Radiant Flooring Thermostat

[mzn50]

Hello..

 

Im looking to install a 2441TH wireless INSTEON thermostat.. for a Radiant Floor

another 2441TH manages my main Forced Air Electric Furnace.

 

This radiant floor looks like its low voltage.. and is on a 10A fuse.

Ive attached a pic of the current "MANUAL" Thermostat..

 

my question is that some Thermostats - Specifically Internet Thermostats(NEST) need a higher voltage to run..

 

any input on past experiences on hooking up a The 2441TH wireless INSTEON thermostat .. good or bad ?

 

thanks everyone

 

Matt

[Brian H]

Your setup is two wire. R/RC and W Heat.

Your old thermostat is a Honeywell {I recognize the back plate} and is battery operated only {No C terminal where the Not Used label is}? If you have the Honeywell Model number I can probably verify it was battery only.

 

Most electronic thermostats need the C Common Power wire to run.

Do you seen any extra wires in the cable not used right now. As there could be an unused wire you could add to the new thermostat.

 

You will also have to look at the control end and see if there is an unconnected C terminal on the controls. On the control end. Are the wires connected to terminals labeled R and W or T and T?

 

The 2441TH needs the C connection. It is labeled 24 COM in the 2441TH Quick Guide. R/RC would be the R connection and W would be W1 on the 2441TH

 

The 10A fuse does not indicate the controls voltage. Most likely 24 volts AC.

[mzn50]

Good morning Brian .. I will certainly take a look but remember batteries in the unit.. Something tells me when I popped off the front .. it still displayed the temp. .. hence batteries.

 

Thank you for the info .. I called a few companies.. looks like I maybe out of luck.. as it stands now.. I may see hooking up more wires..specifically the C wire

[apostolakisl]

This is a very simple control wire, in fact, it is the simplest. It is an open/close circuit. When you close the black/white, the unit turns on, open the circuit, it turns off.

 

If you want to run a thermostat that requires external power, you will need a third wire, and I am pretty sure the 2441th does require external power. Your black wire is probably a hot 24vac and the white wire (when the circuit to the black wire closes) is sending 24vac back to the heater to turn it on. If it is not that, then it is the opposite. Use an multimeter to check it out. What you need is a third wire to be your neutral in order to provide continuous power to the thermostat. Then you use black/3rd wire for power to the thermostat, and black to white to turn on the heater.

 

Pull that wire out of the wall and see if there aren't more conductors running with those in there.

[Brian H]

Yes you will need a C connection.

If you can safely do it. Look at the heat control end of the wire and see if there are any extra terminals on the controls and what they are labeled with.

[apostolakisl]

Typically an hvac system will have a 24vac transformer bolted inside the electrical hook-up section of the air handler. Radiant floor systems come different ways so I don't know what you have. But if you open the electrical hook-up box on your radiant floor system and find a 24vac transformer in there, you'll just need to splice off of the common wire on the 24vac side of the transformer and run that conductor to your thermostat. If the person who installed your system used thermostat wire, it will have more conductors sitting there unused inside the jacketed section. Your picture shows only 2 conductors and the jacket has been peeled off and then pushed back into the wall, so I have no way of knowing what wires you may or may not have that are unused.

 

The first step would be to touch a multimeter to the white and black wires and see if it is 24vac as is. Radiant floor systems come all kinds of ways, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of them don't follow the normal conventions.