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z-wave electric baseboard thermostat install - help needed

z-wave electric baseboard thermostat install - help needed


  #1  
Old 12-29-20, 08:24 AM
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z-wave electric baseboard thermostat install - help needed

I am having some trouble wiring up my new zwave electric baseboard thermostats.

The thermostat has two black wires and is non-polar. I already installed one of them in my older part of my home easily. I just had to wire-nut the one red wire and one blue wire in my wall gang box to the two black wires.

I have a newer part of my home which has a thermostat with a gang box with two black and two red wires. With the original thermostat the wires are connected with red on one side and black on the other.

I am not sure how to connect the new smart thermostat up with the additional wires.

I believe there are two sets of wires because this thermostat is controlling heaters in two different rooms next to each other. I have a larger family room and a small office attached to it. There is one baseboard in my family room and one in the office. Thermostat controls both.


The zwave thermostat is this one here

There are installation instructions but I am unsure how to read them for the 4-wire installation. Here is a picture of the only thing in the instructions on this.

The instructions indicate I should wire-nut two of them and not connect them to the smart thermostat. So if I am reading that correct, do I nut the two reds together and then connect the blacks tot he smart one (or visa versa)? Are electric baseboard heaters non-polar?

For the record the breaker is off on this unit, nothing is live.
 

Last edited by PJmax; 12-29-20 at 08:46 AM. Reason: added pics from links
  #2  
Old 12-29-20, 08:50 AM
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Connect the two red together.
Connect the two blacks to the stat.
 
  #3  
Old 12-29-20, 08:50 AM
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Welcome to the forums.

We can't tell how your heaters are wired. Your wiring looks like 240v line in 240v load out.
Two wires in and two wires out. That would mean if this thermostat runs two baseboard heaters.... they would be be combined at the baseboards. Also be sure to verify max wattage of heaters to not overload the thermostat.

You are using a two wire thermostat.
Wirenut the red wires together and connect the two black wires to your new thermostat.
 
  #4  
Old 12-29-20, 08:53 AM
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Thank you to both of you, I had that as my original assumption and wanted to double check first. I will give it a go!
 
  #5  
Old 01-01-21, 08:03 AM
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I could not look at this the last couple of days and went to give it a go today and have another concern before I proceed. The original thermostat it turns out is on two different circuit breakers. Am I still good to proceed with wire nuts on the two red wires and then connecting the black wires to my new thermostat? Will it be a problem it being on two different breakers? 8.5.5
 
  #6  
Old 01-01-21, 06:53 PM
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The two breakers should be tied so they both go off together or it should be a double pole breaker.
yes it is still good to wire nut the reds.
 
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Old 01-02-21, 01:20 AM
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It's ok to proceed IF the breakers are part of a 240v pair.
Are they one above the other ?
Do they both control the same heaters ?
 
  #8  
Old 01-02-21, 05:21 AM
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One of the breakers is a double 20, and the other is a single 20. Would that put the double 20 breaker at 240? I did not test which heaters the line is connected to. I just used my voltage tester at the thermostat when I was flipping the breaker. My breaker panel is not labeled so I am not sure exactly what goes where. I know both breakers have wall outlets on the same line. Is there a better way to test the heaters other than turning on the tstat and feeling for heat?
 
  #9  
Old 01-02-21, 05:40 AM
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The heater should only be connected to the double 20.
 
  #10  
Old 01-02-21, 05:42 AM
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perhaps I tested my lines incorrectly when I had the stat cover off, maybe there was a live line causing a positive read which was not tied in to my stat. I will have to give it another test later this morning. Aside from how it should be, is it possible that my heaters are occupying two different breakers such as my setup (double 20 and single 20)?8.5.5
 
  #11  
Old 01-02-21, 08:34 AM
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It is normal for heater to use a double pole breaker. They are usually 240 volts and that requires a double pole breaker.
It is not normal to use a double AND a single pole.
 

Last edited by joed; 01-02-21 at 11:09 AM.
  #12  
Old 01-02-21, 09:32 AM
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You can take the panel cover off and see where the red and black wires connect from that one cable.
 
 

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