Heat Pump question...

[clemsonfor]

All good advice on here. Take Larrys advice and put thermometers on several vents while running to check output temp. Also if you dont have adequate insulation or an undersized unit you will have trouble catching up even at 30F.

I have a program thermostat. I have several temps. Cool, 62 at night 64 in the mourn 60 in day and 65 when we get home. My T stat is older and i got it off ebay for less than $20 new a few years ago. Its big and not cool looking like the new ones with touch screens but works. It has a feature to track the heat strip use.

I bought one of the newer ones at lowes and it should have been compatible with my single stage heat pump but would not run right. I even took it back for a new one. I got on the phone with honeywell or whoever made it they went over my settings and could not figure it. You need that "heat recovery setting" This will gradually step the heat up for when a new temp program comes up so that there should not be a 2 degreee difference to keep the strips from coming on. Mine works with out strips on all but the very coldest days (i have no insulation inmy walls.). That new one i got would act like it worked but i would come home at 4:30 when it was supposed to be 65 in the house with the heat recovery setting so no strips should be used. Anyway it would be 72F in the house with heat stips running? Why it did this i have no idea, it was only when it warmed the house up any other time that program would maintain 65F but the first time it turned the heat on for the program its like it hung up? My point in saying this is that just cause you buy o program t stat it may not be compatible even though it says it is?

 

[GPintheMitten]

My brother use to say, there's a nut loose on the thermostat.

You're going to pay a lot for that electric back up heat. Either pay for a thermostat which allows you to bump the heat up on gradual increments to keep the electric from kicking in, or disconnect the heat strip.

I bet the ladies are adjusting it during the day as well.

Personnaly I would do this:

1. Disconnect the strip heat.
2. Close the registers in your bedroom.
3. Set the thermostat to keep the ladies warm and happy and don't use a setback.
4. Tell the girls to leave the settings alone or the furnace will blow up.

You can connect the backup heat strip if you are going out of town.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

1. Disconnect the strip heat.

Hmmm... I kinda like that idea. I wonder where that circuit is.

I have some swanky thermostat now, but I'd be happy to replace it with one that will do better.

I will look into both of these.

Thanks,
David

 

[Bird]

I was told initially that a 3 degree or more difference would activate the "emergency" heat. I assume that's kind of standard.

 

[vabiker23518]

I'm a great believer in setting back the t'stat at night to "save" and sleep better, but that for me only works with gas systems. My current home has 2 zone system, and electronic programmable t'stats. I have the heat kick in 15 minutes before getting up time, and they go back down just before bed time. Works well.
I've previously owned two homes (in Virginia) with heat pumps, and IMHO they work better when left at one setting. I don't think you save anything by setting them back.

 

[clemsonfor]

I was told initially that a 3 degree or more difference would activate the "emergency" heat. I assume that's kind of standard.

That may be true for your unit, i think this is settable in the t-stat settings.

 

[nikdfish]

I was told initially that a 3 degree or more difference would activate the "emergency" heat. I assume that's kind of standard.

Most systems I know of these days turn on aux heat when too much time elapses between the call for a new temp and reaching it. "Learning" thermostats can adjust their temp change programming to accommodate the needed ramp up time (within limits) to reach the target temp at the requested time.

Nick

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I was told initially that a 3 degree or more difference would activate the "emergency" heat. I assume that's kind of standard.

It all depends on the thermostat, which is the only part of the system that "knows" what temperature it is inside your house.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Sure getting to the right time of yr to be having this discussion.

Truth be told, no one on this end of the discussion can tell you what is wrong if anything with your system. Just too many variables.

Had a HP installed the first of the yr and our first one. Has been a real money saver for us. First month of usage, electric bill went down 40%.

When looking at efficiency, for winter months, you need to pay attention to the units HSPF's rating. That is the one that rates heating performance. Today's high end units have an HSPF in the range of 16.

Today's "T-Stats" are not you mom's and Dad's T-Stats. Higher end units only work with the mfgrs T-Stats. Mine is more of a dedicated computer and has a communication link with all connected components. From the controller I can look at what is connected, model and serial number. It tracks run time and cycles for each component. For transitioning between set points, depending upon temp difference it will start transitioning up to 45 min prior to set time for temp change. Can have up to 5 temp sensors in the house and can choose between which to use or take an avg of all connected sensors. I can also set the lock out point for when aux heat will come on. WHen aux heat is called for, my electric strips come on in stages and not all at once. Many other functions but are not relevant to this discussion.

You really do need to have a pro com out and give you a full assessment of your system and whether it is functioning to its ability.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

What is th point of all this high tech stuff if you just need to set it to a single tempreture and forget it...

A heat pump is 3x as efficient as electric resistive heating. Try a clamp meter on your heat pump sometime. After the starting surge, mine draws about 9 amps to heat my entire house, and the system was sized before I upgraded all the doors and windows and insulation. It's 17 years old, and I'm sure I can downsize when I replace it.

The air handler has two 60 amp circuits for the heating strips, but since they don't come on I have never measured the draw. Assuming the code 80% load, that means the system goes from 2160 watts on the pump to 25,000 watts on the heat strips. It doesn't take much of that to ruin any savings that come from having a heat pump.