Thermostat help

[Hemi-Cuda]

I live in a condo with electric baseboard heating and my original thermostat stopped working. The old thermostat uses mercury and had two wires connected to it, one red and one black. When it's off, the mercury completes the circuit between the two wires which keeps the baseboard heaters off. When the mercury moved and the circuit was broken, then the heat kicked in

I bought this thermostat to replace it as the reviews said it should work for 2 wire baseboard heaters

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00H6ARNXO

However I found that it's working in the opposite direction. When the new thermostat is off, the heat kicks in, and when I turn the temperature high enough for it to switch to Heat On, then the baseboard heat stops. This is now my second thermostat I've tried to wire in without success, does anyone have any experience with condo and/or baseboard heat in a similar setup that can recommend a thermostat that will work?

[Rubicant]

I have nothing to contribute other than to say I read the thread title with a Newfie accent.

Although that should have been termostat elp.

[Nufy]

That's confusing...

Typically the mercury completes a circuit to turn something on...

Its basically a switch.

[Ahuch]

Seems weird for an electric baseboard system, but I know with the water systems they are usually wired as "cooling" for heating. They'll have an electric actuator that is closed when energized and open when not energized, so in the event of a power failure or thermostat failure the pipes will flow and won't freeze.

[monkeyman]

wouldn't it be as simple as reversing the wire hook up?

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by monkeyman

wouldn't it be as simple as reversing the wire hook up?

Tried that, didn't make a difference, which makes sense since it's just a simple circuit. It's either open or closed

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Ahuch

Seems weird for an electric baseboard system, but I know with the water systems they are usually wired as "cooling" for heating. They'll have an electric actuator that is closed when energized and open when not energized, so in the event of a power failure or thermostat failure the pipes will flow and won't freeze.

I think that's the case, looking at the baseboards closer there's a pipe feeding into them so it's likely hot water, not just electric

[Ahuch]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

I think that's the case, looking at the baseboards closer there's a pipe feeding into them so it's likely hot water, not just electric

If that's the case it sounds to me like you bought the wrong thermostat then. You'll need one that supports cooling.

[PaperBagger'14]

Theres 2 types of thermostats, direct acting and reverse acting.

Reverse - when the temperature drops below a temperature it turns on.

Direct - when the temperature reaches a set point, it turns off.

Generally you want a reverse acting thermostat for baseboard heaters.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.w...000831172.html