The Thermostat Wars

The house we live in dates back to 1959. As such, it has a few cool little features, like several pocket doors, a respectable-sized pantry, radiant heat in the floors, a boiler system for heat, and a genuine bomb shelter.

The bomb shelter has great acoustics.

The heating system is great if you have perpetually cold toes, because the floors themselves get warm. But it's not without a hiccup or two when you first turn things on for the season.

This year, half of our split-level got warm. The other half . . . didn't. Seventy degrees in the front half of the house. Sixty-three in the back half.

Given that our thermostats are approximately as old as Methuselah, I suspected two of them had broken. It was downright chilly. 

No problemo. I had some new thermostats that we were going to change out for the old ones. I watched a YouTube video, flipped off the appropriate breaker, and went to work. I also looped in my neighbors for help. 

Problemo. The wiring in the house didn't match up with the diagrams for the new thermostat, so we put a kibosh on things and I called first an electrician and then an HVAC company the next day. Unable to get the old thermostat back up on the wall, we left the breaker off for the night and borrowed the neighbors' space heater to keep the bedroom level from being frigid.

HVAC Company #1 comes out on a Thursday afternoon to look at my system. They tell me I have two leaks, it's problematic that my pipes aren't warming up, and I probably have a lot of air in the lines. Cost estimates: $1350 to flush the lines and get hot water back in and all the air out. $1300 to upgrade fully to digital thermostats, should I choose. $2700 to fix the two leaks, and almost $7000 to replace all four heat pumps that run my heating system. I asked about the thermostats. He suggested I just leave 'em alone if they're working. They were able to get my one thermostat back on the wall, so that was something. $99 service charge for the visit, and they emailed the estimates to me. Mind you, all of my heat pumps are running at this point. 

Friday afternoon, while things are slow at work, I placed a call to a local HVAC company. They agree to come out Tuesday afternoon to look at the system. We just have to figure out how to stay warm until then.

Friday night, when I got home from work, I turned down the thermostats on the living room level (a toasty 80) and in the basement (a sauna). I'm able to bleed the lines a bit more and get five minutes of air hissing out of one line. Within an hour, the temperature on the bedroom level is up to 70. Now three-quarters of my house is warm. I still have a problem.

Tuesday. I meet HVAC #2 tech at my house. Still have no heat on the kitchen level, but it's been really nice the last few days, so it's 68 on that level. He pokes around my boiler room, knocks on the valve releases, and more air hisses out. Lots more. He checks the power lines to my newest heat pump, the one going to the level with no heat. Well, it's functional. Finally, he actually checks the thermostat.

What do you know. It's broken. A little copper wire had frayed. He was able to repair it, but suggested I get new thermostats sooner rather than later. I'd need ones, he said, that could handle 120 volts. I should be able to find them at any hardware store.

Since I had the rest of the afternoon, I went to the hardware store, explained my need, and had four thermostats ordered before I left.

They came in on Thursday and I picked them up. Got them home, unboxed ONE, and decided it might be smart to call the 800 number to make sure I knew what to do when I tried to wire it myself.

"That model," the rep told me about the thermostats I'd bought, "is incompatible with heat pump."

Fantastic. 

She further told me I could try, which I did, but to no avail.

I called again tonight to see if I could find out exactly what model I needed.

Which, I learned, I won't be able to find out unless I also know amperage and wattage.

Which I don't know.

What I do know is this: The repair to the thermostat is stable for now. As long as we don't mess with it further, it should stay that way.

I'm going to need a pro to handle upgrading these thermostats in any way, shape, or form.

Hooray for home ownership.