@PipeDoctor One time it was a man from India sleeping on a thin mat on the floor with baseboard radiant heat. I told him to get a bed to get off the ground and a fan to circulate the heat. The call was at 2am and I was pissed.
Five words. Elderly women on blood thinners. It could be 85 degrees in the building and they still have electric heaters running at their feet. It doesn't help that they wear no socks, and their skirt and blouse are synthetic vibers which are damn near paper thin and don't help to maintain body heat.
When I was much younger, worked at a AC company, tenant said furnace was broken after looking I found the problem- tenant didn’t think had to buy fuel oil
Well that is better than the poor women who filled the oil tank for her gas furnace. I can remember the coal shoot into the basement for the heater. good time, good time. Heat = work, I'm warm, not ccccold at all.......
Funny thing is if I set my house at 70 it is too much and I live in wisconsin lol. TBF I do live in a well insulated house though so that does help alot. I usually keep my house around 65 in the winter and a little colder at night. However this is a individual preference thing.
@@James-kg1wf Depends on where the thermostat is as well. You could have it set to 70 but then your bedroom is 60 and your living room is 72 while your kitchen is 70.
Years ago I had a problem with tenants complaining about not enough heat or air conditioning installed dummy thermostats never had a problem after that.
I spent many years as an in home technician, and I can tell you without a doubt that old people and black people were the worst when it came to home temps in the winter. I regularly saw thermostats set to 80+.
The corp. that I worked for had the heat and A/C controlled thru Richmond, VA, via probes mounted inside the building. They controlled all the bowling centers this way. For the A/C, I moved the probes up, recording a higher temp at their master control and allowing our units to provide more A/C. They never knew.
The best way to fix a problem is to learn how it works. I learned more from tenants then from mechanics on how to heat an apt. The best was the ice tray on the lock box. But put a towel below the ice tray to absorb water drip. Otherwise the wet floor is a dead give away. Now landlords think then buy there way out of this problem
Thermostats can’t fix this tenants issue only getting more heat upstairs, easier to make one loop. Pipe upstairs first then pick up basement zone with one loop. Can not twin in basement and 2 Fl on one loop, it will work but will not work well as that old Tri gauge explains. It has been the same problems for many years I’d bet , the only thing that has changed was the tenants and the landlords, but didn’t fix the problem. I would like to see a follow up video in feb when it gets cold.
I rented the same apartment where there was a boiler for which I paid, and the landlady had radiators connected in the stairwell, where the landlady kept flowers so they wouldn't freeze in winter. And that pissed me off. In another rent, another tenant's one bedroom was connected to my electricity meter and he had air conditioning there. Before you rent go to check gas and electric if the landlord do not cheat you. It doesn't matter who likes hot or cold. The Eskimo sleeps in a house made of ice and is fine. The important thing is that if you want to do business with someone and make money from it, you must provide him with conditions that he likes. Either create a separate system that he will pay for himself, or don't rent it.
Really enjoy your channel. You have a natural TV personality to go along with a strong understanding of your trade. Nice to see you coming up with solutions in difficult situations. Must be stressful coming behind so many installations lacking in proper workmanship. Watching you has helped me be a better handyman
With my Ecobee and 4 wireless sensors, I can see temperatures in 4 rooms and using the app I can use any of the 4 sensors to control the furnace…for example if I’m having guests in my family room, I can control the family room temp using the remote sensor…it also has a “follow me” so the furnace will control the temperature in any room you are in…the sensors can tell if the room is occupied or not…works great
I have had an Ecobee with remote sensors for about 10 years now. By far the best smart thermostat I've ever installed. And I've installs a lot of them. I'm not a big fan of the Nest thermostats because they're harder the program and don't make it easy to understand how it all works.
This Ecobee + remote sensor is the most elegant solution for the landlords. I bet the tenants will totally confused why the old onwall thermostats don't do anything. 😂😂😂
These crazy tenants and their heat! I walk in because they are complaining not hot enough and it feels like Dubai - they want 90s walk around on beach clothes
I keep getting call backs - I’m like you live in the basement with terrible windows and it is 19 degrees out 🤦♂️- room temp was 75- poor boiler as running nonstop - also I found out they get “help” low income for gas bill- now it makes sense- cheers
They don't care ,they do it to brake balls they stay home all day watching TV and eating when the bodies equilibrium they dell cold if they go outside for a litle while when they come back they be burning up I experience that out in my house find my self raisin thermostat to 80 go to the store and start sweating like a pig and quickly lower thermostat and strip my clothes and that's my experience
Mikey, Get yourself a cable toner. You connect the transmitter to a pair & then use the wand to locate it on the other end. of the cable. the transmitter generates a low level RF signal that is picked up with the wand. The wand outputs a tone when its near or touching the cable. That would solve a lot of the guesswork with unlabeled Thermostat cables. Low flow issue if there is a radiator valve that is restricting flow. Maybe the home was single zoned, and a valve was used to reduce the flow to some of the rooms. Would need to inspect the radiators to see if there was a radiator valve installed.
I lived in senior complexes and the law says they have to turn the heat on in September. So, on the day it was supposed to be turned on it was 89 degrees outside and I kid you not, on my floor it was 132 degrees in the hallway, but they called the state and they came and forced them to turn on the heat. They would crank it all the way up. They are crazy There have been times when I was sick and I was cold and I got it up to 90 and I had a heating blanket and I was still cold. You should never need more than 72 degrees in your house.
