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I have a intertherm heatpump that has the heat strips located in the outside unit. The heat pump works ok until the temp gets around freezing then not enough heat to hold the thermostat setting. I suspect the strips should be helping the heat pump but is not. I can manually turn on the emergency heat and get hot air. also there is a cycle when the heat pump blows ice cold air for about 2 minutes while in the heat mode. Hope yoy have some advice. Thanks
Both replies were right on the money. The unit is a modular home outside package. The thermostat was wired wrong, not allowing the heat strips to kick in to assist the heat pump. Also the installer didn't install the outdoor thermostat to regulate the auxillary heat strips. I rewired per thermostat wiring diagram and placed an outdoor thermostat to turn off the strips at 40 degrees. Everything seems to be working ok. Thanks for the good infoBoth replies were right on the money. The unit is a modular home outside package. The thermostat was wired wrong, not allowing the heat strips to kick in to assist the heat pump. Also the installer didn't install the outdoor thermostat to regulate the auxillary heat strips. I rewired per thermostat wiring diagram and placed an outdoor thermostat to turn off the strips at 40 degrees. Everything seems to be working ok. Thanks for the good info
FIRST YOUR OUTSIDE UNIT PROVIDES HEAT BY USING A REVERSING VALVE TO CHANGE THE REFRIGERANT FLOW.THERE IS NO HEAT STRIPS OUTSIDE SECOND YOUR EMERGENCY HEAT TURNS ON ELECTRIC ELEMENTS INSIDE YOUR AIRHANDLER UNIT.IT SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE HAS WIRED YOUR UNIT WRONG OR HAS THE THERMOSTAT SET IMPROPERLY.WHEN THE HEAT PUMP CANNOT SATTISFY THE SETPOINT THE THERMOSTAT IS SUPPOSED TO TURN ON YOUR ELEC. HEAT UNTILL THE LOAD HAS BEEN REACHED AND THE HEAT PUMP CAN CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN IT.
It sounds like you have a packaged unit for modular or manufactured housing. If this is the case I have noticed that they have a outdoor thermostat wired in series that does not allow the heat strips to come on unless it is satisfied at around 55 degrees. Remember this is inside the unit so it could be much colder outside. If this is not the case you may have a defrost problem, either in the defrost board or defrost sensor.
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Heatpumps are more complex than an AC unit. Yes, there is a difference between a heatpump and an air conditioner. Where the real difference lies is out side in the condenser unit. There's a defrost board out in the unit, and depending on the brand and model, one of the wires will need to be changed so that the gas furnace will not come on. The problem with this, heatpumps use the heat that is available from the outdoors and transfers it to indoor. When the temps outside drop below 50 degrees, there's not enough latent heat to transfer, thus calling the propane furnace to operate. Without the addition of the furnace, you will not be able to heat the area properly. The only way to remedy this, is to remove the propane furnace and replace it with an electric airhandler with a heat strip for "emergency heat". The emergency heat term is used when the temps drop below the temps I mentioned above and calls for the heat strips to come on.
That's a complicated system that needs a qualified technician to service it. Lots of people can install them and they run fine, for a few years. Your indoor unit, operating on 2 heat elements, will feel like its blowing cold air even though its heating, just not so well. And not like you are accustomed to. Each element (5kw)=22.7amps, on average. So 3 elements operating should trip a breaker. Its probably been operating on 2 heat element plus the heat pump. And now you have trouble with the heat pump. If you can't TRUST the guys working on your equipment, try someone else. A second opinion. Normally a 3 or 4 ton unit will have 15kw heat installed, heatpump or not. 5 ton, 20kw. If yours is a 3-4ton, cooling, the 100amp(or normally two 60 amp) breaker should have been installed upon equipment change out. If yours is blowing cold all the time, something is wrong with your heatpump. The electric heat inside operates only when the heatpump can't keep up(real cold outside), the heatpump is in defrost(then it's actually in cooling mode), or if you have the tstat in aux/em. heat. Try a local trane dealer? Of a technician with 15-20 yrs under their belt. A trane dealer should have trane tech support also. BIG HELP!!!
some times heat pumps have a fan cycling switch to keep the head pressure normal in cool weather or check the defrost relay for the fan when a heat pump condenser gets frosted it will stop the fan and reverse into cooling mode for a few min. to melt the ice and this function is done by a relay or a printed circuit board if it goes bad you wont have voltage to the fan
Hi; I hope You called a company that will honor any warranty on the heatpump. Sounds to Me like I would contact the original installer for more help or free replacement.Also at 55 or 75 degrees outside The heatpump should be providing toasty air. Only at close to freezing temps will You get a reduction in warm air and then the heat strips will help out then also check to see if the unit has outside air dampers and make sure they are closed..alpharome416
yes go into electric heat for awhile. sometimes a heatpump will run constantlly when temps outside are not high enough./em heat mode untill temps rise or unit recovers.your unit should of gone into hot-gas defrost this maybe what your hearing. but remember electric heat is expensive to operate go back to your heatpump mode after system has a chance to recover.
Your outside unit is not defrosting. You need to call a service tech to check it out. Defrost board sensor or low on gas. Also you amy have an outside tstat that is not working correctly. Rus
A heatpump has two sources of heat. One is when the heatpump is operating in normal heat mode, and the other is typically electric heat strips.
The strips come on when the unit is going into defrost, when the unit is not able to keep up with the demand for heat (really cold temps) and when the unit is not working properly.
Whne the strips are on, the T-stat displays "aux-heat" to indicate the strips are in operation.
If the strips are working properly you should have warmer air than with the HP alone. Try switchin it from "heat" to "emergency heat" and see what it will do.
When the HP is not able to keep up with the demand for heat then the heat strips come on, but they typically come on only when the room temp has gotten well below the thermostat setting.
In that situation it would be normal to see indoor temps at 63 degrees when the T-stat is set on 70.
But when you set it to E-heat it bypasses the heatpump operation and goes directly to the heat strips. If they are working properly it should maintain an accurate temp in the home.
Your furnace will either have circuit breakers or fuses at the bottom in the panel below the blower. Also, there MAY be fuses in the disconnect box outside that gives power to the heatpump. Intertherm furnaces are famous for leaking water onto the left side of the electrical panel in the furnace which is also convieniently where the low voltage transformer is located. If you consider yourself electrically competent, check to see that you are getting 240v to your transformer and if you are the check to see if you are getting 24v out of the transformer. If you can't find the problem in any of these steps, I would recommend contacting a qualified professional to check the system out.
Both replies were right on the money. The unit is a modular home outside package. The thermostat was wired wrong, not allowing the heat strips to kick in to assist the heat pump. Also the installer didn't install the outdoor thermostat to regulate the auxillary heat strips. I rewired per thermostat wiring diagram and placed an outdoor thermostat to turn off the strips at 40 degrees. Everything seems to be working ok. Thanks for the good info
Is there any quit fix or how much does this cost ?
Heat pump blows cold air
Heat pump blows cold air
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