Electric baseboard heat question

Hello. I'm a new homeowner and I'm trying to unlock the secrets of my
house In my basement we have electric baseboard heaters, 240V.
Curious thing is, the thermostat that controls them is a 24V model!

I traced the wires coming from the thermostat to a box attached to the
side of my breaker panel. It's a Honeywell box, but that's all I
could tell from the outside.

I didn't want to mess with 240V too much, and I haven't had the
opportunity to cut the mains and remove the cover, but I did remove
the cover enough to see what looks like a beafy relay or contactor or
something along those lines.

So, my question is this... what is that box in all probability? Is it
really just a relay box in essence? If so, can someone point to a web
site that might fill in some of the details for me?

I'm interested in installing those fancy LCD touchscreen thermostats
everywhere, and something like this is obviously what I'll need, so
I'd like to understand how this is hooked up and what it is
(interestingly, nowhere else in the house has this, everywhere else is
standard line voltage thermostats, all electric heating throughout the
house).

Thanks all!

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 14:52:27 -0500, None wrote:

Electric baseboard heat question

Hello. I'm a new homeowner and I'm trying to unlock the secrets of my
house In my basement we have electric baseboard heaters, 240V.
Curious thing is, the thermostat that controls them is a 24V model!

I traced the wires coming from the thermostat to a box attached to the
side of my breaker panel. It's a Honeywell box, but that's all I
could tell from the outside.

I didn't want to mess with 240V too much, and I haven't had the
opportunity to cut the mains and remove the cover, but I did remove
the cover enough to see what looks like a beafy relay or contactor or
something along those lines.

So, my question is this... what is that box in all probability? Is it
really just a relay box in essence? If so, can someone point to a web
site that might fill in some of the details for me?

I'm interested in installing those fancy LCD touchscreen thermostats
everywhere, and something like this is obviously what I'll need, so
I'd like to understand how this is hooked up and what it is
(interestingly, nowhere else in the house has this, everywhere else is
standard line voltage thermostats, all electric heating throughout the
house).

Thanks all!

Yes, it's a contactor (relay) There will also be a transformer
somewhere to supply the low voltage for the thermostat and contactor;
it's probably also in the box next to the contactor.

When the tstat calls for heat, it applies the low voltage from the
transformer to the coil of the contactor. This causes the contacts of
the contactor to close, applying 240 v to the heaters.

Several reasons they might have gone this route rather than using line
voltage thermostats. If the tstat is a long way from the baseboards,
they may not have wanted to run heavy line voltage wiring the long
distance. Or perhaps the current draw of the baseboards exceeded the
rating of the tstat.

You're right that this is the setup you need if you want to add low
voltage setback thermostats to control your baseboards.

HTH,

Paul

Thanks for the info Paul! The only part I was a bit confused by...
When you said "it's probably also in the box next to the contactor.",
did you mean it's probably in the same box as the relay? In other
words, did you mean to say "it's probably also in the box next to the
breaker panel"? I don't see any transformer anywhere around it (I do
have a background in electronics, although not too much experience
with electrical wiring, but I could at least identify a transformer if
I saw it). Also, what would I ask for at Home Depot to describe this
so they know what I'm talking about? Would simply "contactor" do it?
Thanks again!

Frank

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 15:15:38 -0500, Paul Franklin
wrote:

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 14:52:27 -0500, None wrote:

Electric baseboard heat question

Hello. I'm a new homeowner and I'm trying to unlock the secrets of my
house In my basement we have electric baseboard heaters, 240V.
Curious thing is, the thermostat that controls them is a 24V model!

I traced the wires coming from the thermostat to a box attached to the
side of my breaker panel. It's a Honeywell box, but that's all I
could tell from the outside.

I didn't want to mess with 240V too much, and I haven't had the
opportunity to cut the mains and remove the cover, but I did remove
the cover enough to see what looks like a beafy relay or contactor or
something along those lines.

So, my question is this... what is that box in all probability? Is it
really just a relay box in essence? If so, can someone point to a web
site that might fill in some of the details for me?

I'm interested in installing those fancy LCD touchscreen thermostats
everywhere, and something like this is obviously what I'll need, so
I'd like to understand how this is hooked up and what it is
(interestingly, nowhere else in the house has this, everywhere else is
standard line voltage thermostats, all electric heating throughout the
house).

Thanks all!

Yes, it's a contactor (relay) There will also be a transformer
somewhere to supply the low voltage for the thermostat and contactor;
it's probably also in the box next to the contactor.

