Thermostat for an electric baseboard heater

We have this unit mounted in our utility room at our weekend place in Southern VT. Located in that room is our hot water heater, well tank, washer and dryer. Most of the copper is in there as well. When it gets cold, we turn the heat on to the lowest setting and it keeps that room warm; usually the low 60’s. It uses a good amount of electricity. To keep the main livel warm, we have a direct vent propane heater.

I’d like to replace that dial with a regular ol
T-stat. We’d like the option to set things at a slightly lower temp.

Can that be done?




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Almost always can be done but usually working with line voltage to those thermostats so you would need an electrician to do it.

 

Thanks! May be better safe than sorry in this case.

 

I have found heater controls that are very accurate for use in pump houses.
The Eventherm TH5-20 has worked perfectly for over 5 years in 2 different pump house in central Wisconsin.

Thermostats & Timers - Fans, Ventilation & Controls - Farm & Livestock | QC Supply

 

Appreciate the link! Are these hard to wire up? We have another electric baseboard in the main part of the lower level. That one is hooked up to a regular wall mounted dial t-stat.

 

Before you buy a new T-Stat you need to know if the heater is wired for 120 volts or 240 volts which you can tell by either the nameplate on the heater if there is one or the breaker that is feeding the heater. A 240 volt heater would have a breaker that looks like one is on top of the other. Your best bet is to see if you can find a thermostat that has a greater temp range than what you have installed already and keep it installed on the heater itself. The Tstat isnt hard to wire, the Line side is your feed and load side goes to the heater element the most important thing is to make sure your connections are tight. If you plan to move the thermostat you should hire an electrician so you can be sure that the correct wire size and installation is up to code.

 

You bet it’s possible. The line voltage thermostats are a little pricey but not bad. I have two wall heaters on digital line voltage thermostats that are programmable with a schedule. These are in the kid’s room since when they were babies I wanted them to stay warm overnight.

easy replacements for the dial thermostats on the wall. It will be harder to add a thermostat to replace the one on your actual baseboard unit.

 

Thank you both! I just checked the unit itself and it's a 240 v heater.

Wondering....would it be easier to get get a new baseboard that designed for an external t-stat?

Thinking this job (regardless of what route we take) would be best for an electrician. That can be a challenge out there. Getting the trades out to a weekend house owned by a flatlander couple can be a frustrating experience; especially if it's not a big job. Last year, we had to call 3-4 plumbers to replace a hot water heater, well tank and whole house filter.

 

Installing a line voltage thermostat is the same as installing a light switch. With 240 volt you will have 2 hots and a ground a break in either hot will turn off the heater.

 

Onboard thermostats are an option for most electric wall heaters. All of these heaters are compatible with remote thermostats. All the line voltage thermostat does is interrupt voltage to the heater. It’s like turning the breaker on and off.

you can leave both thermostats working or you can open up the baseboard heater and bypass the onboard thermostat.

You don’t really want the remote thermostat on the wall near the baseboard strip because the rising heat will tell the thermostat that the room is hot.

 

And don't forget to build a protective shroud around that exposed PVC drain.

 

Open to some tips on that!

 

Thanks guys. So this may not be that hard. Could I just remove that existing switch and replace it with a cover plate and wire up a new t-stat?

My plan all along was to mount the t-stat on a wall adjacent to the baseboard heater. Hoping that bit of a distance would allow it to heat the space without turning itself off too soon.

 

Something like a removable three sided box? (wood) Maybe the tope would be sheet metal painted due to the proximity of the heater?

 

just turn the existing switch on the heater to max heat so it is always”on”. Or do as you say by opening the can and bypassing it entirely. You’ll need to cover the old switch hole unless you want to leave the unhooked switch visible.

here’s my wall heater with the optional thermostat hole blocked from the factory.