Wireless Thermostat for heat pump?

[Soundchasm]

Our bedroom is located at the opposite end of the house from the wood stove and getting heat back there is impossible. The current thermostat is located in the same room as the stove. Quick example-- My wife actually stoked the stove when she got up and I slept in. She shut the bedroom door so she didn't wake me. That cut off the room completely. It was 40 degrees in that room when I got up!

The wireless product lines are somewhat confusing with their prodigious features (phone, internet, etc), but I think I've found a choice with the Honeywell YTH6320R1001.

Amazon link

Put the gigantic unit in the basement centrally located, and just move the thermostat to the room of interest. Guess I still need to figure out if this is 7-day programmable (currently have that). I won't mind the heat running since the stove will be a major supplement, and the other 50% of the house will be livable.

Any thoughts, concerns, or experience will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[pen]

Sounds like you only have 1 zone?

If so, when the heat pump is running to warm the bedroom, will it also be providing heat in the stove room?

I'm moving this over to the DIY room.

 

[Soundchasm]

Thanks Pen. I think I only have one zone, and that's the entire house. The heat pump will be supplying heat to the stove room, and the stove room will be supplying lots of warm air to the returns.

The idea that my wife can carry the thermostat into her office (next to the bedroom) and not freeze is very appealing. 55 degrees at 55 years old has become a little too Spartan for me.

 

[begreen]

Have you tried the fan trick, blowing air down low from the cold area back toward the stove area?

 

[Soundchasm]

I've tried it a bunch of times. The house is a one-story ranch with a basement. I'd get the basement stove room up to 80, hit the fan switch, and the IR gun reading at the BR vent was the exact same temperature. Got the upstairs stove going at the same time, hit the fan, and the IR gun reads the exact same temperature.

The house is L shaped, and the stove would be at the top of the L and the bedroom on the end of the horizontal line.

The one thing that might work FOR me is that the air handler for the heat pump is located under the bedroom and office, so the hottest air will go straight to where it's needed and the coolest air will go to the upstairs stove room.

 

[pen]

Do you have inline dampers to the hot air ducts that can be closed to the stove room area / hottest areas?

 

[begreen]

Don't go too far doing that. It can create an imbalanced system and drop static pressure to the point of harming the blower.

 

[Soundchasm]

I think the one vent in the stove room would be like a toot in a hurricane. If I never closed it, I don't think I'd notice. I wonder if it might even help by disturbing the layer of hot air at the ceiling?

The only problem with me doing something is remembering to undo it at the specified future date!

 

[fbelec]

with the amount of electricity to run the heat pump for the one room why not put in one of those oil filled electric radiators. on low it will heat a room fine. the first one up to light the stove turns on the heater just before shutting the door. i have on in my office and it was on low 24/7 it took the electric bill up 10 bucks

 

[Soundchasm]

with the amount of electricity to run the heat pump for the one room why not put in one of those oil filled electric radiators. on low it will heat a room fine. the first one up to light the stove turns on the heater just before shutting the door. i have on in my office and it was on low 24/7 it took the electric bill up 10 bucks

Thanks. I had never considered one of those. I guess that's not really resistance heating, so it's not a 2,000W hair dryer. BTW, I got one of those Killawatt meters, and blew my mind measuring how much juice different things take. The stove blower was around 75-80 watts the way I run it. The TV varied wildly by how bright a show was. The treadmill was the 110V winner if you cranked up the speed and the slope.

 

[fbelec]

they are really nice. 600 watt setting or the other switch 900 watt or both at 1500 watt. my office is 12 by 14 in a basement that would be 50 degrees if left alone and it keeps it heated very easy on the 600 watt setting. and quietly

 

[Soundchasm]

"Quietly". Isn't that the bane of this day and age? Everything seems to have a fan that whirs, chirps and screams. Or it beeps, vibrates or rings.

There are actually three bedrooms (used as exercise, office and BR) and one bath that are past where I can get any heat. If it was just one room, you'd have given me the solution. I'll still look into it.

Why did you have to make me start thinking about "quiet"?? I guess the upside of me sitting next to computing machines is that I don't notice my tinnitus!

 

[fbelec]

tinnitus
that is a subject for another time i hate it.

 

[begreen]

Yes, it has a familiar ring to it.

 

[Soundchasm]

Had an AC tech install the remote thermostat. He did a nice job and I'm glad he did it instead of me. He knows a lot more than I do.

I'm right on the cusp of my first burn, so the proof will be in the pudding soon. It's been working on the AC pretty well so far. Haven't been able to bring myself to crack open the manual and program the thing, but I've been starting to track the temps and see if it runs hot or cold.

Is it just a little bit weird that this mobile thermostat is designed to be mounted to a wall??

The gizmo below the unit is a kind of failsafe thermometer to keep the system running above freezing or below boiling in case the batteries die in the remote.

 

[Soundchasm]

Thought I'd follow up on this. I really like the remote thermostat. The habit has become (summer or winter) putting the thing in the bedroom at night, and the living room during the day. I haven't noticed even a slight issue with the stove room being "double-heated". If anything, it seems to keep the heat distributed evenly.

Maybe the real method of location is that my wife keeps it in her pocket...