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I bought a cheap thermostat which has an annoying problem: if I set it to 70 degrees, it will turn on the heating as soon as the temperature drops to 69 degrees and turn it off as soon as it increases to 70 degrees. This causes the heating to turn on and off every 15 minutes, which is annoying due to the initial fireplace sound being quite loud.

How do I find a thermostat that is smarter than that and waits for a bit before turning on/off? I.e. for a 70 degree setting, it would wait for the temperature to drop to 67 degrees, turn on heating, wait for the air to heat up to 73 degrees, then turn off. I believe there's a scientific term for such behavior in systems, but I can't seem to find it via Google.

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    The term you are looking for is hysteresis, and FWIW, all non-garbage thermostats should exhibit that behavior you desire, though usually not a 3 degree swing. Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 18:14
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    @whatsisname thank you! I bought this thermostat which seems okay, but the hysteresis is non-satisfactory unfortunately Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 18:17
  • Typical is -1, +2 - e.g., set for 70 heat, turns on at 69 (which is good - if you feel it is getting a little cold you know all you have to do is change the setpoint to 1 degree past the current temperature and it will go on right away) and turns off at 72. The really good ones have these settings programmable. Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 18:38
  • Your actual problem appears to be a noisy furnace start. The nature of thermostats is to turn the heat on and off - the timing will vary with how cold it is outside, building insulation, and heat output of the heater. "Deadband" is an alternate name for "hysteresis."
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 18:39
  • @Ecnerwal I have a gas fireplace that emits a "woosh" sound when you turn it on. Not sure if I can make it any more quiet. Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 18:48

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If you only have a 2 wire thermostat it’s not the thermostat that needs to be changed. A “delay ON” relay would allow the firebox to get to temp by a set time but you don’t want wait for very long or there will be damage to the heat exchanger and trip the high temp safety (usually requires manual reset).

For gas furnaces that are loud on start up I have found this to be because the burners are dirty the chamber fills with gas and finally there is enough and whoosh it lights, this can even blow the pilot out in some cases.

Cleaning the burners or having them cleaned will usually eliminate the noise as the gas is lit as it enters (I have serviced quite a few gas furnaces and this is a common issue).

You may be able to service your furnace, open combustion usually have multiple burners that just lay in place with the furnace turned off and the gas off, reach in and lift the burner and slide to the Back they usually come out quite easily.

Next take a wire brush to the top of the burner (the trick is to point the burner down and wire brush then the rust falls on the ground) after brushing a light tap or 2 until no more crud falls out. Repeat with each burner.

The burner closest to the pilot is the most important and the pilot may be screwed to this burner. Remove screws and remove with some brands you have to remove one to the side because the pilot is in the way for direct removal, then put everything back turn on the power and gas and light the furnace if it has a pilot. It will probably be much quieter lighting now.

If you have a hot surface igniter the same process has worked but make sure not to touch the igniter any finger oil can cause the hot surface element to crack and then it will need to be replaced.

For thermostats that can adjust their “dead band” or “span” most are programmable that have settings +- for on or off like winter -1 for on and +2 for off I change mine for summer -2 for off +1 for off. Because this heels best to me.

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  • Is the fireplace supposed to be completely silent when turning on? Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 20:41
  • I don’t know if I would say completely quiet but after a good cleaning when they light there should not be much more noise than when running. If you can see it (maybe using a face shield to save eye brows and eye lashes) if you hear the gas kick on and it doesn't light close to the pilot right away and then jump to the other burners before the flames make it to the back it may need cleaning also the air dampers may need adjusting I do this after cleaning. Turn until I see a little orange then back, a nice blue flame that is clean shows the proper air gas mix (adjust after cleaning).
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 20:53

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