Double check the law there is a outside temperature also tied to the requirement. So even though september ur required to provide heat, how ever it might be when the outside temperature is below XX F. And you must maintain an indoor temperature of xxF, eg.like nyc is 68 in day and 63 over night.
My house was built in 1870 here in New England well I was getting no heat on my second floor with 2 zones. After some testing of the thermostat line from the second floor there was a dead spot somewhere in the line. I had to reroute a new thermostat line and what a project that turned into.
If that isn't a National Electric Code violation , High voltage and low voltage should never be in the same box even when using romex for the low voltage. I am not sure of the article in the code book.
You can have different voltages in the same enclosure as long as the low voltage conductors have an insulation rating equal to or greater than the highest voltage present within that enclosure...
@@REWYRED I agree the voltage is not the issue. I thought running 22 gage wires in the same conduit as line voltage would be a violation. It is hack job as is! The right move would be to abandon the 12 gage thermostat wires and run new wires or install wireless sensors.
@@waltahlgrim5508 where the brown thermostat wire enters the box with the switch would be a violation as that "LVT" is only rated to 50 volts or so.. The red and blue pair appear to be THHN or TEW something rated upwards of 120V so it would not be a violation.. Just as on an AC condenser your LVT thermostat wire enters a separate little compartment where it connects to a couple of TEW leads that are rated at 600V. That in turn goes into the side that has the 240V wiring.. No violation.... If the LVT were to enter that side of the condenser that would be a violation. I agree and would do the same, pull a new thermostat wire and one with a couple extra conductors than what you need for future.
@@REWYRED yeah, the proper(line voltage/building rated) wire should pass through that into another junction box without line voltage and splice to the low voltage wiring there. I'm guessing it was that way at one time and someone else got all fancy pants shoving it into one box. alternate, use a separator available in some plastic boxes and plastic box. but that's probably violation there in itself.
@@throttlebottle5906 Crazy thing, I dont know if you have ever seen "fire alarm / signal" aka "FAS" cable but it looks IDENTICAL to the standard LVT thermostat wire only the outer sheathing is red and its rated to 300V. You can also get it as an armoured cable. If they would of used that, and I have for thermostats myself just because we have piles of it, you could run it amongst all the line voltage wiring with no concern or code violation either.... Bit confusing maybe but.🤷♂️
Mikey pipes good info as always. I always laugh when you say condanuity it’s continuity. Just trying to make the trades great again. LOL u still the man Mikey pipes
90 percent of tenants suck period. My father in law had 2 buildings in the bronx. People were brutal. Long before all the stuff out there today. He put in sensors tied to his hom computer dos system , he was an electronic guy. People would call and he would say nope its 80 in your unit. Was the best.
What is we sent all land-scalpers to a prison colony and let them rent from each other… how long do you think all their valuable contributions to society would sustain their little economy? 😂
With Section 8, the gubmint pays everything. So theres no incentive to keep it at 68, or put plastic up. A constantly chirping smoke alarm would make this complete.
At the school where I worked we had one room with an independent AC unit. The room had multiple users, some would complain it was too cold, others too hot. I installed an old round Honeywell thermostat on the wall and told them just to set it wherever they felt comfortable. No more complaints even though it was never connected to the unit!
I might have to give you a call because the second floor of my house is getting very good heat. Now, the basement and first floor heat takes long to build up. Plus, one base board doesn’t really give off heat as well. I have an ecobee thermostat and I would like to have it installed and working because I want to controlled the temperature remotely. I am in queens.
I had another tenant accuse us of not turning the heat on and freezing his kids out. He closed his windows but has a slight gap at the top. Once I told him and the idiot closed and locked the window, the idiot had no more problems..
NEC code you cant mix low voltage (class II) with line voltage (120/240) rip the old thermostat wiring out of the conduit, run new thermostat wire to the second floor.
Yea that was scary when he opened that cover. Cringe…… Whoever did the wiring needs a different line of work, maybe counting the grains of sand in a hourglass.
Gotta give it up to the clever thermostat wiring ! Thinking that they used existing wall lights for those runs .. however an electrician nightmare ! 14 and 18 gauge don't usually mix . And as far as that second floor and basement mixed zones just put shut off valves on both sides and bleed low to high...
I cant wait to see your training wall up and running. I think that will great for many reasons. But maybe some thing crazy you have seen before you can replicate in the shop. Id be happy to come mess with it so your guys can trouble shoot lol. Cant wait to see that in action brother and God Bless you and your family and team.
Walkout basement we keep kitchen and dining rooms between 72 and 78 depending if we just came in cold or warm , 3 bedrooms and living room have doors and are cooler . 2 tanks propane a year
This is a reminder to solve basic problems first. If the pipes are not hot then fix the flow issue before doing other things. You can usually put a hand on a circ to see if it's running instead of chasing up and down the extra several times. If there's a basement tenant there should be a 3rd T-stat, other wise just valve it off. The room will never go below 50 degrees anyway.
