Thermostat Placement

[BJDewar]

I live in North Carolina in a 2 story Tract home that is about 1400 sq feet. While weather and temperatures in NC are fairly moderate, it does on occasion get pretty cold in the winter (like it is now) with night time lows in the teens.

I have noticed that when it really cold like this and at night, the HVAC system (it is a natural gas furnace forced air system) will come on, the furnace ignites, heats the air for about 2-3 minutes, shuts off and then the blower runs for another 5 minutes. No sooner has the blower shut off, that the system is coming on again. Sometimes it is off no more that a minute before the cycle start all over again. At night, I keep the thermostat set at 60F. Our thermostat has been position on a exterior wall - which from all my research on the internet is the one thing consistently mentioned where you should not place a thermostat. I have provided a drawing to show the approx. configuration of our downstairs area (see attachment).

I want to move its location, but am not sure where to put it. Second, even if I find a better spot, how do I get it wire to the new spot.

One thing I have been thinking about is installing a second thermostat in the upstairs hall at the top of the stairs. On cold nights, I would completely turn off the downstairs thermostat, and then turn on the upstairs thermostat in order to regulate heating. Would this work?

I am basically looking for the most efficient and frugal way to heat my house. I do not mind turning down the heat at night (I can always add another blanket when I am sleeping.)

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer.

Brian (Mebane, NC)

[davefr]

That does seem like a bad location. Especially if there's a large hole behind the thermostat for the wiring.

My choice would be just to the left of the banister in the central part of the house and on an interior wall.

You might look at some of the high end Honeywell thermostats with wireless capability. I believe they have one model that's 100% wireless with a reciever that you install right next to the air handler. (saves having to rewire right up to the thermostat)

[crankbait]

Do you have only one hvac system for both up and down ? If you do only have one this can be a confort control problem nightmare. Barring installing another system for the upstairs, there are many good thermostats on the market that have remote sensors that be placed in different zones and that might help.