Thermostat Q: Double pole vs Single... can I?

[tglarsen]

So, in my new home my electrician decided to install cheap thermostats (single pole) that I need to get replaced with some thermostats I bought.  Unfortunately, I thought they'd all be pretty much the same... I was wrong.
 
My new thermostat;
- Double pole
- 4 wires
 
Old thermostat;
- Single pole
- 2 wires 1 ground
 
I know that with my new thermostat, I can remove the ground as it is all plastic.  Though I don't really want to try and return these to the company and am wondering if there is a way to connect a double pole 4 wire thermostat to 2 wires.  Any ideas?
 
Thank you!

 

[BLH]

Is that a electric heater with line voltage contacts?
 
In the photo it looks like the ground is bare copper.
No you can't switch a line voltage with a bare ground wire.
 
Can't you just use one of the Doube Pole set of contacts and leave the other set unconnected?

 

[tglarsen]

I wouldn't be switching out the bare ground wire, as I wouldn't even be connecting it.  Since there is no metal on the thermostat, the ground is not needed and can be removed from the nut.  This seems to be the common theme on all boards.
 
I didn't know if joining them or leaving one set undone/capped/taped would do the trick.
 
Any thoughts?
 
Included photo of my new thermo.
 
And thanks for the input.

 

[RAL]

Is the other pair of conductors for the 240V circuit available in the junction box?  Seems like it probably is - I think I can see another pair of wires towards the back of the box with a wire nut on them.
 
If that's the case, then use the other pole of the thermostat to connect to them as well, and it'll disconnect both sides of the 240V circuit.

 

[Del91574]

The ground should be bonded to the component even irregardless of if the unit is plastic or not. If there's a terminal, pigtail or what have you on it, the grounding conductor is required to be landed there.

 

[snakevargas]

Is this an electronic (i.e. digital) thermostat that's powered by line voltage? If so, it might need both of the load wires connected.

 

[Del91574]

Inner tails are for the HV feed. Outer tails are for the load. Pretty self explanatory.

 

[tglarsen]

Yup, I'm hosed.  I'm not going to screw with the 4 wire to 2 wire conversion, as it appears to be pretty certain that I'd be screwed.  I appreciate the input, and since there was no, 'oh... that's easy, just do this', I'm opting for another route and just picking up a couple 2 wire therms.  Sucks, because they don't have any nice looking 2 wires and all of them are 4.
 
Thank you for your input, everyone, as you have been very helpful.  (As always)

 

[tmbrown97]

I wouldn't give up so quickly - this actually does look like a piece of cake.  What other wires are in the box?  With a 240V circuit, interrupting either hot wire will kill power so the other leg is probably just bonded together in the back of the box, with only the red going through the thermostat.  The new thermostat must consume some electricity and therefore needs both legs so it can get power itself.
 
This shouldn't take much effort at all - figure out which red/black are the hot wires and which two go to the heater - worst case you can tell with a meter but you can probably figure it out by how they come into and out of that box.  Take the inner pair of red/black from the thermostat and hook those to the hot wires, and take the outer pair of wires from the thermostat and connect them to the wires that feed the heater.

 

[Del91574]

I wouldn't give up so quickly - this actually does look like a piece of cake.  What other wires are in the box?  With a 240V circuit, interrupting either hot wire will kill power so the other leg is probably just bonded together in the back of the box, with only the red going through the thermostat.  The new thermostat must consume some electricity and therefore needs both legs so it can get power itself.
 
This shouldn't take much effort at all - figure out which red/black are the hot wires and which two go to the heater - worst case you can tell with a meter but you can probably figure it out by how they come into and out of that box.  Take the inner pair of red/black from the thermostat and hook those to the hot wires, and take the outer pair of wires from the thermostat and connect them to the wires that feed the heater.

Exactly.