When the tstat calls for heat, it applies the low voltage from the
transformer to the coil of the contactor. This causes the contacts of
the contactor to close, applying 240 v to the heaters.

Several reasons they might have gone this route rather than using line
voltage thermostats. If the tstat is a long way from the baseboards,
they may not have wanted to run heavy line voltage wiring the long
distance. Or perhaps the current draw of the baseboards exceeded the
rating of the tstat.

You're right that this is the setup you need if you want to add low
voltage setback thermostats to control your baseboards.

HTH,

Paul

He meant its part of the same assembly. It called an electric heat or silent
relay. The transformer is built into the unit and like he said,they are
generally used when the electric heat load is greater than the capacity of a
standard line voltage thermostat, which I believe is 22 amps. With these
relays you use a standard low voltage series 80 thermostat, the most common
type out there
"None" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the info Paul! The only part I was a bit confused by...
When you said "it's probably also in the box next to the contactor.",
did you mean it's probably in the same box as the relay? In other
words, did you mean to say "it's probably also in the box next to the
breaker panel"? I don't see any transformer anywhere around it (I do
have a background in electronics, although not too much experience
with electrical wiring, but I could at least identify a transformer if
I saw it). Also, what would I ask for at Home Depot to describe this
so they know what I'm talking about? Would simply "contactor" do it?
Thanks again!

Frank

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 15:15:38 -0500, Paul Franklin
wrote:

On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 14:52:27 -0500, None wrote:

Electric baseboard heat question

Hello. I'm a new homeowner and I'm trying to unlock the secrets of my
house In my basement we have electric baseboard heaters, 240V.
Curious thing is, the thermostat that controls them is a 24V model!

I traced the wires coming from the thermostat to a box attached to the
side of my breaker panel. It's a Honeywell box, but that's all I
could tell from the outside.

I didn't want to mess with 240V too much, and I haven't had the
opportunity to cut the mains and remove the cover, but I did remove
the cover enough to see what looks like a beafy relay or contactor or
something along those lines.

So, my question is this... what is that box in all probability? Is it
really just a relay box in essence? If so, can someone point to a web
site that might fill in some of the details for me?

I'm interested in installing those fancy LCD touchscreen thermostats
everywhere, and something like this is obviously what I'll need, so
I'd like to understand how this is hooked up and what it is
(interestingly, nowhere else in the house has this, everywhere else is
standard line voltage thermostats, all electric heating throughout the
house).

Thanks all!

Yes, it's a contactor (relay) There will also be a transformer
somewhere to supply the low voltage for the thermostat and contactor;
it's probably also in the box next to the contactor.

When the tstat calls for heat, it applies the low voltage from the
transformer to the coil of the contactor. This causes the contacts of
the contactor to close, applying 240 v to the heaters.

Several reasons they might have gone this route rather than using line
voltage thermostats. If the tstat is a long way from the baseboards,
they may not have wanted to run heavy line voltage wiring the long
distance. Or perhaps the current draw of the baseboards exceeded the
rating of the tstat.

You're right that this is the setup you need if you want to add low
voltage setback thermostats to control your baseboards.

HTH,

Paul

From: None


Electric baseboard heat question

Hello. I'm a new homeowner and I'm trying to unlock the secrets of my
house In my basement we have electric baseboard heaters, 240V.
Curious thing is, the thermostat that controls them is a 24V model!

I traced the wires coming from the thermostat to a box attached to the
side of my breaker panel. It's a Honeywell box, but that's all I
could tell from the outside.

I didn't want to mess with 240V too much, and I haven't had the
opportunity to cut the mains and remove the cover, but I did remove
the cover enough to see what looks like a beafy relay or contactor or
something along those lines.

So, my question is this... what is that box in all probability? Is it
really just a relay box in essence? If so, can someone point to a web
site that might fill in some of the details for me?

I'm interested in installing those fancy LCD touchscreen thermostats
everywhere, and something like this is obviously what I'll need, so
I'd like to understand how this is hooked up and what it is
(interestingly, nowhere else in the house has this, everywhere else is
standard line voltage thermostats, all electric heating throughout the
house).

Thanks all!

That box is a relay, though in the size you have it's more commonly referred to
as a contactor.

A contactor allows a low-voltage t-stat to control multiple loads
simultaniously, or a single load which might be larger than what a normal
line-volt t-stat can handle.

Many line-volt stats are rated to only 22 amps. So if I had to control more
than that in one common area, a contactor would be the way to go.