I once saw simple solution, they put waterflow metering device designed for hot domestic water to each tenant zone. So it can be measured how much hot water tenant used for heating. Then they simple divide payment acording numbers on these metering devices. So tenants are responsible for temperature. Want more ok, pay more,... And i know there are more precise metering devices that can measure flow and temperature difference between pipes going in and out of the zone and calculate how much energy is consumed by that zone.
My go-to thought is air in the 2nd floor line which needs to be purged. Can be done by isolating the 2nd floor system, pressurizing it, and flushing out through the boiler valve.
I have a honeywell with 2 wireless room sensors on the 2nd floor, they are EXTREMELY handy to have. kinda sucks the wifi module is separate and not built into the thermostat though.
some people are always cold, most older people and skinny people, i am not skinny so i am always hot, I had a renter that kept having the heat up full blast and by the time i figured out what was going on it cost me over $2,000 in excess electric bill, I found this out when the air conditioner was on and found a space heater on full blast, i freaked out, also people need to use curtains in the winter covering windows to help keep heat in and the cold out, wear a house coat or do not walk around naked, great video and ideas you gave to solve this problem, they need to do what you said for sure because in the long run it will cost them way more money and headache .
Yep. I go through this during the switch from A/C to heat every year. The unseasonanbly warm KS weather this year has delayed that inevitable, and when the arctic blast inevitably hits, it'll be elbows and a**holes. More a**holes than elbows, unfortunately 😂
My wife would turn the thermostat up on snowy days i would come in from work theres a heat island around the house no snow in 10 ft. She said it is cold so i turned it up. It took me literally years to get her to understand how it works.
We tried ecobee sensor instead of running 6 wire so we can control heat pump /cooling. My boss thought it was a great solution but eventually we ended taking out the sensors and running a fast Stat 3000 instead. Sensors had a mind of their own and batteries wouldn't last. Also, the wifi was sometimes an issue.
I helped my friend fix a tenants toilet, and I noticed that besides the constant clogging we were fixing that you had to jiggle the handle to keep it from running. I said you should fix that it's costing you loot. He said they could just jiggle the handle. I said that's only if you give a shit . Think like a tenant brother. After we were done, I said ok lets really test it well. He said, no fuck it. If its bad they will call to complain and that Im not thinking like a landlord. Touche my friend.
The best way to avoid disputes about the temperature is to have the tenant pay their own utilities. The only fly in this ointment is that removes any incentive for the landlord to upgrade to modern equipment or properly insulate the unit. For example, there are countless “modern” apartment buildings in Chicago - the legendary “4+1” type of building. These buildings, generally built in the 50’s and early 60’s - have four floors of apartments over one floor of entry / laundry / utility / parking. Construction is in insulated concrete block .Each apartment has a single 12-ft wide single pane, aluminum frame window. To make matters worse, the heat for the entire building is controlled by a single thermostat in the secured boiler room. Apparently the theory is that if the boiler room is set at 75 all the apartments will be comfortable. This plan fails to account for heat rising (upper floors tend to be warmer), the sun striking only a few units, and the wind hitting one side of the building. This design was specifically to keep construction costs as low as possible while just meeting code.
11:47 how old is the occupant of the house? My 96 year old grandmother would *love* it at 85°. Our A/C went out in Texas one year. It got up to 85° in the house when it was well over 100° outside. The rest of us were *roasting* she was *confortable* & didn’t want it repaired. We had it repaired: we keep our heat at 73° just to keep her happy! 13:30 they’ll know because they will complain about being cold & wonder if the thermostat is working properly!
basement can be legal if they have a way out. stairs and a door to outside. But if a fire or other event happens with illegal unit in it insurance will not PAY. YUP. seen that one. it pays to follow codes and laws. Its not like your home is the biggest investment you got why do stupid pet tricks with it.
Can you recommend a link that would show how to add or jump to a “ C” wire please ? I have three zones but only one works off WiFi and that has limited control capabilities. We’re older now with some mobility issues . Be able to control all three zones remotely would be a big help. One ( WiFi thermostat also controls A/C if that’s an issue ) .
Having a zoned system in my house, I have 9 Ecobees across two HVAC systems with multiple remotes. I wouldn't trust the remote wireless sensors in that situation. You really should install something more commercial for that situation. I would add the third zone for sure, that way the basement could be set at much lower temp if no one is living down there. Keep up the good work sir! Happy New Year from DFW where I still need to run the AC as it will be almost 80F here this week! 👍💯
Stop saying condanuidy it hurts my ears. I heard it on another video and ignored it but now it has to stop. Continuity is the word and there're two "T's" in that word.
😱😱 posted 2 hours ago and we got “5,642” views 👍👏 an only 492 likes?? Come on guys/gals it’s simple easy an cost you absolutely zero nothing.. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Mikey the NYC heat regulation is from October 1 to May 31 ,atleast 68 degrees inside between 6am to 10 pm when outdoor temperature falls to 55 and below 10pm to 6am must be atleast 62 degrees indoors, .
Seems like a shady guy. The complaint was for no heat, which was confirmed as a flow issue where the heat was not flowing up to the second floor. The second floor seems like it was tapped into the basement. Therefore, in theory, it was the basement that was causing the "stealing "of heat going to the second floor. A simple installation of a check valve in that line would have caused the heated water, to not be able to backflow into the basement, and thus be forced to flow into the second floor, providing the heat. Instead, you offered an expensive way to control remotely, as opposed to locally, the "calling "for heat. I understand that many landmarks want to control the amount of heat that is provided, as a financial solution, however, humanity would dictate that you provide someone with heat. You can, tell a book by its color ...
