Looking for thermostat to operate at near 32F - 0C

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Google shows some in-line 'stats which can do between 10F-100F deg.

[Attila Iskander]

That seems to pretty well cover my specs.

It will unlike some of the other suggestions do it at pretty low cost and ease of install..

Goes one my eval list

Thank you

[The Daring Dufas]

I posted a link before. ^_^

TDD

[Wes Groleau]

Like most thermostats, it is either on or off.

Swapping the two is trivial.

[nestork]

Two things:

A fridge or freezer thermostat wouldn't work because a fridge or freezer thermostat makes an electrical contact on a RISE in temperature. So, it would work backward to what you want. It would turn the heater on as the room warmed up rather than turning it on as the room cooled down.

Contrary to popular belief, you can freeze milk. I still remember watching newsreels in school that showed people buying frozen milk by the pound in Churchill, Manitoba. They would take it home, put it in a pail, let it melt and drink it.

[The Daring Dufas]

Sorry Wes, you're wrong. Thermostats have what's called a "set-point" and commercial thermostats on food service and industrial process control systems have adjustable "cut-in" and "cut-out" set-points for operation of heating or cooling. Even your digital wall thermostat for heating and cooling your home may have an adjustable span which is the temperature band where it will remain quiescent. The older traditional mechanical wall thermostats have an adjustable heat anticipator for that purpose. All control systems have hysteresis built in for them to operate properly. ^_^

TDD

[Tim Watts]

You want a "frost thermostat" - try that in Google.

[CRNG]

On Sun, 2 Dec 2012 13:58:58 -0600, " Attila Iskander" wrote in Re Looking for thermostat to operate at near 32F - 0C:

[Attila Iskander]

Had not intention of salvaging a thermostat from a fridge or freezer Nor do I intend to do anything that requires fiddling

I'm looking for and off the shelf, plug and play solution. (And a couple have already been shown)

Been there done that. I like having liquid milk when one of the kids goes down to get the next bottle So that's why I intend to keep the room above freezing

[trader4]

I just gave you my two suggestions. One was to look on Ebay for REFRIGERATOR THERMOSTATS. The temp range you want is exactly that of refrigerators. And there are a wide variety of refrigerators, from home to walk-in rooms, so I'll bet you can find an appropriate one that you can use.

The second was that if the intent was to keep things from freezing, you should set the thermostat at 37F or above, because there is likely considerable variation in temp from one spot in the room to another. How much variation depends on a number of factors that we don't know.

Another factor you didn't specify was whether the thermostat has to be 24V or line voltage.

[trader4]

OK, I see the point about refrigerator thermostats. The issue I overlooked was that they are obviously designed to close when the temp rises, which is the opposite of what is needed. Most probably can't be changed.

However, if you look at the rest of my suggestion, which was to go to Ebay and search for "refrigerator thermostat", it was spot on. Here, for example is a Honeywell refrigerator thermostat that has both NC and NO contacts that will work:

It's item 221160072188 if the above link doesn't work. Looking a few listings down, there is a pic of another thermostat that clearly has 3 terminals, suggesting it too, will support either heating or cooling.

[Stormin Mormon]

Would be nice to have some kind of fan, circulating the air within the room. That would help keep the temps even, so you don't freeze stuff at floor level.

I realize the OP only has electric to work with. I think it's a good idea to look at running in natural gas, or some other energy source. Might be cheaper in the long run.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

The second was that if the intent was to keep things from freezing, you should set the thermostat at 37F or above, because there is likely considerable variation in temp from one spot in the room to another. How much variation depends on a number of factors that we don't know.

Another factor you didn't specify was whether the thermostat has to be 24V or line voltage.

[trader4]

Look at my recent post near the top of the thread. There are refrigerator thermostats that have both sets of contacts, can be used for heating or cooling.

What exactly does that mean? You haven't specified if the thermostat you need is even 24V or 120V?

[.-.]

Here's one that fits the range that you want:

Some of the thermostats designed for home electric (baseboard) heating and which have a minimum setting of 40 degress F. will also work because they will actually hold a setting below the 40 mark. You would, however, have to mount the thermostat in a box with a cord and plug.

Tomsic

[Pete C.]

Once again the answer is

just search on thermostat and you will find plenty of choices from ordinary ones that go down to

40F, to "freeze protection" ones that go down to 14F. I see some with a range of -30F to +130F.

[EXT]

Been there, done that, back in the 1970s. Check a Honeywell catalogue and find commercial cooler thermostat with a double pole switch. When I bought mine, I got two, one was to turn on a fan to draw cold air into a cold room when it got warm, the other was to prevent the fan from turning on if it was NOT cold outside. This way the cold room was kept cold but not too cold. The ones I got had a bulb on the end of a copper tube. The one that prevented warm air from being drawn in had its bulb threaded through a hole to the outside to measure the temperature there. They were designed to control 120 or 240 volt equipment.

After all these years, I am sure that Honeywell still makes similar items, possible electronic now, but maybe still have the mechanical ones. They could be purchased through an electrical supplier or a refrigeration supplier.

[Mark Lloyd]

[Moe DeLoughan]

Take a look at this one.

Farm Innovators Thermo Cube Thermostatically Controlled Outlet by Farm Innovators Price: $12.72

Plugs into a standard 15 amp electrical outlet and turns power on automatically according to outside air temperature Saves money by using power only when temperatures require heating Two receptacles for use with more than one electrical device Turns on at 35°F, off at 45°F Ideal for home and farm applications such as pond de-icers, unheated rooms, pump houses, greenhouses, boats and RV's

[Moe DeLoughan]

Take a look at this one.

Farm Innovators Thermo Cube Thermostatically Controlled Outlet by Farm Innovators Price: $12.72

Plugs into a standard 15 amp electrical outlet and turns power on automatically according to outside air temperature Saves money by using power only when temperatures require heating Two receptacles for use with more than one electrical device Turns on at 35°F, off at 45°F Ideal for home and farm applications such as pond de-icers, unheated rooms, pump houses, greenhouses, boats and RV's

[harry]

Google "Frost stat" eg:-