I have a 5 year old heat pump (electric) Home is 5 years old and is very energy efficient with 6 inch outside walls. Do I have a problem as the air will run for 5 minutes and shut off for 5 minutes and keeps repeating this cycle. Last year it didn't do that .I had a programable therm put in in Dec 2010, Heat ran ok.

Likely too old for an Energy Star Rating.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Vulcan+gas+wall+furnace+series+22+energy+rating

What is the efficiency of a gas wall furnace?
Wall Furnace Energy Efficiency Ratings

Today's wall furnaces are often rated at 80 to 90 percent annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE).Jan 26, 2021

Everything You Need to Know About a Wall Furnace - Family Handyman

A through the wall AC unit that has lasted 25 years or so? That's amazing and unheard of !!!

iI it's tripping a circuit breaker, there's an electrical problem with one of the circuits, within the unit and that can be dangerous. Certainly repairing it is an option. But, at 25 years old, I doubt that there are many parts for that model left in existence. Not to mention that the cost of troubleshooting it, parts and labor may cost almost as much or more, as a new Energy Efficient unit would cost.

You have to admit, you got your monies worth out of it over the past 25 years. So, if it were me making the decision, I'd opt for a new Energy Efficient model, with the same cooling capacity as your old one.

Hope this helped you. Please let me know. Thanks.

Your description, actually provided the solution ... "a poorly insulated dwelling". The unit has to run more than what is considered the norm and it's over heating causing the relay to trip. Especially, if it's having to use the Emergency Heat (that happens when temps get below 32 degrees). It's a backup system for when the Heat Pump can't get any heat out of the outside air. The Emergency Heat is either strip heaters (similar to a kitchen toaster) or an electric furnace, neither of which is very energy efficient and having to run as much as you say, is causing the circuits to overheat and trip the relay.

The bottom line is this, improve the energy efficiency of the dwelling and the heat pump will become more energy efficient and you heating and air conditioning bills will significantly decrease.

If you dont fit an exhaust or fit to a window/wall, the hot air from the heat exchanger/compressor will come out into the room and you will achieve nothing except a big electric bill. Get rid of the heat !

If I am correct, that is a gas furnace, right? I believe it may be between 15 and 20 years. Pro-active with and older gas furnace is never a bad thing. First of all it can become a safety issue, as concerns of heat exchangers cracking and leaking carbon monoxide into the home become increasing. Second, it sure only be 80% efficient, whereas a new condensing furnace today can be up to 95% efficient. That means that you currently only use 80% of the gas you are burning as actual heat transferred into the house via airflow, and the other 20% is literally leaving the house through the flue. So you can increase efficiency dramatically and be safe at the same time by replacing pro-actively

A 23 year old unit will be a major energy hog.You will see a massive improvement even with a less efficient unit,but go with the energy efficiency.The price of fuel is going to keep going up,and you will be using the furnace for many years.I'm in Ohio,and we get by just fine on electric for the very rare occasion the temperature drops below the level where the heat pump cant keep up.If this really worries you,you can put a couple space heaters back for emergency.Of course your talking about a gas unit,or a dual fuel unit.The dual fuel would be your best bet of course for ultimate fuel efficiency,but they can be pricey for the ones with all the bells,and whistles.Some will even use the fuel that is less expensive at any given time throughout the day.For example in some circumstances electricity is more expensive during the day then at night.Ultimately you have to figure out how much energy you use on average to heat your house.If you know the efficiency of the unit you have now you can estimate the actual output energy that is actually needed to heat/cool your house.Which would be the effective output of the old unit.Figure out how much less energy input you will need with a more efficient unit to get the same average output as the old unit.Subtract the energy usage for the new unit from the average energy use from the last winter.This will be your approximate energy savings.This should give you some Idea of the energy savings.

Friend,
ngfam1 At your service!

Sounds like first you must know if you are low on freon!!

How old is the unit?

If the central air is 20 years old or more you may not be advisable to put good money into bad!


I did replace my ac unit after 7 years of my wife bugging me that we are loosing money! On our electric bill!
SHE WAS RIGHT ! I GOT A NEW GAS FURNACE 93 AFU AND A NEW AC UNIT OUTSIDE 13 SEER AND GUESS WHAT?? MY BILL GAS AND ELECTRIC BILL IS COMBINED AND IT WENT DOWN $12OO. A YEAR!!
WELL HOW MANY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS DID I WASTE IN 6 YEARS? OVER 7 THOUSAND DOLLARS..HMMM THAT WOULD HAVE BOUGHT ME THE UNITS!!!!!!!!!
SHE WAS RIGHT ! AND SHE KNOWS THAT!


Below I referred you to a great service nation wide!

If none of these tasks remedy the heat problem then here is a good company that's found nation wide.
A&E Factory Service
A&E has schedulers available to take appointments 24/7
And they do warranty work too, for most manufactures!
1(800) 905-9505

You will be fine
Bless You ngafm1
PLEASE GIVE ME A GOOD RATING BEFORE YOU SIGN OFF nces are so much more efficient today that they can save you a lot of money in energy!!!!
You need a hands on tech for this repair!

Below I referred you to a great service nation wide!

If none of these tasks remedy the heat problem then here is a good company that's found nation wide.
A&E Factory Service
A&E has schedulers available to take appointments 24/7
And they do warranty work too, for most manufactures!
1(800) 905-9505

You will be fine
Bless You ngafm1
PLEASE GIVE ME A GOOD RATING BEFORE YOU SIGN OFF

Hello Laura,
If you look at the rear wall inside the freezer compartment down low and find a bunch of frost on that wall, you have an automatic defrost system failure. The most likely part that has failed is the defrost thermostat. It is located on the top of the freezer coil, clipped onto a piece of tubing. It will have 2 wires coming out of it and it is about the diameter of a quarter and about 3/4" tall. To test this part you would need a test meter and enough skill to check if the contacts are closed when the thermostat is frozen withing the specifications stated on the thermostat. I believe yours would close at 25 degrees F and opens at 47 degrees F. Part # 5303918214
I hope this helps you. supertechks