and to ensure the Code ventilation was provided). They changed how they operated the system and it works great.
The moral to this story is that if you are going to use a return air sensor to control room temperature via a remote thermostat, it must "see" constant air flow to accurately control the space temperature.
Something else to consider with "school groups" in the space (or any public occupancy) is the ventilation (outside air) requirements, typically 15 cfm per person if the duration of occupancy is over 3 hours continuously, half that if less than 3 hours.