I like the green "ground conductor" cap with open hole in the end, totally used on line voltage, then low voltage wiring entering and spliced within a line voltage box without separator, it should continue through to a separate splice box where it then connects to the low voltage wiring. that assumes it's actual line voltage building rated wiring, that's also an over filled box. 🤢🤮
I don't understand why don't people just wear Thermo underwear aka long johns in winter? Im anemic , so i easily get cold. I just bundle up. And when i get warm i just stip off a layer.
5:51 😳😱😳 I seriously hope that was wired by a Pro, b/c on quick glance, looks over filled, let alone a mess; and IMO anyone who wires like that…..DOES NOT CARE about their work OR SAFETY of PPL and equipment (imo agin). Sadly, not the worst ever seen either
Personally I like the tcc honeywell program online better than the new resideo interface old tcc is more pleasing to use and gives you better displays like 5 weather utility and over all when you use your phone app is more nice more info better look over all
5:45 Looks legit! Seems that the local building inspector would have a cow over that wiring! 🤦♂ What people do to cut corners! Just put in new thermostat wiring people, don't reuse AC wiring! You can have shared neutrals all over the place as well and be inducing line AC voltages into the low voltage stuff. What a 💩 show as some of the others would say! 🤣
I think the customer wanted to put 1st floor and basement on one zone and the 2nd floor only on another zone. Then the second floor circuit could be purged of air properly. Adding the additional valves that you suggested would probably be easier than repiping everything and would solve the air problem. Tricking the tenant with wireless gizmos is not actually fixing the problem.
Stupid to have basement tied to 2nd floor heat. Heat rises 2nd floor wld benefit from lower floors heating i lrnd tht renting saved a few bucks by renting on upper floors 😅 basement wld be smarter to be off the lower floors heat as it will run more often lol 😅
enjoyed...reminded w my ex wife always setting thermo to 75..i just went into advanced settings and 72 degrees read 75 on thermostat..
Very, very, very smart and also very sneaky 😏
@@PipeDoctorSometimes Mikey, that's all we can do because they won't listen to reason. Hehe
The number of times I have had to go on a call to an 80F house on a no heat was ridiculous.
It’s pathetic
@PipeDoctor One time it was a man from India sleeping on a thin mat on the floor with baseboard radiant heat. I told him to get a bed to get off the ground and a fan to circulate the heat. The call was at 2am and I was pissed.
@@ik7578 tell them to put their sleeping mat on a dinning room table. 🤪 possibly some religious thing though.
@@ik7578 come on. He was just being reminded of home
Five words. Elderly women on blood thinners.
It could be 85 degrees in the building and they still have electric heaters running at their feet. It doesn't help that they wear no socks, and their skirt and blouse are synthetic vibers which are damn near paper thin and don't help to maintain body heat.
When I was much younger, worked at a AC company, tenant said furnace was broken after looking I found the problem- tenant didn’t think had to buy fuel oil
Well that is better than the poor women who filled the oil tank for her gas furnace. I can remember the coal shoot into the basement for the heater. good time, good time. Heat = work, I'm warm, not ccccold at all.......
Who is SAYED
@ it was the renter, he should get free heat
i'm guessing you were trying to spell "SAID"?
@@terencemerrittI think Paul here was the Tennant. 🤭 Sorry, Paul.
85 degrees😮 I live in North Dakota and anyone trying to keep 85 degrees would be broke in a month.
They say they have no heat but shows 74 on the thermostat....lol. I keep it at 70 in the winter. Good Lord!
Seems like a case of "I'm cold" vs. "I'm hot."
Yea man the darker people don’t like the cold so 75 is cold to them
Funny thing is if I set my house at 70 it is too much and I live in wisconsin lol. TBF I do live in a well insulated house though so that does help alot. I usually keep my house around 65 in the winter and a little colder at night. However this is a individual preference thing.
@@James-kg1wf
Depends on where the thermostat is as well.
You could have it set to 70 but then your bedroom is 60 and your living room is 72 while your kitchen is 70.
Years ago I had a problem with tenants complaining about not enough heat or air conditioning installed dummy thermostats never had a problem after that.
Sounds like a nightmare. Good thing you fixed it
Dang,85 degrees? I like to be warm in the winter,but that's ridiculous.
I spent many years as an in home technician, and I can tell you without a doubt that old people and black people were the worst when it came to home temps in the winter. I regularly saw thermostats set to 80+.
As a black man and technician I agree
This is facts lol, Im black! 😂 I went to this guys house for a no heat and it was 80 degrees.
@@kobie4238
I dont get why thats a thing. Im happy in mid 60-70s. I go to my sons house and its 85 in there.. I dont know where he got that from.
The corp. that I worked for had the heat and A/C controlled thru Richmond, VA, via probes mounted inside the building. They controlled all the bowling centers this way. For the A/C, I moved the probes up, recording a higher temp at their master control and allowing our units to provide more A/C. They never knew.
