ThermGuard .... Frozen Pipes

[Dix]

Mods, please move if needed. I know there was a thread a few years ago, but.... here I am, looking for knowledge again here at hearth.com

So, this was my week



Outside baseboard, froze up because the 13 in the lower level had the connecting door closed, and the T stat did not call for heat

2 zones, upper level is where the PE resides, and on it's own zone.

@begreen has recommended this, I'd appreciate some thoughts. I can't access lower level T stat ( in apartment), but have access to OB, circulator pumps, all T stat wires, etc.

http://www.bearmountaindesign.com/

 

[snaple4]

I'm in the HVAC business and am confused by this product. By quick glave they do not provide specific details of functionality.

Is this to control your water pump or your boiler? If your boiler is active then just install a thermostat that has a fan logic. What it will do is keep track of the run time and requires the unit to run a minimum amount per hour. I am sure there are specific timers at HVAC stores (look at United or Johnstone supply). I think my thermostat has min 15 min/hour for recirculation.

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[begreen]

It does an artificial trigger of the thermostat circuit on a timed basis so that the furnace or boiler runs for a set time every x minutes or x hours. All it does is bridge the thermostat circuit. Here is a discussion by owners.
zone heating - https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/anyone-using-a-thermguard-timer.150170/
bolier use - https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/thermguard-in-boiler-room.63716/

 

[Marshy]

I'm in the HVAC business and am confused by this product. By quick glave they do not provide specific details of functionality.

Is this to control your water pump or your boiler? If your boiler is active then just install a thermostat that has a fan logic. What it will do is keep track of the run time and requires the unit to run a minimum amount per hour. I am sure there are specific timers at HVAC stores (look at United or Johnstone supply). I think my thermostat has min 15 min/hour for recirculation.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

If you read the program instructions it helps understand what it does. Its basically a timing device which you can replace your thermostat with. You program it to turn on circulators or a heating systems. Instead of using a thermostat which are often limited to 50 or 60 degrees F, you can use this device to control the space at a lower temperature. You tell it to turn on the heating device at a specific time period (in intervals of 15 minutes), and for how long to run.

"It will first blink the green LED to represent the number of fifteen minute periods between calling for hot water. This time period is also known as the interval. It will then blink the red LED to represent the number of minutes that hot water will be called for. This time period is also known as the duration."

I have actually been looking for something like this as I do not want to heat my garage but have to make sure the baseboard doesn't freeze. I havent looked real hard but am not aware of a thermostat that I can get to control room temperature down to 35F. I thought about installing an aquastat that has a sensor taped to the pipe in the garage which will turn on if the pipe gets to 35F and have it reset at 40. The run of pipe to and from the zone is so long that it would likely reset before it ever triggered the boiler to fire. The ambient heat in the basement would be enough to satisfy it.

 

[snaple4]

Thank you for the description. Tonight when I get home I will be able to look more into it. For all of the hydronic systems we work with we do not use proprietary or special thermostats. We use regular thermostats and wire them accordingly.

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[dfelicia]

ThermGuard is awesome. I just installed one.

See:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/thermguard-installation-help.166662/

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/frozen-pipes.166197/

 

[Dix]

This, is what I needed to hear.

Thank you

Love this forum

 

[dfelicia]

By the way, it doesn’t replace your thermostat. All it does is count down from the last time your thermostat requested heat. If time is up before more heat is requested, it will request heat for the duration you programmed. In other words, if wood stove keeps thermostat from requesting heat, ThermGuard will do it on the programmed interval.

The thing is genius. I installed mine by the boiler so I don’t have to look at the flashing LED.

 

[Dix]

By the way, it doesn’t replace your thermostat. All it does is count down from the last time your thermostat requested heat. If time is up before more heat is requested, it will request heat for the duration you programmed. In other words, if wood stove keeps thermostat from requesting heat, ThermGuard will do it on the programmed interval.

The thing is genius. I installed mine by the boiler so I don’t have to look at the flashing LED.

I'm doing both zones at the oil burner. I'm more concerned over lower level, but .....

 

[jetsam]

So, this was my week

I thought you'd been quiet lately! How cold was the cold spell down in Icy Guch?

 

[Dix]

I thought you'd been quiet lately! How cold was the cold spell down in Icy Guch?

Need I say more??

But I will. Tomorrow we address the soaked sub floors, flooring, joists, etc

 

[jetsam]

Need I say more??

But I will. Tomorrow we address the soaked sub floors, flooring, joists, etc

Yecchh. Well, after you rip out the floor and subfloor is perfect time to install a mudded tile floor that slopes downhill to a big drain!

It occurs to me that if you ran one row of electric heated underlayment down the edge of the room underneath the baseboards, and buried the thermostat in a box with a blank plate on it, you could have a little heating system for your heating system there.