Another thermostat failure…

Due for a cold snap, I reluctantly lit the pilot on the bedroom heater yesterday.


Excellent timing, too – it got down to the low-twenties overnight, and when I woke up the bedroom temperature was … 46o? Oh, for god’s sake…

I had the same problem early last winter, and found out the problem was with a bad connection in the cheap thermostat. Not going through this again. I could clean the contacts – again – and hope for the best, or go with Plan A:


Two is one, one is none, and they’re not expensive.


And now the bedroom heater works perfectly again. 🙂

About Joel

You shouldn't ask these questions of a paranoid recluse, you know.
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6 Responses to Another thermostat failure…

  1. Jim Price says:

    Will the failed one get cleaned/fixed and become your backup?

  2. Ben says:

    If your main goal is to WAKE UP in a warm bedroom, then a programmable thermostat could save you serious bux, whilst you are lugging fewer heavy propane tanks.

  3. Anonymous says:

    You can use a dollar bill (any bill works), place the long edge between the contacts and, holding the contacts closed with a finger, drag the bill through the contacts. Cleans without abrading.

  4. Joel says:

    Will the failed one get cleaned/fixed and become your backup?

    TBD. I haven’t thrown it away yet but I’m inclined to replace it. Depends on the prices I see. I can clean the male connectors easily enough but a permanent fix for the female ones would be harder to verify – especially since it’s then going to go into storage for probably years.

  5. Mike says:

    That whole waking up and seeing your breath thing, sucks. I’m glad that you have a quick fix to this issue and that the part wasn’t outrageously expensive. 

  6. Robert says:

    Joel and The Recalcitrant Thermostats: Another Hardy Hermit Adventure!

    Recently had to replace a programmable Honeywell home thermostat. My non-professional opinion is that they are cheap in more than one sense. The up side is the replacement interfaces with the Amazing Amazon Alexa, giving its mobility-impaired user remote voice control of all the functions. A one-legged hermit might find that handy. The down side is no voice control without the internet. Not ideal.

To the stake with the heretic!