😂😎🥃
There are ways.😂
The best way to fix a problem is to learn how it works. I learned more from tenants then from mechanics on how to heat an apt. The best was the ice tray on the lock box. But put a towel below the ice tray to absorb water drip. Otherwise the wet floor is a dead give away. Now landlords think then buy there way out of this problem
Thermostats can’t fix this tenants issue only getting more heat upstairs, easier to make one loop. Pipe upstairs first then pick up basement zone with one loop. Can not twin in basement and 2 Fl on one loop, it will work but will not work well as that old Tri gauge explains. It has been the same problems for many years I’d bet , the only thing that has changed was the tenants and the landlords, but didn’t fix the problem. I would like to see a follow up video in feb when it gets cold.
@@atlasfueloilinc.2421 just a wet, not dripping towel covering it will work.
Thank you for showing what quality service looks like! 🙌
I rented the same apartment where there was a boiler for which I paid, and the landlady had radiators connected in the stairwell, where the landlady kept flowers so they wouldn't freeze in winter. And that pissed me off. In another rent, another tenant's one bedroom was connected to my electricity meter and he had air conditioning there. Before you rent go to check gas and electric if the landlord do not cheat you. It doesn't matter who likes hot or cold. The Eskimo sleeps in a house made of ice and is fine. The important thing is that if you want to do business with someone and make money from it, you must provide him with conditions that he likes. Either create a separate system that he will pay for himself, or don't rent it.
Really enjoy your channel. You have a natural TV personality to go along with a strong understanding of your trade. Nice to see you coming up with solutions in difficult situations. Must be stressful coming behind so many installations lacking in proper workmanship. Watching you has helped me be a better handyman
With my Ecobee and 4 wireless sensors, I can see temperatures in 4 rooms and using the app I can use any of the 4 sensors to control the furnace…for example if I’m having guests in my family room, I can control the family room temp using the remote sensor…it also has a “follow me” so the furnace will control the temperature in any room you are in…the sensors can tell if the room is occupied or not…works great
I have had an Ecobee with remote sensors for about 10 years now.
By far the best smart thermostat I've ever installed. And I've installs a lot of them. I'm not a big fan of the Nest thermostats because they're harder the program and don't make it easy to understand how it all works.
This Ecobee + remote sensor is the most elegant solution for the landlords. I bet the tenants will totally confused why the old onwall thermostats don't do anything. 😂😂😂
These crazy tenants and their heat! I walk in because they are complaining not hot enough and it feels like Dubai - they want 90s walk around on beach clothes
A family member is Iike this. Likes it 86-90 No thank you! I prefer 67-69 giggity at my house
I keep getting call backs - I’m like you live in the basement with terrible windows and it is 19 degrees out 🤦♂️- room temp was 75- poor boiler as running nonstop - also I found out they get “help” low income for gas bill- now it makes sense- cheers
My brothers Honduran mother-in-law keeps the heat on 87 and complains about the bill. He said her boiler basically runs non stop
If They had to pay for the heat. It would be fine at 70 😂
They don't care ,they do it to brake balls they stay home all day watching TV and eating when the bodies equilibrium they dell cold if they go outside for a litle while when they come back they be burning up I experience that out in my house find my self raisin thermostat to 80 go to the store and start sweating like a pig and quickly lower thermostat and strip my clothes and that's my experience
Mikey, Get yourself a cable toner. You connect the transmitter to a pair & then use the wand to locate it on the other end. of the cable. the transmitter generates a low level RF signal that is picked up with the wand. The wand outputs a tone when its near or touching the cable. That would solve a lot of the guesswork with unlabeled Thermostat cables.
Low flow issue if there is a radiator valve that is restricting flow. Maybe the home was single zoned, and a valve was used to reduce the flow to some of the rooms. Would need to inspect the radiators to see if there was a radiator valve installed.
That is a really good idea.
@@PipeDoctor Klein ET450 is a nice one. I've been able to trace copper pipes in-slab with it. Very happy with it
@@PipeDoctor X3 on the tone generator. They're even more appreciated when you have bad knees and need to run up and down stairs several times. LOL!
I have an ecobee. My remote sensor fell off the table and caused my house to overheat.
Love a tone set, especially when you're taking over someone else's wiring job. Makes cable identification easy.
Mike is a true professional - you make plumbing look so easy!
I lived in senior complexes and the law says they have to turn the heat on in September.
So, on the day it was supposed to be turned on it was 89 degrees outside and I kid you not, on my floor it was 132 degrees in the hallway, but they called the state and they came and forced them to turn on the heat.
They would crank it all the way up.
They are crazy
There have been times when I was sick and I was cold and I got it up to 90 and I had a heating blanket and I was still cold.
You should never need more than 72 degrees in your house.
And that’s why some laws make no sense
Double check the law there is a outside temperature also tied to the requirement. So even though september ur required to provide heat, how ever it might be when the outside temperature is below XX F. And you must maintain an indoor temperature of xxF, eg.like nyc is 68 in day and 63 over night.
as you said. if customer is COLD because of being sick (Flu etc) they will never be/feel warm.
My house was built in 1870 here in New England well I was getting no heat on my second floor with 2 zones. After some testing of the thermostat line from the second floor there was a dead spot somewhere in the line. I had to reroute a new thermostat line and what a project that turned into.
You’re not the only one to have that problem. It’s a nightmare.
