Types of thermostat

The thermostat is an important component for any heating and cooling system, as it communicates the HVAC equipment’s operating instructions to maintain comfortable room temperatures. While there’re lots of different thermostat models on the market, but we can distinguish to only a few types of thermostats. 

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF THERMOSTATS

Differentiating the types of thermostats is done by looking at the various functions and features they provide. In general,there are two different types of thermostats: line-voltage thermostats and low-voltage thermostats. Each of these thermostat types works with certain types of heating systems and they differ based on the voltage they use to operate.

Line-voltage thermostats(110-230VAC): Line-voltage thermostats are most often used to control electric resistance heating equipment. Typically, they are paired with electric baseboard heaters, underfloor heating matts, in-wall heaters, radiant heaters, and other heating units.

The line-voltage thermostat gets its name fromeither 120 volts or 240 volts. This type of thermostat essentially acts as a switch that supplies the heater with power, as electrical current flows through the unit.

Low-voltage thermostats: Low-voltage thermostats are used with central forced air heating systems such as furnaces and heat pumps, as well as central boiler heating systems. Because electrical resistance is not used to create heat in these systems, much less voltage is required versus a line-voltage thermostat. A low-voltage thermostat requires around 24 volts to run, or with alkaline battery e.g. AA*2 or AAA*2 ,which is ideal for powering system equipment like boiler, pumps, and fans which has their own power. Low-voltage thermostats do not run on the heating system’s circuit – the thermostat communicates with the heater through low-voltage signals to control operation rather than sending power to the heater to operate it.