Maytagbear = Polar Bear

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Final(?) followup!

Furnace has been cycling as it should for a week now.

I still think the thermostat needs to be replaced, because the swings between cycles are more than a few degrees, but I am SO grateful.

Thank you for your support and encouragement throughout this rather dismal time.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Glad you're all toasty again

It's gotten fairly chilly around here. Home is fine - the furnace is oversized for the place now with the air leaks sealed and the ceiling insulated, etc. But at work, it's quite drafty. I checked a thermometer in the shop at midday and it was 52F. We get by with wearing jackets/flannel/sweats and with radiant heaters. I bought a Presto radiant at Costco, which I put under an all-metal bench that I work on. The company got a few Soleus radiant heaters, which put out even more radiant heat (they have sealed elements which glow brighter than the Presto's more coventional exposed coil), but another guy in the shop has glommed onto them. He's quite cold-blooded. I tell him he's part lizard, lol. I got a little "Kenwood" all metal fan-forced space heater - about the size of a large shoebox on end - which goes under my metal desk and does a pretty good job of warding of the worst of the chill. I liked the Soleus so much, though, that I got one for my master bath. Feels pretty good on chilly mornings when the place hasn't really warmed up enough.

There's a big three phase electric fan forced heater in the shop, but its power plug got cannibalized for another piece of equipment and hasn't been replaced. I think part of the reason is that the owners don't want to pay for the juice it consumes... hence the proliferation of smaller 110 volt heaters of various flavors.
 
~I still think the thermostat needs to be replaced, because the swings between cycles are more than a few degrees, but I am SO grateful.

1- The classsic Honewywell Round need to be level.
2- The heat anticipator can be adjusted. Pulling the little lever down is usually "Longer" cycles, so you may need to push it up, or down. (Please make note of the orignal setting in case you need to go back to it.)

It works (during heating season) by generating a tiny bit of heat and shutting off the heater just a tad sooner. Residual heat in the system will, in theory, bring the temp up to the setting on the thermostat. There is more residual heat in systems that are full of cast iron, such a steam heating sytem, rather than forced-air system.

Conversely the heat anticipator starts the central A/C just a bit sooner. In cooler weather, this will actually cause the temp in the room to be a bit cooler than the set temp.

Thermostats are generally preferred to be of the low voltage variety in that these generally produce smaller temperature swings than line-voltage ones. A really good and well-adjusted Honeywell brand can keep variations down to 0.50*F (0.25*C).
 
If the Honeywell is like most thermostats, if you remove the cover, there should be two screws holding it to the wall. Sounds like these are loose. If it were my home, I'd carefully try to tighten them - if they seemed to be just spinning without getting any tighter, I'd suspect that the threads of the holes they are in are stripped. If it's old plaster or even newer sheetrock, then a plastic insert might be needed to create new threads. That would involve drilling out the holes and pressing in new plastic inserts. If you're not comfortable doing that then ask the landlord to fix it.

While these older manual thermostats can be accurate, they are necesarily limited because they are not automatic. I find it very easy to forget to turn the thermostat down or off at night or in the morning before I leave the house. A set-back thermostat like the Lux will handle all that for you, automatically. It's like the difference between an old wringer washer and a modern high efficiency automatic washer.
 
Any mercury-bulb 'stat must be level for accuracy to the setpoint but that shouldn't affect consistency / temp swing. Possibly the anticipator has gone bad. The OLD 'stat in the building where I worked for about 8 years (1950s!) was horrible for temp swings on both heating and cooling. It'd basically only turn on or off by manual adjustment ... or at about a 6°F differential.

Lawrence, if you're still considering a spare space heater, I understand Vornado makes an excellent (although pricey) unit with an electronic thermostat that modulates the heat output instead of shutting completely off. I've been pondering on getting one, there are no space heaters in my bathrooms, and bedrooms at both ends of the house tend to run a little cool what with the system thermostat just outside my office where two computers are typically running.
 
Glenn:

Just throttle-back (partially close) some vents in the middle of the house slightly till you reach the desired balance.

Remember to allow for movement of the sun east to west during the day, which is an ever-changing dynamic that contributes to room temps.

If you have any low-wall returns these should be open in winter. Ditto any operable return-air grilles/vents up hi that can be closed should be closed assuming there are others lower. [Obvioulsy don't close 'em all!)

:-)
 
As I understand it, a forced air system should not be balanced by the dampers at the room registers. Instead, the dampers inside the ductwork should be adjusted for best balance, and then very carefully to avoid restricting the flow too much.

If rooms at the farthest ends of the home are not getting adequate heating/cooling air, then perhaps the ductwork to those rooms needs to be bigger and/or better insulated.
 
Yes, I know all that.  ;-)

Two returns in the ceiling (Texas, cooling is priority over heating).

I think plenty air blows everywhere, enough to feel. The balancing could do with some tweaking, although it'd likely be different between summer and winter. The main problem is accumulated heat in the main living space from various sources (refrigerator, A/V equipment, computers, sun exposure in some instances) that affects the thermostat. I've found that running the blower continuously (in summertime as well) does (of course) even-up the temp to some degree (pun intended!), but I don't want to keep it running 24/7.

But that doesn't directly address the lack of supplemental in the bathrooms. And a space heater would nicely supply the required white-noise for sleeping.  :-)
 
~Instead, the dampers inside the ductwork should be adjusted for best balance.
Yes agreed, this is the ideal, but not every system has such dampers, and when exisitng, they are not always accessible.

Sorry, here we are scared to death of space heaters which cause fires left-and-right!

IIRC some of the new thermostats start the fan at regular intervals to even-out the temps (room to room) and avoid stratification (floor to ceiling variations).

Since your air is probably delivered near the celing or high on the wall, perhaps a floor grate or a low-wall return (with an operable grille to) is in order!

Businesses, even, in this area deliver air from the ceiling and have the returns up high as well. Just awful for heatign. The ceiling stays piping hot and your feet freeze, as warm air naturally rises. Even a darned ceiling fan working while heating would help.
 
...some of the better forced air heating systems in this area (that were desinged with and had central A/C right from the beginning) have vents by the floor (supply air) and returns near the ceiling.

This works well during both heating and cooling modes.

The second story of colonial (two-story) homes in new construction [in this area] tends to have air supplies and return in the ceiling with the HVAC unit in the attic/soffit. Not so awful in that the floors are heated from the level/floor/story below. Heating needs at night while sleeping are generally minimal.
 
Rich, I wish your suggestion on dampering could apply for my office/play room which is on the northeast corner in the rear of my house. The two rooms in the back of the house are the coldest, and the office room is the largest of the three bedrooms. The situation is that the forced air furnace is in a closet right next to the office room. There isn't even a "duct" between the register and the furnace, just a plenum type thing on the top of the furnace that has a hole in one side to route air out through the office register. So I couldn't ask for more airflow into that room, but the back corner where my partner's desk is located is always cold. He's threatening to get a space heater and I am fighting him due to fire hazards (he'll set it and forget it and go to another room or out shopping) and the major spike it would cause in our electric bill. Any suggestions on what we can do? Sometimes we'll run the ceiling fan to help distribute the warm air but that practice is kind of a double edged sword.
 

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