How to control heat in triplex only 1 gas furnace

Question

I have a triplex that has one natural gas furnace that heats the entire building. I believe there is only one thermostat to control it and it is located in one of the units. What can I do to control the heat? Can I disable that and install some form of electric/WiFi or Bluetooth thermostat for the furnace that I can control?

James Mcsweeney · Answer

Hi @Kyle M. If only one person controls the thermostat, I can already feel tenants might complain on having it either too high or too low. You can add electric baseboard heaters with thermostats in each unit that they can control.Keep the house heater set to the minimum 60 degrees to prevent frozen pipes, and lock the thermostat.

Pedro Jean · Answer

@Kyle M.

The best way to solve this problem is to have a qualified plumber install a zone valve for each of the units. Each zone valve will have their own thermostats for each unit.

Russell W. · Answer

You'd be better off installing individual systems in each unit (which then also raises the issue of piping gas to each location). The current system is almost certainly not sized to be compatible with zoning dampers, nor will that actually control the temp in each unit, rather just the amount of airflow. I've recommended this particular equipment on the forums before, and will recommend again because I like them so much, but look into Magic-Paks. They're a self contained heating & cooling unit that is ducted like a traditional system but doesn't have the additional refrigerant lines and condensing unit like traditional AC.

George W. · Answer

To make a long reply short have a good hvac guy come look at the system. Theyll be the ones wholl be able to give you the best options that are dependent on your system.

Honeywell makes a system called redlink thermostat. They even make sensors you can put on each unit to average them out and it communicates with the control for heat. Requires batteries and wifi with some control work to the heater.

Alternatively zoning may be possible depending on how your system is setup.

Jonathan R McLaughlin · Answer

Think very hard about separating it into three separate systems. Depending on the layout and the size of units you may be able to add just one furnace, do one mini-split etc. You get the heat off the books, decreasing your expenses and increasing the value of the property...and incidently solving this problem

Darius Ogloza · Answer

Not sure about the available tech but this "solution" would ensure your getting 10 calls an hour during the winter.

How to control heat in triplex only 1 gas furnace

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