electrical question - heaters won't turn off

Jan 27, 2008 3 Replies
C

I have 2 heaters (baseboard type) in my basement. They seem to have a mind of their own, and turn themselves on even when the switch (or thermostat) is set to "off" or "zero".



I had a thermostat replaced by an electrician and he said the baseboard heater was indeed working. Confused, it seemed to be ok for a while, but then they magically turn themselves on and money is going out the window.



I removed a single 'breaker' from the breaker-panel that controls the heaters in the basement. I dunno if this is safe thing to do, but it turns off the baseboards and fixes the problem (temporarily).



What could be going on here?



Thanks in advance, GKD


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R

First of all, if the heat is going out the window, close the window. Second, many electric heat thermostats don't have an "off" position, so they'll maintain temperatures from about 50 degrees and above. The only way to kill them is by circuit breaker, or have the electrician find a thermostat with a positive off

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B

decide if low temperature damage such as frozen waterlines bursting is a possibility in your climate. if so you may wish to choose appropriate low range above freezing. then for comfort choose the line voltage thermostat with the closest smallest differential measured in degrees. have the electrician add a neon indicator lamp or similar to the circuit if you wish to monitor it's on/off cycling more easily. see:

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J

Sounds like you have line voltage thermostat(s). Are they (it) correctly sized for the heater? Contacts could arc/stick or sag if not and cause those kinds of problems. One fix might be to use an auxiliary relay to do the switching with a switch to its coil to shut the heater off when you need to. HTh

Joe

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