How to: Use a Heater With a Built-in Thermostat
When it comes to electric heaters, there are two main options for your thermostat. You can have a thermostat that's built into the heater, or you can have a wall thermostat. Sometimes lightning strikes twice and you find yourself with a built-in thermostat when you already have (or are ready to upgrade to>) a wall thermostat.
If this happens, controlling the heat in your room may get confusing. Luckily, we can walk you through what to do. Let’s get something out of the way first because it will help explain how things work later on. Thermostats control when your heater is on or off based on your desired room temperature. They do not change the amount of heat a heater puts out. Now, let's talk about what to do when you have two thermostats and one heater.
The Easy Option: Turn Your Built-in Thermostat All the Way Up
The simplest fix is to turn your heater's built-in thermostat all they way up -- and leave it there. Seriously, don't touch it. This gives the wall thermostat full control of your heater and means the built-in thermostat is no longer running the show.
How It Works:
Because you have the built-in thermostat cranked all the way up, it is always telling the heater it can be on and provide heat. This gives the wall thermostat the final say on whether the heater is turned on or off. The wall thermostat gauges the room's temperature. Once that temperature dips below what is set, the heater will do what it does best and start producing heat. As long as no one messes with the built-in thermostat, this works just fine. If you don't want to mess with wiring, this is your quick fix. If you are more comfortable working with electricity, consider a more permanent thermostat solution.
The Not-quite-As-easy Option: Uninstall the Built-in Thermostat
Built-in thermostats are easy to remove if you have a Com-Pak or Com-Pak Twin heater, but you're going to need to take the heater off the wall and cut a few wires. So if you're going to take this route, be sure that you're comfortable working with electricity.
Before you do anything else with the heater, remember to turn off the power.
It's definitely not the most complicated task in the world, but if you do something wrong, you could get seriously hurt.
From here, go ahead and refer to our handy how-to video for step-by-step instructions on how to remove the thermostat.
Step 1: Remove the two thermostat screws
Step 2: Cut the black thermostat wire
Step 3: Strip ½ inch of the wire
Buy a plug to replace the thermostat knob
Check your owner's guide for more information on working with electricity. Hopefully these solutions help you out!
If you’re looking to install Install Wall Heater With a Built-in Thermostat check out our blog post.
As always, if you need more help after reading this blog and watching the YouTube video, our tech support team is happy to assist you.
Shop our thermostats online or find a dealer near you.
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Video Transcription
0:00 Hi this is Steve with Cadet tech support
0:01 You might have purchased a heater with a
0:03 Built-in thermostat and you want to use
0:06 A wall control. Today, we're going to show
0:08 You how to use the wall thermostat with
0:10 Your built-in control on the heater.
FAQ: What do I do when I have a heater with a built-in thermostat that’s hooked up to a wall thermostat?
0:15 So there's two ways to control your heater
0:17 One would be a built-in thermostat and one
0:20 Would be a wall thermostat. We do get
0:22 Calls to Cadet with people that have
0:24 Purchased a model with the built-in
0:25 Thermostat and want to use the wall
0:27 Thermostat. So there's a couple options
0:29 Here we'd like to talk about.
Option 1: Turn the thermostat all the way up
0:34 First option we have here is to go ahead
0:37 And turn the thermostat fully clockwise
0:39 On the heater. This allows the heater to
0:40 Run at full steam and the thermostat on the
0:43 Wall will have control over the heater
0:45 However
0:46 Weird things can happen if someone comes
0:49 By and adjusts the thermostat. You might
0:51 Not get the room temperature desiring.
Option 2: Remove the built-in thermostat from the Com-Pak and Com-Pack Twin heaters
0:55 A more permanent solution is to actually
0:57 Remove the thermostat off the Com-Pack or
1:00 The Com-Pack Twin. To do this, you have to
1:02 Remove the heater with the breaker off
1:04 To take the thermostat off. We have a
1:07 Video to help you with this. However, if
1:10 You're uncomfortable with this or don't
1:12 Want to do this, have an electrician help
1:13 You. Hey and thank you for watching today.
1:19 Hopefully this was very helpful for you.
1:21 If not, give us a call if you happen. If you happen to
1:23 Notice any noises in the background
1:25 We're actually filming it Cadet and number
1:28 Of machines are operating. Have a great
1:30 Day