If that isn't a National Electric Code violation , High voltage and low voltage should never be in the same box even when using romex for the low voltage. I am not sure of the article in the code book.
You can have different voltages in the same enclosure as long as the low voltage conductors have an insulation rating equal to or greater than the highest voltage present within that enclosure...
@@REWYRED I agree the voltage is not the issue. I thought running 22 gage wires in the same conduit as line voltage would be a violation. It is hack job as is! The right move would be to abandon the 12 gage thermostat wires and run new wires or install wireless sensors.
@@waltahlgrim5508 where the brown thermostat wire enters the box with the switch would be a violation as that "LVT" is only rated to 50 volts or so..
The red and blue pair appear to be THHN or TEW something rated upwards of 120V so it would not be a violation..
Just as on an AC condenser your LVT thermostat wire enters a separate little compartment where it connects to a couple of TEW leads that are rated at 600V. That in turn goes into the side that has the 240V wiring.. No violation.... If the LVT were to enter that side of the condenser that would be a violation.
I agree and would do the same, pull a new thermostat wire and one with a couple extra conductors than what you need for future.
@@REWYRED yeah, the proper(line voltage/building rated) wire should pass through that into another junction box without line voltage and splice to the low voltage wiring there.
I'm guessing it was that way at one time and someone else got all fancy pants shoving it into one box.
alternate, use a separator available in some plastic boxes and plastic box. but that's probably violation there in itself.
@@throttlebottle5906 Crazy thing, I dont know if you have ever seen "fire alarm / signal" aka "FAS" cable but it looks IDENTICAL to the standard LVT thermostat wire only the outer sheathing is red and its rated to 300V. You can also get it as an armoured cable.
If they would of used that, and I have for thermostats myself just because we have piles of it, you could run it amongst all the line voltage wiring with no concern or code violation either.... Bit confusing maybe but.🤷♂️
I put ball valves on all of my return lines so I could change the pressures and flow going to different loops.
Pipe Doctor saved the day again! Highly recommend their services 💪🚿
Mikey pipes good info as always. I always laugh when you say condanuity it’s continuity. Just trying to make the trades great again. LOL u still the man Mikey pipes
Love your wiring skills ! Spotting other issues very important also, cuz u care ! Good stuff !
90 percent of tenants suck period. My father in law had 2 buildings in the bronx. People were brutal. Long before all the stuff out there today. He put in sensors tied to his hom computer dos system , he was an electronic guy. People would call and he would say nope its 80 in your unit. Was the best.
What is we sent all land-scalpers to a prison colony and let them rent from each other… how long do you think all their valuable contributions to society would sustain their little economy? 😂
nice diagnostic work and alternative solutions, another well done Mikey Pipes video
I have no idea what I just watched 😂
Sell him a third zone for the basement an you are done
With Section 8, the gubmint pays everything. So theres no incentive to keep it at 68, or put plastic up. A constantly chirping smoke alarm would make this complete.
At the school where I worked we had one room with an independent AC unit. The room had multiple users, some would complain it was too cold, others too hot. I installed an old round Honeywell thermostat on the wall and told them just to set it wherever they felt comfortable. No more complaints even though it was never connected to the unit!
great video Mike, as usual👍 you explain everything perfectly
I'm glad you find the videos helpful.
Should not the wires be labeled to where they go around the house to the fuse/breakout box?
Very neat existing mix of low voltage and line wires. 😂
I know, right?
I might have to give you a call because the second floor of my house is getting very good heat. Now, the basement and first floor heat takes long to build up. Plus, one base board doesn’t really give off heat as well.
I have an ecobee thermostat and I would like to have it installed and working because I want to controlled the temperature remotely. I am in queens.
I had another tenant accuse us of not turning the heat on and freezing his kids out. He closed his windows but has a slight gap at the top. Once I told him and the idiot closed and locked the window, the idiot had no more problems..
GREAT WORK LOVE YOUR WORK
I'm glad you're enjoying the content!
Remote thermostat is a great idea but the tenant will just put on an electric heater and risk a fire.
NEC code you cant mix low voltage (class II) with line voltage (120/240)
rip the old thermostat wiring out of the conduit, run new thermostat wire to the second floor.
TELL THAT TO THE PLUMBER AND/OR ELECTRICIAN WHO INSTALLED THIS MESS
Yea that was scary when he opened that cover. Cringe…… Whoever did the wiring needs a different line of work, maybe counting the grains of sand in a hourglass.
Free game!, love how you are willing to educate
Gotta give it up to the clever thermostat wiring ! Thinking that they used existing wall lights for those runs .. however an electrician nightmare ! 14 and 18 gauge don't usually mix . And as far as that second floor and basement mixed zones just put shut off valves on both sides and bleed low to high...
I cant wait to see your training wall up and running. I think that will great for many reasons. But maybe some thing crazy you have seen before you can replicate in the shop. Id be happy to come mess with it so your guys can trouble shoot lol. Cant wait to see that in action brother and God Bless you and your family and team.
Thanks for the encouragement!
Walkout basement we keep kitchen and dining rooms between 72 and 78 depending if we just came in cold or warm , 3 bedrooms and living room have doors and are cooler .
