Heat Pump repair Howard County?

[Worsley]

I absolutely despise my heat pump. It never keeps up, 75 degrees upstairs and constantly running. They’re awful.

 

[Mark75H]

I took the cover off to look at the only thing I know about on a heat pump and lucked out. The capacitor that controls the fan was blown. That ham radio stuff keeps paying dividend. I am going to see if I can get it to last to 40 years then send Trane an email offering to do a commercial for them in exchange for a new heat pump

I replaced a compressor in a 25+ year old heat pump that ran every day in heat, cool or both. There was NOTHING else wrong with the machine. Nothing to suggest it was not going to run another 25

 

[Mark75H]

I absolutely despise my heat pump. It never keeps up, 75 degrees upstairs and constantly running. They’re awful.

When incorrectly applied and/or installed, anything/everything is awful.

 

[Worsley]

When incorrectly applied and/or installed, anything/everything is awful.

Installed correctly, not sure what you mean by “applied”.

 

[Mark75H]

Installed correctly, not sure what you mean by “applied”.

"applied" means selected/specified, "in this application" In common useful English they might mean the same thing, but in technical engineering speak they are different.

Ignoring the space a unit is connected to, the installers may do a technically perfect job on their end, but that doesn't make the machine correct for the job.

 

[Epiphany]

75 is indoor “design temp” for cooling… So running all day on a 95 degree day is a feature!

 

[Mark75H]

75 is indoor “design temp” for cooling… So running all day on a 95 degree day is a feature!

For an old fashioned single speed system. This is the advantage of VRF and one of the reasons it will dominate the market in the near future. Comfortable 68° is possible at all ambient temperatures with VRF.

 

[lazarus]

75 is indoor “design temp” for cooling… So running all day on a 95 degree day is a feature!

Yeah, I was wondering. Newer A/Cs and heatpumps are designed to run all (or a lot of) the time. They are a lot more efficient that way. They have variable speed compressors and variable speed central blowers. Restarting compressors is very inefficient, and running everything at low load is a lot more efficient than high load.

It ain't your grandfather's heat pump anymore. So the system might be running most/all of the time when heating or cooling once it gets warm enough or cool enough outside. But it might only be running at 20% load. Pumps' and fans' efficiency drops as performance increases. If you want to move 200cfm of air with a fan vs 100cfm, it takes more than twice the power for the same fan to move it. Just look at the performance of ceiling fans (once that have it in the spec's). A ceiling fan often it is rated to move 150-200cfm on low and probably pulling 3-7w of power. Medium it is often moving around 500-600cfm of air, but pulling 30-40w of power and on high 1000-1400cfm of air, but pulling 100-180w (made up numbers BTW, I didn't bother looking one up just now, but I've looked at a lot of ceiling fan specs over the years). Central blowers are no different. Nor are compressors/pumps.

So at 20% (watts) load, it might be moving 30% of the same BTUH of heat one way or the other, versus 100% (watts) load and 100% of the BTUH. 50% more efficient at the low load.

 

[Worsley]

"applied" means selected/specified, "in this application" In common useful English they might mean the same thing, but in technical engineering speak they are different.

Ignoring the space a unit is connected to, the installers may do a technically perfect job on their end, but that doesn't make the machine correct for the job.

Ah got you now, agreed. The Unico system that was installed is more than adequate. Not sure if the outdoor unit has any ”application“ issues but I’m pretty confident the heat pump itself is good (two years new).

 

[Mark75H]

Yeah, I was wondering. Newer A/Cs and heatpumps are designed to run all (or a lot of) the time. They are a lot more efficient that way. They have variable speed compressors and variable speed central blowers. Restarting compressors is very inefficient, and running everything at low load is a lot more efficient than high load.

It ain't your grandfather's heat pump anymore. So the system might be running most/all of the time when heating or cooling once it gets warm enough or cool enough outside. But it might only be running at 20% load. Pumps' and fans' efficiency drops as performance increases. If you want to move 200cfm of air with a fan vs 100cfm, it takes more than twice the power for the same fan to move it. Just look at the performance of ceiling fans (once that have it in the spec's). A ceiling fan often it is rated to move 150-200cfm on low and probably pulling 3-7w of power. Medium it is often moving around 500-600cfm of air, but pulling 30-40w of power and on high 1000-1400cfm of air, but pulling 100-180w (made up numbers BTW, I didn't bother looking one up just now, but I've looked at a lot of ceiling fan specs over the years). Central blowers are no different. Nor are compressors/pumps.

So at 20% (watts) load, it might be moving 30% of the same BTUH of heat one way or the other, versus 100% (watts) load and 100% of the BTUH. 50% more efficient at the low load.

ECM motors on the fans increase this effect. VRF compressors by their nature live in this environment.

Reduced power consumption, increased dehumidification, less noise + + +.

 

[Worsley]

Well if there is a good HVAC service provider here who is an heat-pump expert to come and look at my system, hit me up.

 

[antco]

Well if there is a good HVAC service provider here who is an heat-pump expert to come and look at my system, hit me up.

Location?

 

[Worsley]

Location?

Westminster.

 

[SavageShooter]

I had a new Goodman Heat Pump installed last year in April to replace the 15 year old piece of junk I had. I have dual zone Heat Pump / AC for upstairs and natural gas furnace and A/C for downstairs. Man what a difference in performance in both A/C and heat with the Goodman unit. Runs less than the old unit.

 

[pbharvey]

Ah got you now, agreed. The Unico system that was installed is more than adequate. Not sure if the outdoor unit has any ”application“ issues but I’m pretty confident the heat pump itself is good (two years new).

Unico is a different animal. I’m guessing your home was retrofitted with central air?

 

[Worsley]

Unico is a different animal. I’m guessing your home was retrofitted with central air?

The upstairs was

 

[Worsley]

Still looking for an heatpump expert to help figure out why my Unico system cannot keep up with cooling. Today the brand new thermostat was set to 68 and it stayed 76 degrees upstairs. Nest even sent me this message:

 

[lazarus]

Still looking for an heatpump expert to help figure out why my Unico system cannot keep up with cooling. Today the brand new thermostat was set to 68 and it stayed 76 degrees upstairs. Nest even sent me this message:

View attachment 410551

Is it blowing any cold air out at all when running? Or is it room temp air coming out of the vents? If you've got an IR thermometer, check the vent temps. Should be something in the lower 50s. Also pull the cover on the central blower, is the evaporator coil iced over? Cold to the touch when running? Compressor running? How long have you owned the home and has this been an issue since you bought it?

Retrofitted with central air makes me thing a much older home. Is the attic insulated at all? A/C is only going to make so much difference if it isn't sized right, or as bad, the house is poorly sealed (drafty) or uninsulated.

 

[antco]

... If you've got an IR thermometer, check the vent temps. Should be something in the lower 50s. ...

IR thermometers read surface temperature and are affected by the surface emissivity. IR thermometers do not read air temperature.

 

[lazarus]

IR thermometers read surface temperature and are affected by the surface emissivity. IR thermometers do not read air temperature.

Yeah I am aware. But unless you’ve got chromed or stainless HVAC vents, they are almost certainly painted and thus have an E value close to 1 and the surface temp value won’t be thrown off. And being metal, also conduct heat well. So within a minute, they’ll be within a degree or two of the air flow temperature.

I’ve done IR and ambient thermometers for HVAC temps plenty of times. The former is generally faster to read (VS the thermal mass of the thermostat needing to cool) and the degree or two it might be off really doesn’t matter. It gives you a good enough reading.