The apartment I live in now has a hydronic heating system (baseboard heaters with copper pipes) For the past two years I've been in this apartment I've noticed the heaters are barely warm to the touch and the apartment never reaches the temp on the thermostat. On cold winter nights the apartment barely gets past 63 degrees even though the dial is set to 73.I've told this to my landlord and he just says "the walls arent insulated very well so it will probably be chilly"I looked inside the thermostat and its a 3 wire zone type system, Red, White, Green (Y). I am only getting 12.2V when i test R to GI dont get any amps when I connect R to W. There is a heat actuator dial inside the thermostat from .15A to 1.2A and it may be inproperly set, but without reading any amps I dont know what it should be at. Really my question is: how do I tell the landlord to inspect my thermostat system without telling him I went in there and checked it out already? if I say that its still too cold in the apartment he might dismiss me again, and if I tell him there's something wrong with the voltage he may have have me evicted for fucking with the thermostat.
>>2963755Just break it in an inconspicuous way. Like, connect a laptop power supply to it to fry it and say that you adjusted the temp, it made a popping sound, and it smelled burnt.
Have you tried just setting the dial much higher than you want? If it's not properly calibrated but the device works, you can still control the heat.
>>2963755Hide a remote controlled relay behind the thermostat so you can manually toggle it.
>>2963802Put it on a timer and/or use thermocouples to set limits so you don't start a fire.
>>2963755Do you pay for electricity or does he? Does he wear a funny little hat?
>>2963755Does everyone in the building have the problem? Does it get warmer if you set it to higher, like in the 80s?
>>2963950>>2963779He has said many times don’t set the thermostat higher than 75 or the heat will turn off. I noticed that when I go past 75 my thermostat it trips the little magnetic thing too.>>2963948Landlord pays for heat and water which is why I’m in a bind here as well. I pay electricity. I’ve gone two winters wearing coats inside and plugging in expensive electric oil heaters, which the cost of defeats the benefit of having free heat.When I put my hand on the baseboards in the hallways on the lower level they don’t really feel hot either. I just can’t imagine that if everyone else has the same problem as me that they wouldn’t have complained by now. (3 of the six units are occupied by women)
>>2963967Women will gladly just plug in a space heater and pay the electricity bill, anon. Thermostats are typically a works or it doesn't kind of thing. Red wire should be 24VAC (not DC). The green wire is typically a fan, but if it's on the Y, it might be being used for the AC or vent, but going from your comment he might be using it for the common. If the heat is weak even in the other areas, it really sounds like the system installed just isn't big enough for the complex or if it's an electric unit (unlikely but who knows), the elements are shot.
>>2963969Also, you could just jumper the white and red together. A thermostat is just a switch with a thermocouple as the actuator. If it heats up fine with the wires jumped, then you know the problem is the thermostat and not the boiler.
>>2963969I guess so, rent here is expensive, 1400 for 850sf, so I figured someone would’ve complained but I guess not. Right so there are 3 wires and the green one is on the Y or the 6 as it’s labeled. This is a heat only building, ac is only through wall and window unit.When I probe the R to G I only get 12v AC instead of 24When I probe R To W on amp mode I don’t read amps at all. So either my MM is fucked up or the zone valve by the boiler is.
>>2963975Forgot pic. It’s a basic white Rogers thermostat.
>>2963975The common is probably on the furnace then. You usually only see that kind of thing on battery-operated thermostats. I don't know what the green is doing if there is no AC or fan hookup. The common is usually blue and goes on the C connector. You are probably only getting 12v because it's single-phasing. Do you have trouble getting up to 73 if it's not really cold? If you get up to temp then, I'd guess you are right about the valve or the unit is too small and/or you are too far away from it.
>>2963977Looking at the wiring diagram the green goes back to the transformer. I’m on the 3rd floor and the boiler is in the basement so I’m one of the farthest reaches Am I doing something wrong? The heat anticipator is notated in amps, but I should be able to detect the amperage by jumping the red and white wires right?
>>2963979Okay i reprobed just now to be sure R - G : 12.5VACW - G : 28.3VAC
>>2963979I don't think the anticipater is going to matter if it's never getting up to temp at all. Seems like the wiring is right. If it wasn't working at all, that would be one thing. It would mean a stuck ZV relay or a bad thermostat. Really sounds like a shitty setup. The unit doesn't have the power or the pipes aren't insulated and are cooling down too much by the time it gets to you.
>>2963967>He has said many times don’t set the thermostat higher than 75 or the heat will turn offYour landlord with the funny little hat has found a neat way to save money, even if you fix his handiwork he will notice on his next utility bill.
>>2963755So from some reading that wire heats up the thermostat to make it shut off early so you want to set it to the lowest amperage so that the wire stops heating up the thermostat.>I noticed that when I go past 75 my thermostat it trips the little magnetic thing too.Your landlord installed some special jewish model, the contacts should close when you increase the setting above the current room temp.
>>2964010I’m not high IQ enough to tell which way closes the circuit or open it:I get 0 ohm resistance touching RH/W when measuring the thermostat set below 75 (magnetic switch is to the right)I get mild resistance when I set t above 75 (magnetic switch to left) Pic is how it looks when it’s set below 75
>>2964016How often does he check your apartment? Just get a replacement you can set up yourself. He'll never know. Change it back if you move.
>>2964018Good point. Can I do it while there’s still power going to the leads?Last time he ever came up here was over a year ago and wasn’t in the area where the thermostat even was. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try
>>2964026I feel like that a magnet placed next to that plastic switch could give desired results without breaking itI dont fully understand how the thermostat works th
>>2964034OP's thermostat is a bi-metallic coil with a mercury tilt switch. Super simple.
>>2964040>mercury switchanticipator, sorry.
>>2963755Ask Jeeves how to bleed air out of the loop.
>>2964040Thats so crappy... i get the basic operation, im just 95% on what goes where and how it signals the boiler/valves and whatnot. If it only switches on/off forheat or no heat, i bet a somewhat big neodymium magnet could hold that switch open all the time without breaking the houses thing.If you bleed out any amount of air you need to fill the system too... Maybe its automatic in a big system like that i dont know, i only manage my own system.Look at thiscrappy fucking mechanical timer/thermostat that was installed here when i moved in, an absolute joke today. Ezpz shunt valve motor and wireless house unit runs laps around it now.
>>2964047The last time I saw one of those was in 1995 on a weed growing operation. It worked fine, though. lmao
>>2964047Look at that thing, it's beautiful.>separate day night temperature settings>schedule for the entire week and the setting switchovers are right there in front of you>no need to go through submenus >infinite analog control, no whole degree or half degree bullshitI wish my $600 wireless thermostat was this easy to use.
Fuck with the landlord. (((He))) deserves it.