2 tanks propane a year
This is a reminder to solve basic problems first. If the pipes are not hot then fix the flow issue before doing other things. You can usually put a hand on a circ to see if it's running instead of chasing up and down the extra several times. If there's a basement tenant there should be a 3rd T-stat, other wise just valve it off. The room will never go below 50 degrees anyway.
I once saw simple solution, they put waterflow metering device designed for hot domestic water to each tenant zone. So it can be measured how much hot water tenant used for heating. Then they simple divide payment acording numbers on these metering devices. So tenants are responsible for temperature. Want more ok, pay more,... And i know there are more precise metering devices that can measure flow and temperature difference between pipes going in and out of the zone and calculate how much energy is consumed by that zone.
My go-to thought is air in the 2nd floor line which needs to be purged. Can be done by isolating the 2nd floor system, pressurizing it, and flushing out through the boiler valve.
I have a honeywell with 2 wireless room sensors on the 2nd floor, they are EXTREMELY handy to have. kinda sucks the wifi module is separate and not built into the thermostat though.
some people are always cold, most older people and skinny people, i am not skinny so i am always hot, I had a renter that kept having the heat up full blast and by the time i figured out what was going on it cost me over $2,000 in excess electric bill, I found this out when the air conditioner was on and found a space heater on full blast, i freaked out, also people need to use curtains in the winter covering windows to help keep heat in and the cold out, wear a house coat or do not walk around naked, great video and ideas you gave to solve this problem, they need to do what you said for sure because in the long run it will cost them way more money and headache .
Yep. I go through this during the switch from A/C to heat every year. The unseasonanbly warm KS weather this year has delayed that inevitable, and when the arctic blast inevitably hits, it'll be elbows and a**holes. More a**holes than elbows, unfortunately 😂
What the hell is condanuity?
mispronunciation.
My tenant buys their oil añd in the lease temp is not to go under 60 in winter and I dont cate how hot they set it.😊
My wife would turn the thermostat up on snowy days i would come in from work theres a heat island around the house no snow in 10 ft. She said it is cold so i turned it up. It took me literally years to get her to understand how it works.
We tried ecobee sensor instead of running 6 wire so we can control heat pump /cooling. My boss thought it was a great solution but eventually we ended taking out the sensors and running a fast Stat 3000 instead. Sensors had a mind of their own and batteries wouldn't last. Also, the wifi was sometimes an issue.
I helped my friend fix a tenants toilet, and I noticed that besides the constant clogging we were fixing that you had to jiggle the handle to keep it from running. I said you should fix that it's costing you loot. He said they could just jiggle the handle. I said that's only if you give a shit . Think like a tenant brother. After we were done, I said ok lets really test it well. He said, no fuck it. If its bad they will call to complain and that Im not thinking like a landlord. Touche my friend.
This looks like a crazy “mousetrap game.” Where you touch one thing and a chain reaction starts from a bunch of different , random points. WoW
Is the second floor tenant paying to heat the basement apartment as well?
The best way to avoid disputes about the temperature is to have the tenant pay their own utilities.
The only fly in this ointment is that removes any incentive for the landlord to upgrade to modern equipment or properly insulate the unit.
For example, there are countless “modern” apartment buildings in Chicago - the legendary “4+1” type of building. These buildings, generally built in the 50’s and early 60’s - have four floors of apartments over one floor of entry / laundry / utility / parking. Construction is in insulated concrete block .Each apartment has a single 12-ft wide single pane, aluminum frame window. To make matters worse, the heat for the entire building is controlled by a single thermostat in the secured boiler room. Apparently the theory is that if the boiler room is set at 75 all the apartments will be comfortable. This plan fails to account for heat rising (upper floors tend to be warmer), the sun striking only a few units, and the wind hitting one side of the building. This design was specifically to keep construction costs as low as possible while just meeting code.
11:47 how old is the occupant of the house? My 96 year old grandmother would *love* it at 85°. Our A/C went out in Texas one year. It got up to 85° in the house when it was well over 100° outside. The rest of us were *roasting* she was *confortable* & didn’t want it repaired. We had it repaired: we keep our heat at 73° just to keep her happy!
13:30 they’ll know because they will complain about being cold & wonder if the thermostat is working properly!
basement can be legal if they have a way out. stairs and a door to outside. But if a fire or other event happens with illegal unit in it insurance will not PAY. YUP. seen that one. it pays to follow codes and laws. Its not like your home is the biggest investment you got why do stupid pet tricks with it.
You need to have egress windows on the bedrooms and habitable spaces
Can you recommend a link that would show how to add or jump to a “ C” wire please ? I have three zones but only one works off WiFi and that has limited control capabilities. We’re older now with some mobility issues . Be able to control all three zones remotely would be a big help. One ( WiFi thermostat also controls A/C if that’s an issue ) .
Most who don't understand how things work, end up abusing and causing premature failure...especially renters!
Quick, clean, done ✅
85°F is ridiculous. They need to move south.
Our foundry bag house dust collectors the motors had 30 wire going to o them I have forgotten size and voltage
Sounds like you need a schematic!
Having a zoned system in my house, I have 9 Ecobees across two HVAC systems with multiple remotes. I wouldn't trust the remote wireless sensors in that situation. You really should install something more commercial for that situation. I would add the third zone for sure, that way the basement could be set at much lower temp if no one is living down there. Keep up the good work sir! Happy New Year from DFW where I still need to run the AC as it will be almost 80F here this week! 👍💯
How big is your house?
