"Just learned an important lesson about heaters" Topic

Dead battery in the thermostat + auto-pilot light = grumpy wife & cold kid

I didn't realize the batteries in the thermostat actually provide the power for heating element in the automaticly lighting pilot light.

Never heard of that one before, and there sure as everything is no battery in our thermostat, nor have I ever seen one with one.

I guess we do things different over here.

We had exactly the same problem occur at work yesterday morning.

Trying to type in gloves was fun :-)

Modren Technology at work.
Like when you first found out the computer chip in your car goes bad.
"My CAR has a computer chip?!!"

Yup, the programmable digital ones use batteries. And they usually have a warning light that tells you when power is low. Mine is blinking now…..

The warning light on mine was blinking for a long time. I just ignored it since the heater was still working, & I thought the batteries were just for powering the LCD programming display panel. & since I'd already set up the program, I didn't need to replace them. Guess I was wrong.

A good thing to know, since I often do the easy to handle maintenance stuff here at home.

Have to go look at our thermostat.

Although, come to think, our system is all electrical. No pilot light to worry about.

Yes, the battery-operated thermostats are one of the more imbecilic modern inventions.

Usually, they don't provide battery power to the auto-pilot-light, but the battery fail mode for the unit is "open circuit", thus preventing the line power from reaching the pilot.
-Kle.

This is another example of how technology could not improve on the original item, in this case, the thermostat.

We have the old fashioned dial unit in the upstairs and it is a piece of cake to work. The downstairs has a programable thermostadt that is a royal pain in the neck.