Thermostat FYI

[Joey]

Apparently you need to change the batteries in your thermostat once a year just like your fire/co2 detector (or more often than not very often .)

 

Ralphy the puppy woke me up early this morning and it was HOT in the house,I mean really hot (Africa hot). Came down to check out why and the thermostat had no lights/digital readings anymore and the furnace was going full blast. I turned it off but the furnace went on for some time after that. I then spent awhile figuring out how to get the cover off to find where the batteries go. Changed them and it has still not come down to room temperature in here 4 hours later.

 

 

Sooooo, what would have happened if we were on vaca?????

 

 

 

Change yer batteries people

[DRIFTER_016]

 

Sooooo, what would have happened if we were on vaca?????

 

 

 

 

 

Your pipes wouldn't freeze!!

[Fisherman]

I don't believe that one for a minute, I've had battery powered thermostats, one in the house and one in the garage, when the batteries are low, it will show it on the display. My garage model has a function that will not let it get below 4C, but not to go non stop until the garage blows up. Both thermostats are a few years old and still on the same batteries.

[Joey]

I don't believe that one for a minute, I've had battery powered thermostats, one in the house and one in the garage, when the batteries are low, it will show it on the display. My garage model has a function that will not let it get below 4C, but not to go non stop until the garage blows up. Both thermostats are a few years old and still on the same batteries.

 

Well I don't know what to tell ya, all I know is there was no "battery low" warning displayed (and I walk past it all the time and even changed the temp a degree the other day).

 

I do know it was so hot it took the breath out of me and even the floors were very warm on my feet. I've never had this happen before. The system was here when we moved in so as far as I know, it is older than 4 years, but looks fairly "new age" if that's the word you would use.

[livinisfishin]

I have read in some instructions on digital thermostats if you take the cover off of a thermostat while its in a heating cycle it can become stuck on. Maybe the batteries gave out in the middle of a cycle and left it on.

I don't believe that one for a minute, I've had battery powered thermostats, one in the house and one in the garage, when the batteries are low, it will show it on the display. My garage model has a function that will not let it get below 4C, but not to go non stop until the garage blows up. Both thermostats are a few years old and still on the same batteries.

[nofish4me]

I was having trouble figuring out how your dead batteries could cause this problem, since most T'stats are powered from the furnace 24V (battery backup). How could your furnace have power and not the 'stat.

Your 'stat is probably not hard wired to your furnace. It may be one of them damned wireless things.

It concerned me that you said you turned the furnace off and it still ran. There is a gas valve that you can close upstream of the furnace and there is a power switch somewhere that you turn off (these are gas code things).

If you do not have a wireless thermostat, you have a definite problem and your safety may be at risk.

[nofish4me]

Glad the dog woke you.

Triva, dogs will smell smoke in thier sleep and wake a person up, people will not wake up in a smoke filled room.

One reason I always keep, at least one dog in the house.

[danbouck]

Low batteries can do some weird things in a thermostat. Ours would only run for 30 seconds at a time once, sent the temp way down and it was the batteries.

[fish_fishburn]

I changed the batteries on mine last summer when the a/c wouldn't come on. The display was flashing low bat at the time.

[DanD]

Yea I have battery operated stat at the shop; it has the 24 Volt DC power switch for the gas valve relay; but the battery runs the stat’s clock, timer and presets. There’s no low battery warning function (dumb) and when the battery takes a crap, the furnace will stay in whatever mode it was in, when the battery did shut down.

Very poor system but I’m renting the building and that’s what the property manager installed and I’m not paying to up grade it.

You’re 100% right here Joey; I change all my battery operated devices batteries with the time changes, twice a year; I wouldn’t remember otherwise.

And it’s not that my memory is getting worse as I get older; there’s just more things to remember; that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Dan.

[Joey]

Yea I have battery operated stat at the shop; it has the 24 Volt DC power switch for the gas valve relay; but the battery runs the stat’s clock, timer and presets. There’s no low battery warning function (dumb) and when the battery takes a crap, the furnace will stay in whatever mode it was in, when the battery did shut down.

Very poor system but I’m renting the building and that’s what the property manager installed and I’m not paying to up grade it.

You’re 100% right here Joey; I change all my battery operated devices batteries with the time changes, twice a year; I wouldn’t remember otherwise.

And it’s not that my memory is getting worse as I get older; there’s just more things to remember; that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Dan.

 

Yup Dan, that sounds exactly right. I guess I'll just have to make a mental note to change every time the clocks change too. Always something else to remember eh, sigh!!!!

[Fisherman]

I guess I'll just have to make a mental note to change every time the clocks change too. Always something else to remember eh, sigh!!!!

Well, I'll have to eat some seagull on this one, but, can you imagine going away for a weekend. I know there's a limiter switch on the furnace, but I would sure not want to see what happens if the temperature keeps going up and up.

[motion]

Apparently you need to change the batteries in your thermostat once a year just like your fire/co2 detector (or more often than not very often .)

 

Ralphy the puppy woke me up early this morning and it was HOT in the house,I mean really hot (Africa hot). Came down to check out why and the thermostat had no lights/digital readings anymore and the furnace was going full blast. I turned it off but the furnace went on for some time after that. I then spent awhile figuring out how to get the cover off to find where the batteries go. Changed them and it has still not come down to room temperature in here 4 hours later.

 

 

Sooooo, what would have happened if we were on vaca?????

 

 

 

Change yer batteries people

 

Joey, I'd be looking to replace the tstat (thermostat) based on what has happened to you. I agree that most tstats are powered by a 24v transformer in the furnace. The battery normally is used to retain the program in programable tstats. It sounds like you have a tstat that is powered by a battery only.

 

These stats are noramlly designed to fail open causing the furnace to shutdown. Yours stuck closed. If its an older tstat I would replace it.

 

Just my $0.02 worth.

[Rattletrap2]

Joey,

You definitely have my curiosity up!! I'm thinking this can't be a Honeywell Thermostat because I have never heard of this happening with theirs. I have two thermostats that I run on batteries only. The travel trailer has a 12 volt DC system for the furnace so I use a digital programmable t'stat in there on batteries only to switch it on and off. The batteries easily last a year or so. My gas fireplace is a millivolt system and I use a second T'stat on that one that operates only on the batteries.

In most cases, the batteries are only used to back-up the program in case of a power interruption, but for the most part, they operate off the 24 volts A.C. provided by your furnace. We operate thermostats at school all the time without batteries even installed in them.

If yours failed to "heat" cycle, I guess that is better than not, but still strange.

 

Do you know the make and model of the thermostat? It should be inside the cover.