Chocolate or Vanilla?
Does Heat Pump Frosting go with Heat Pump Cake?
Does Heat Pump Frosting go with Heat Pump Cake?
Heat Pump Frosting - Defrosting
- Thread starter DADoES
- Start date
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oh yes baby, give me that sweet stuff! I'll take a slice.
Now back to business~ I have the auxiliary/backup resistance heat locked out until the ambient reaches some low temp.
How does one do this? What type of control, and where is it located?
Now back to business~ I have the auxiliary/backup resistance heat locked out until the ambient reaches some low temp.
How does one do this? What type of control, and where is it located?
exploder3211
Well-known member
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- Dec 24, 2006
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Mine is a 12 SEER (or whatever the Gov. Minumum requierment for 2006 was) and it sucks energy... The heat strips run alot as well, so, i am not sure if it's too small or what.. Great to know the techincal details and such, but they confuse me..
Chad, has the unit been inspected and sericed in all those years, had the freon level checked? If it's not working up to snuff, then the heat strips will kick in a lot. My old system had a ciol leak and had to have freon put in about once a year or 18 months.
A 12 SEER should be a reasonably efficient unit. I have a 10 SEER 2 ton unit in my 1000 sf house not too far from you, and I find it to be fairly efficient...giving me uner $100 electric bills as long as it's not too terribly chilly out.
How old is your home? If it's got a bit of age on it, chances are you are fighting a lot of heat loss through leaky windows, cracks, etc. You may want to look into tightening up your house a bit. It worked for me. I installed insulation in the attic, floors, and had it blown into the walls. What really made the diff though was installing new windows! When it's above 55 degrees, the house sort of "heats itself". In other words, I don't need to run any HVAC at all because heat generated through activity inside (running appliances, human bodies, electronics, etc) generates enough heat to maintain a comfortable temp. During the summertime, I can open the windows and it stays pretty cool too. The trick there was planting some maple trees on the south side of my house to break the sunlight!
How old is your home? If it's got a bit of age on it, chances are you are fighting a lot of heat loss through leaky windows, cracks, etc. You may want to look into tightening up your house a bit. It worked for me. I installed insulation in the attic, floors, and had it blown into the walls. What really made the diff though was installing new windows! When it's above 55 degrees, the house sort of "heats itself". In other words, I don't need to run any HVAC at all because heat generated through activity inside (running appliances, human bodies, electronics, etc) generates enough heat to maintain a comfortable temp. During the summertime, I can open the windows and it stays pretty cool too. The trick there was planting some maple trees on the south side of my house to break the sunlight!
Heat pumps are somewhat rare in the northeast. You see a LOT of forced air, hot water, and even quite a bit of steam heat. I've read that hot water systems can be very efficient, too.
And insulation helps! When I get a house, one of the first things is gonna be expandofoam insulation. This is a pretty new thing where they use whats basically in those cans of expando foam to fill up the entire wall.
I never liked air systems (the one in our office blows...). Hot water's quiet, and really nice, IMHO. Oh yeah, and radiant's even better. Cats love it, too.
And insulation helps! When I get a house, one of the first things is gonna be expandofoam insulation. This is a pretty new thing where they use whats basically in those cans of expando foam to fill up the entire wall.
I never liked air systems (the one in our office blows...). Hot water's quiet, and really nice, IMHO. Oh yeah, and radiant's even better. Cats love it, too.
Steven, my house two years old. The builder went "deluxe" on several points, but not so much on the HVAC system. I had a two-speed 16+ SEER heat pump with humidity control option at my other house.
Toggles, I added an optional outdoor temperature sensor on the thermostat. In addition to displaying the ambient on the 'stat at the push of a button, it enables a function on the setup menu that allows programming a temp for the auxiliary lock-out. Unless the ambient is at or below the programmed lock-out, the auxiliary cannot run during normal operation, no matter how long the system is taking to reach the setpoint or how much is the differential between setpoint and room temp. Auxiliary still runs during defrost, and if the 'stat is explicitly set to Emergency.
Toggles, I added an optional outdoor temperature sensor on the thermostat. In addition to displaying the ambient on the 'stat at the push of a button, it enables a function on the setup menu that allows programming a temp for the auxiliary lock-out. Unless the ambient is at or below the programmed lock-out, the auxiliary cannot run during normal operation, no matter how long the system is taking to reach the setpoint or how much is the differential between setpoint and room temp. Auxiliary still runs during defrost, and if the 'stat is explicitly set to Emergency.
I added an optional outdoor temperature sensor on the thermo
Glenn,
Can we see a pic of your thermostat?
Is the outdoor temp sensor something that I can add to mine?
I would love to have that feature of an auxiliary lock-out.
Question: Even though the temp outside is in the teens this morning, will the heat pump produce enough to raise the temp. inside without having to use auxiliary heat(assuming that auxiliary is locked-out)?
