Thermostat for only heating one room?

[fuzzybabybunny]

EDIT 2: What my roommate and I want to do is simply close off all the heating vents except the ones to his room, because he doesn't like being cold. Since the thermostat is downstairs in the living room, I'm guessing we can't do that. If we close off all the vents his room will get hot while the thermostat downstairs will constantly read a low temperature and constantly be turned on.

Any solutions so that the thermostat can get temperature information from just his room?

EDIT: If you say, have the heat set to turn on at 50 degrees, where does the thermostat get that temperature reading? One room in particular or are there thermometers in every room?

Basically we're looking for a solution that will enable us to heat just one room with our central heating and hopefully save money.

Original Message

I was going to make a thread but didn't know what the name of the thingy is. It's on the tip of my little bunny tongue.

 

[acemcmac]

THERMOSTAT

 

[dethman]

bunny with pancake on head.

 

[DeviousTrap]

That would be the earth.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Thermostat. Get one with a built in timer/clock.

 

[ballmode]

you mean word? or world?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: acemcmac
THERMOSTAT

GAH!!! *Curls up into a shameful ball of dumb.*

Ok, editing the OP to reflect the question I wanted to ask.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Remember, it's the world with the 'Blue' sky.

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: acemcmac
THERMOSTAT

GAH!!! *Curls up into a shameful ball of dumb.*

Ok, editing the OP to reflect the question I wanted to ask.

NP. If you need a new one, make sure you get a nice programmable one. There is a good thread on them if you search.

 

[mugs]

Yes, there is a built-in thermometer basically. I don't know how the new programmable ones work, but the old round ones have a coil of metal inside - one side is one type of metal and one is another type of metal that expands/contracts at a different rate. As the temperature changes, the differences in expansion/contraction causes the coil to tighten or untighten, which moves the little arrow thingy in the thermostat.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: mugs
Yes, there is a built-in thermometer basically. I don't know how the new programmable ones work, but the old round ones have a coil of metal inside - one side is one type of metal and one is another type of metal that expands/contracts at a different rate. As the temperature changes, the differences in expansion/contraction causes the coil to tighten or untighten, which moves the little arrow thingy in the thermostat.

Ahhh... I see. What my roommate and I want to do is simply close off all the heating vents except the ones to his room, because he doesn't like being cold. Since the thermostat is downstairs in the living room, I'm guessing we can't do that. If we close off all the vents his room will get hot while the thermostat downstairs will constantly read a low temperature and constantly be turned on.

Basically we're looking for a solution that will enable us to heat just one room with our central heating and hopefully save money.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: mugs
Yes, there is a built-in thermometer basically. I don't know how the new programmable ones work, but the old round ones have a coil of metal inside - one side is one type of metal and one is another type of metal that expands/contracts at a different rate. As the temperature changes, the differences in expansion/contraction causes the coil to tighten or untighten, which moves the little arrow thingy in the thermostat.

Usually, that coil will tilt a mercury switch which turns on the heat as it reaches a certain temperature. Edit-At least this is how the old style thermostats worked. I'm sure newer ones use electronic sensors.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

OP edited.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: mugs
Yes, there is a built-in thermometer basically. I don't know how the new programmable ones work, but the old round ones have a coil of metal inside - one side is one type of metal and one is another type of metal that expands/contracts at a different rate. As the temperature changes, the differences in expansion/contraction causes the coil to tighten or untighten, which moves the little arrow thingy in the thermostat.

Ahhh... I see. What my roommate and I want to do is simply close off all the heating vents except the ones to his room, because he doesn't like being cold. Since the thermostat is downstairs in the living room, I'm guessing we can't do that. If we close off all the vents his room will get hot while the thermostat downstairs will constantly read a low temperature and constantly be turned on.

Basically we're looking for a solution that will enable us to heat just one room with our central heating and hopefully save money.

Correct. What you need is a space heater. We have an electric one that looks like an old radiator that works very well (it can heat two rooms to an uncomfortably warm temperature pretty easily).

Now in terms of efficiency, I think electric heat is worse than gas heat. But in terms of price I think they are usually pretty comparable. If you already have electric heat then you should definitely benefit from using an electric space heater to heat just his room. We use an electric space heater, because we spend most of our time in the study and kitchen and we like it cold in our bedroom. It should save us money over heating the whole house (of course we'll have to turn the heat on when the temps drop farther)

 

[tw1164]

Just get an oil-filled radiator for his room. You can get them at stores for <$40.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: mugs
Yes, there is a built-in thermometer basically. I don't know how the new programmable ones work, but the old round ones have a coil of metal inside - one side is one type of metal and one is another type of metal that expands/contracts at a different rate. As the temperature changes, the differences in expansion/contraction causes the coil to tighten or untighten, which moves the little arrow thingy in the thermostat.

Ahhh... I see. What my roommate and I want to do is simply close off all the heating vents except the ones to his room, because he doesn't like being cold. Since the thermostat is downstairs in the living room, I'm guessing we can't do that. If we close off all the vents his room will get hot while the thermostat downstairs will constantly read a low temperature and constantly be turned on.

Basically we're looking for a solution that will enable us to heat just one room with our central heating and hopefully save money.

Correct. What you need is a space heater. We have an electric one that looks like an old radiator that works very well (it can heat two rooms to an uncomfortably warm temperature pretty easily).

Now in terms of efficiency, I think electric heat is worse than gas heat. But in terms of price I think they are usually pretty comparable. If you already have electric heat then you should definitely benefit from using an electric space heater to heat just his room. We use an electric space heater, because we spend most of our time in the study and kitchen and we like it cold in our bedroom. It should save us money over heating the whole house (of course we'll have to turn the heat on when the temps drop farther)

What would you recommend if we've got gas heating? Last year the heating bill was about $150 a month for our apartment. If we just use a space heater, do you think it can drop down to, uh, like $30 just to keep the pipes from freezing and $20 a month for the space heater, turned off when he's out of the room?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: tw1164
Just get an oil-filled radiator for his room. You can get them at stores for <$40.

I'll look into them. Thanks.

 

[cavingjan]

Easiest thing to do would be to install an electric base board heater in the bedroom with its own thermostat.