@@BREEZYM6015 Just under 7500 sq ft.
Blank check to replace the whole system.
Black jacket isn’t necessary and a whole new system isn’t necessary either
Did anyone else see the spark on that transformer @2:39????
❤ Bring your air out.
Electrical violations up the wazoo - needs to be corrected immediately before the place burns down
Stop saying condanuidy it hurts my ears. I heard it on another video and ignored it but now it has to stop. Continuity is the word and there're two "T's" in that word.
You did it again found the wires where they go excellent doctoring everything...
😱😱 posted 2 hours ago and we got “5,642” views 👍👏 an only 492 likes?? Come on guys/gals it’s simple easy an cost you absolutely zero nothing.. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
It takes time for the like count to catch up to the view count.
I am landlord and I switched from all this that can create floods to baseboard heaters. Much easier to deal with and fix.
Highest point on radiator. You can use a bleed key. I didn't see you look at baseboard. It's been a while lol. I could be wrong.
Listening to the tenants speak to you and one another I’m gonna say they like it Caribbean hot. Kinda explains the sun surface setting.
Who the hell keeps there heat at 85 degrees god that’s hot
Good job Mikey
honeywell vision pro is not more expensive than ecobee when purchased at cost. only the markups make it much more expensive.
That's an interesting take!
Thanks for sharing excellent video excellent information 🔔😎😎🎄🎄
Mikey the NYC heat regulation is from October 1 to May 31 ,atleast 68 degrees inside between 6am to 10 pm when outdoor temperature falls to 55 and below 10pm to 6am must be atleast 62 degrees indoors, .
It was line voltage then converted.
Seems like a shady guy.
The complaint was for no heat, which was confirmed as a flow issue where the heat was not flowing up to the second floor.
The second floor seems like it was tapped into the basement.
Therefore, in theory, it was the basement that was causing the "stealing "of heat going to the second floor.
A simple installation of a check valve in that line would have caused the heated water, to not be able to backflow into the basement, and thus be forced to flow into the second floor, providing the heat.
Instead, you offered an expensive way to control remotely, as opposed to locally, the "calling "for heat.
I understand that many landmarks want to control the amount of heat that is provided, as a financial solution, however, humanity would dictate that you provide someone with heat.
You can, tell a book by its color ...
I love the vision pro8000's with the EIM'S 👌 theyre great tstats.
Until he adds a third zone pump, how about throttling your new ball valve to reduce the flow in the basement?
❤❤ 85 degrees… 😂😂😂 move to Florida
I enjoy the seasons
You would be amazed at the thermal difference $50 in caulk and some new thermal foam can make.
I like the green "ground conductor" cap with open hole in the end, totally used on line voltage, then low voltage wiring entering and spliced within a line voltage box without separator, it should continue through to a separate splice box where it then connects to the low voltage wiring. that assumes it's actual line voltage building rated wiring, that's also an over filled box. 🤢🤮
I don't understand why don't people just wear Thermo underwear aka long johns in winter? Im anemic , so i easily get cold. I just bundle up. And when i get warm i just stip off a layer.
5:51 😳😱😳
I seriously hope that was wired by a Pro, b/c on quick glance, looks over filled, let alone a mess; and IMO anyone who wires like that…..DOES NOT CARE about their work OR SAFETY of PPL and equipment (imo agin).
Sadly, not the worst ever seen either
mike why not use venstar t7900 with wifi built in no need for a gateway or anything cheaper than honeywell and can do much more then honeywell
Never heard of it and I’ve been in the trades for a while. I can’t imagine it’s that good sorry.
@ they’ve got a really good thermostat for us for over 20 years. We haven’t had one issue with them and that really simple the program.
@ plus Mike, you can find them online or at one of your local Icp Supply houses
you'll never get help as confident with the trade as you are, they would be working for themselves
Personally I like the tcc honeywell program online better than the new resideo interface old tcc is more pleasing to use and gives you better displays like 5 weather utility and over all when you use your phone app is more nice more info better look over all
Thanks for sharing your feedback
Great video Mike.😀
They’ll never know as long as they’re not one of your subscribers lol
I lost count of all the code violations I spotted.
5:45 Looks legit! Seems that the local building inspector would have a cow over that wiring! 🤦♂ What people do to cut corners! Just put in new thermostat wiring people, don't reuse AC wiring! You can have shared neutrals all over the place as well and be inducing line AC voltages into the low voltage stuff. What a 💩 show as some of the others would say! 🤣
yeah that place needs a complete rewire! major overloaded junction and switch box!
I think the customer wanted to put 1st floor and basement on one zone and the 2nd floor only on another zone. Then the second floor circuit could be purged of air properly. Adding the additional valves that you suggested would probably be easier than repiping everything and would solve the air problem. Tricking the tenant with wireless gizmos is not actually fixing the problem.
Need extension box on that j-box
Stupid to have basement tied to 2nd floor heat. Heat rises 2nd floor wld benefit from lower floors heating i lrnd tht renting saved a few bucks by renting on upper floors 😅 basement wld be smarter to be off the lower floors heat as it will run more often lol 😅
🤣 so they’re too good for space heaters?!