nVent NUHEAT electric floor heating systems are a safe and energy efficient way to heat your home. The soothing comfort offered by a NUHEAT system is a luxurious feeling… but is it possible to have too much of a good thing?
When I was a kid, my brother and I were always turning up the thermostat by a couple of degrees in the winter, much to the chagrin of our cost-conscious father. When Dad realized the heat had been turned up, he would turn it back down and lecture us about not running up the heating bill. “Do you have stock in the gas company?!”, he would sarcastically enquire. “Put on a sweater and leave the thermostat alone or I’m going to put a lock on it!”
My father never did put a lock on the thermostat but now that I’m responsible for balancing my own home’s comfort with energy expenditure, I can understand where he was coming from – especially since I now have kids of my own.
If you want to prevent your family members from turning up the NUHEAT system past Dad-approved levels or, if you have a rental property with a NUHEAT system and don’t want tenants going rogue, there are two ways to engage what I like to call “Dad Mode”.
These two methods of limiting the maximum temperature of your nVent NUHEAT system can be used individually or in combination. Of course, these settings can be changed by anybody with access to the thermostat; however, most users will only ever change the current set point or the scheduled set points, which can still be set at any temperature up to 40° C / 104° F no matter what the temperature limit settings described below are set to.
“Dad Mode” can be our little secret… I won’t tell if you don’t. 😉
Method #1: Change the “Floor Type” setting
By default, the maximum set point of a NUHEAT thermostat is 40° C or 104° F; however, NUHEAT thermostats also have a setting that limits in-floor temperature to ensure safe use with laminate, engineered wood or luxury vinyl floors. Once this setting is activated, the system will not get any warmer than 28° C / 82° F no matter what the set point is.
To activate this setting on a NUHEAT Signature or NUHEAT Home thermostat…
1. Click on Settings
2. Select Setup/Preferences
3. Select Floor Type
4. Select Engineered/Laminate
> The other choice, “Tile/Stone”, limits the in-floor temperature 40° C / 104° F
5. Click Save and then click Back until you get back to the home screen
NOTE: The NUHEAT Signature and Home thermostats have the ability to monitor the floor temperature and/or the ambient air temperature. The Floor Type setting requires the use of “Floor Temp.” or “Combined” modes and it will not work if the thermostat is set to “Air/Room temp” mode.
To activate this setting on a NUHEAT Element thermostat…
1. Press the Center button TWICE to access the Menu.
2. Using the Up/Down buttons, go to TILE/LAMINATE and press the Center button
3. Select LAMINATE
> The other choice, “Tile”, limits the in-floor temperature 40° C / 104° F
4. Using the Up/Down buttons, go to EXIT and press the Center button
NOTE: The NUHEAT Element thermostat has the ability to monitor the floor temperature and/or the ambient air temperature. The Floor Type setting requires the use of “Floor” or “Floor/Room” modes and it will not work if the thermostat is set to “Room” mode.
Method #2: Change the “Floor Limit” setting
The NUHEAT Signature and Home thermostats have a “Floor Limit” setting that manually defines the maximum set point. It operates similarly to the “Floor Type” setting but the upper level is completely customizable.
By default, this setting is 40° C / 104° F. To change this setting on a NUHEAT Signature or NUHEAT Home thermostat…
1. Click on Settings
2. Select Setup/Preferences
3. Select Floor Limit
4. Using the up and down arrows, choose a maximum floor temperature limit below 40° C / 104° F
5. Click Save and then click Back until you get back to the home screen
NOTE: The Floor Limit setting also requires the use of “Floor Temp.” or “Combined” modes and it will not work if the thermostat is set to “Air/Room temp” mode.
Posted by Chris Waldner, nVent NUHEAT Marketing Manager