Need recommendations for thermostat for apartment bulding

3 story, 6 family apartment building, oil heat. Presently has an old Honeywell thermostat (old-school style with the mercury switches) located in the basement. (I know, VERY inefficient, but thats where my dad placed it) Im looking at new programmable thermostats to try to lower my heating costs this winter. Ideally Id like the control unit to be in the basement, and put wireless temperature sensors on each floor of the building in one of the apartments on each floor. Im looking at the Honeywell Prestige 2.0 which allows up to 6 wireless remote sensors to be placed. Does anyone have this particular one? Anything else I should look at? (ideally Id like a wireless system in order to not have to run wires throughout the building) Thanks! PS: recommendations for an installer would be appreciated too.

petp

in Heating 11 years and 9 months ago

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rickcanas | 11 years and 5 months ago

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After reading the replies I’m not any closer in solving my problem. Like petp I have a similar issue but I have a 3 story house with 3 apartments (one apt. per floor and a basement). We have steam radiators on all floors and the thermostat on the first floor. So of course the first floor heats up faster then the others so the heat shuts down and yada…yada… What’s my best most cost effective solution to this problem? Do you think Nest would be a great affordable solution? If anyone suggest adding a water heater/broiler per floor, don’t. That’s costly and far from where I want to be.

ditmarsman | 11 years and 9 months ago

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Steam boiler, for me “worked flawlessly” means that the thermostat took accurate readings of the temperatures and send commands down for heat when the conditions met in the thermostat were true. That is the job of the thermostat, if there are other issues like radiators not working properly, not placed correctly, boiler that needs tweaking, that is beyond the job of what the thermostat is supposed to do.

Master Plvmber | 11 years and 9 months ago

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2 questions: 1\. Hot water or steam? 2\. What’s your definition of “worked flawlessly”?

ditmarsman | 11 years and 9 months ago

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I was in the same situation as you a few years ago, 6 unit building and the thermostat was wired in 1 apartment. I wanted something wireless and back then there were not many options, Honeywell didn’t have one either, I found this one: http://www.smarthome.com/30411A/Venstar-T1800-7-Day-Programmable-Digital-Thermostat/p.aspx I put 4 sensors in 4 apartments, (I think you can add at least 6, but i figured 4 was enough), basically it averages the temp between those 4 apartments. It has worked flawlessly the past 3 heating seasons and heading into the 4th one now

Master Plvmber | 11 years and 9 months ago

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I’m a big believer in tekmar boiler controls, and I’m not a big fan of multiple indoor sensors. My experience is that in a multi-family building, giving the ability to control a heating system based on multiple internal inputs leads to a system that, while sometimes having reduced fuel use, ends up with a lot of complaints from residents. There is often no single good representative place to install an indoor temperature sensor, let alone multiple places, so you end up averaging their temperature readings or having the system react to the extremes: running the boiler based on the highest or lowest reading. Both extremes are often influenced by things like drafts, door/window openings, cooking, lighting, hot/cold pipes behind walls, increased occupancy, etc. With steam heat, the best results *always* are gained by balancing the system via proper venting and pressure settings and a good single-input controller. Steam has to function as well as it can as a stand-alone system first, then a good, well-installed, properly-programmed controller will make the whole thing sing. I disagree that a tekmar unit is too much product for a 6-family building. We’ve installed many in 1-2 family buildings with great results. Just my opinion.

ellenlourie | 11 years and 9 months ago

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To lower your bill you need way more on heating side than just replacing thermostat. But if you want thermostat go Honeywell red link thermostat with wireless sensors and internet connectivity

eman134 | 11 years and 9 months ago

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you would only run a sensor in the furthest apartment..but probably overkill

petp | 11 years and 9 months ago

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Thanks for the reply. Was looking at the Tekmar’s but i think thats overkill for my size building (my oil guy thinks so also). Besides the cost of the control unit, youd also have to run wires throughout the building for the sensors (im assuming you can place multile sensors in each apartment) and that would make it $$$.

eman134 | 11 years and 9 months ago

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the 260 is about $400 bare bones

eman134 | 11 years and 9 months ago

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Is your heat steam or hot water…either way, forget the honeywell and go for a Tekmar 279 if you have steam, or a Tekmar 260 if you have hydronic (hot water) heat…way more appropriate for a multi family situation like yours. Be aware either one is not cheap ($1000 for the bare bones unit less room sensors), but will pay you back over the long run, since they adapt the heat needed to the outdoor and indoor conditions….you can drop me a line at my email in my profile for more info