2 stage thermostat question

[fat_chris]

I've searched and can't seem to find the answer to my specific question.

I have a Whitfield pellet stove and hot water baseboard heat. I'd like to control both with a single 2 stage thermostat using the pellet stove as stage 1 and the boiler as stage 2. Is this possible? My stove currently has a Red and White wire. Unsure what the furnace has as i haven't looked at the wires to that thermostat but i believe it is also two wires. I was looking at buying a nest thermostat and also using it to control my central air system. I also ordered a thermgard for the hot water system to keep the pipes from freezing on the colder days

 

[Arti]

No short answer for this... Sometimes the thermostat is hooked to a Zone Valve which in turn controls an Aquastat and sometimes the thermostat hooks directly to the Aquastat which controls boiler temp and a circulator pump. Other types of setups are in use however for residential these are the 2 most common types in use.

At the minimum I think you would need an isolation relay for the Pellet stove. Some pics of the boiler setup would help.
This is doable however it would be a bit of a challenge for someone without some basic training in control circuits.
Have you looked at the lyric thermostats? Sometimes the Nest doesn't interface well with non standard appliances although I have no personal experience with the Whitfield hooked to a Nest Thermostat.

 

[Former Farmer]

Does stage 1 stay active when stage 2 activates? Where does the control voltage for the existing thermostats originate? I would think that you need a thermostat that has separate dry contacts for each stage since you probably can't share the common from different power supplies.

 

[Hania]

Does stage 1 stay active when stage 2 activates? Where does the control voltage for the existing thermostats originate? I would think that you need a thermostat that has separate dry contacts for each stage since you probably can't share the common from

I've searched and can't seem to find the answer to my specific question.

I have a Whitfield pellet stove and hot water baseboard heat. I'd like to control both with a single 2 stage thermostat using the pellet stove as stage 1 and the boiler as stage 2. Is this possible? My stove currently has a Red and White wire. Unsure what the furnace has as i haven't looked at the wires to that thermostat but i believe it is also two wires. I was looking at buying a nest thermostat and also using it to control my central air system. I also ordered a thermgard for the hot water system to keep the pipes from freezing on the colder days

Two stage thermostat is might not be the best idea. Its tricky to instal since you need to install a issolation relay to separate the two low voltage circuit. The other thing is that the way a two stage thermostat work is, when the thermostat is calling for heat, depends on how much difference you have between your room and your sett temperature, the TT might going to turn on both the pellet stove and the boiler at the same time also. What i would reccomend is to hook up both units to a diferent TT. Set your stove TT a coulple of degrees higher than the boiler TT. Thats the easiest to do and this way you will have a back up incase your stove can not keep up. Nest TT is good but it requires a commen wire. Would not be my first choice.

 

[railfanron]

The way I have mine is what Hania says. Stove is set at 72 and the furnace is set at 68. Works great got 2 programmable thermostats from Menards on sale for 17 bucks a piece. I have the furnace one installed on the other end of the house from the pellet stove. Keeps the house at a more even temp and keeps Propane burn to a minimum.
Ron