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 17 West St., W. Hatfield, MA 01088 

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 800.582.8423 

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 413.247.3380 

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 fax 413.247.3369 

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 [email protected] 

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 www.stiebel-eltron-usa.com

Simply the Best

THERMOSTAT WIRING AND INSTALLATION GUIDE

CNS, CK, CKT, CK TREND, ALL MODELS  

1.  Thermostat Wiring Options

There are a number of different options available if you 
wish to control your Stiebel Eltron CNS/CK heater with 
a room thermostat. There is a limited variety of line 
voltage thermostats available to which you can directly 
wire your heater. You can also use a transformer/relay 
unit so that you can utilize the much wider variety of 
low voltage thermostats that are available, including 
some of the WiFi capable ones such as Venstar and 
Nest. There are also wireless kits available, which 
eliminate the need to physically wire the thermostat to 
the heater.

When using any type of external thermostat to control 
the CK/CNS line of heaters, set the internal thermostat 
of the heater to its highest setting, as the cycling of 
the heater will now be controlled by the external 
thermostat. Do 

not

, however, disable the CK/CNS 

heater’s internal thermostat, as even when set to its 
highest setting, it must still cycle off occasionally to 
prevent the external parts of the heater from reaching 
hazardous temperatures.

1.1

 

Line Voltage Thermostats

A line voltage thermostat simply takes the high voltage 
signal that is used to power the heater, closes a switch 
when the room temperature falls below the setpoint, 
which turns the heater on, and opens a switch when 

1

2

4-Wire Line Voltage 

Thermostat 240 V 

15 A Minimum

L1

240 VAC

15 A

Double Pole

Circuit Breaker

L2

CK/CKT/CNS

240 VAC Units

Fig. 1: 240 V heater with line voltage thermostat.

the room reaches the setpoint, turning the heater off. 
A line voltage thermostat should not be used when 
controlling more than one heater with the same 
thermostat.
 
When wiring this type of thermostat, the line voltage 
thermostat is connected to the circuit breaker on the 
load panel (breaker box), and the CK/CNS heater is 
connected to the line volt thermostat. If using a digital 
thermostat, always use a 4-wire model, because the 

1

2

4-Wire Line Voltage 

Thermostat 120 V 

15 A Minimum

L1

120 VAC

15 A

Single Pole

Circuit Breaker

L2

CK/CKT/CNS

120 VAC Units

Fig. 2: 120 V heater with line voltage thermostat.

internal thermostat of the CK/CNS heaters will turn off 
occasionally, even at their highest setting. See figures 
1 and 2 for wiring diagrams illustrating the manner in 
which to hook up both the 120 V and 240 V heaters to a 
line voltage thermostat.

1.2

 

Low Voltage Thermostats

A low voltage thermostat is the industry standard for 
most types of heat sources other than electric resistance 
heaters. These devices are typically connected to the 
control board of a boiler or furnace, and they operate 
on a 24 VAC signal. To utilize this type of thermostat, 
it is necessary to use a transformer/relay device such 
as the RC840T. A low voltage thermostat can be safely 
used to control more than one heater, provided that it 
is wired correctly. As is the case with the line voltage 
thermostat installation, the internal thermostat of the 
heater should be set to its maximum temperature when 

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