Glenn,
Can we see a pic of your thermostat?
Is the outdoor temp sensor something that I can add to mine?
I would love to have that feature of an auxiliary lock-out.
Question: Even though the temp outside is in the teens this morning, will the heat pump produce enough to raise the temp. inside without having to use auxiliary heat(assuming that auxiliary is locked-out)?
Gary, I think Glenn has it set so that if the outside temp gets somewhere near the low 20s, then it will unlock the aux strips. Glenn will have to give you the specific temp point at which he's got it programmed to unlock those strips.
GadgetGary, check if your system/thermostat manufacturer offers the sensor/lockout option. Carrier and Lennox both have it. I had Lennox at my previous house, Carrier now. The outdoor temp is displayed on the Carrier 'stat by pressing the temp-up and temp-down buttons simultaneously. The lockout temp is programmed on a setup menu accessed by holding the Fan button for five seconds.
The Lennox thermostat was nice. It continually alternated the display between room temp and outdoor temp, and recorded the daily high/low (auto reset at midnight). A submenu could report the accumulated run-time of low-speed compressor, high-speed compressor, and auxiliary usage.
The lockout setting depends on system performance (the "balance point") and personal preference. The only way to know for sure is experiment and observe the results. The indoor temperature will rise, although it may be very slowly, as long as there's more heat moving in than what's escaping. The ideal system would continually vary its output to exactly balance during normal operation.
My previous house had a slightly oversized system (3.5 tons for 1278 sq ft) and could easily recover a 10°F setback in less than two hours at 30°F ambient, and hold 72°F indoors with normal cycling at 25°F ambient. The Carrier now is closer to "proper" capacity for the house (5 tons for 2550 sq ft, but I have 9' and 10' ceilings so it's a proportionately larger volume of airspace). At 30°F ambient it takes about 4 hours, maybe 4.5 to fully recover the 10°F setback (the setback period is from 10:30 AM to 3:00 AM, 17.5 hours, but it ends up being about 14 to 15 hours when the adaptive-recovery start-time is factored in). Weather conditions have been drizzling/misty so it gets frosty fairly quick. Outdoor temps in the teens I don't think it could handle for a recovery, or hold a normal indoor temp without assistance.
My usage and daily schedule is far from the norm, so YMMV.
The Lennox thermostat was nice. It continually alternated the display between room temp and outdoor temp, and recorded the daily high/low (auto reset at midnight). A submenu could report the accumulated run-time of low-speed compressor, high-speed compressor, and auxiliary usage.
The lockout setting depends on system performance (the "balance point") and personal preference. The only way to know for sure is experiment and observe the results. The indoor temperature will rise, although it may be very slowly, as long as there's more heat moving in than what's escaping. The ideal system would continually vary its output to exactly balance during normal operation.
My previous house had a slightly oversized system (3.5 tons for 1278 sq ft) and could easily recover a 10°F setback in less than two hours at 30°F ambient, and hold 72°F indoors with normal cycling at 25°F ambient. The Carrier now is closer to "proper" capacity for the house (5 tons for 2550 sq ft, but I have 9' and 10' ceilings so it's a proportionately larger volume of airspace). At 30°F ambient it takes about 4 hours, maybe 4.5 to fully recover the 10°F setback (the setback period is from 10:30 AM to 3:00 AM, 17.5 hours, but it ends up being about 14 to 15 hours when the adaptive-recovery start-time is factored in). Weather conditions have been drizzling/misty so it gets frosty fairly quick. Outdoor temps in the teens I don't think it could handle for a recovery, or hold a normal indoor temp without assistance.
My usage and daily schedule is far from the norm, so YMMV.
YMMV?
Your ___ may vary?
Your ___ may vary?
Mileage. (Read: experience, results)
GUUUURL SOME SAY I've got TONS of that.
LOL.
LOL.
Glenn,
Thanks so much. Here is my thermostat.
Thanks so much. Here is my thermostat.
rocketeer500
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
- Messages
- 115
So that's a heat pump!!
Forgive my ignorance, but I never understood how those really worked. Thanks for explaining it in detail DADoES. Growing up in southern California, there’s no need for this type of heating unit. It wasn’t until recently I actually saw one “steaming”. I’ve only used the central heater fives times in the last 4 years ( I usually use a space heater if I’m cold), so having to worry about heating a whole house or building due to freezing weather is not familiar to me.
Forgive my ignorance, but I never understood how those really worked. Thanks for explaining it in detail DADoES. Growing up in southern California, there’s no need for this type of heating unit. It wasn’t until recently I actually saw one “steaming”. I’ve only used the central heater fives times in the last 4 years ( I usually use a space heater if I’m cold), so having to worry about heating a whole house or building due to freezing weather is not familiar to me.
All air conditioners are heat pumps. They just don't move heat INTO the house when running in cooling mode ... they move it OUT.
Actually, heat pumps are ideally suited for mild climates. The trade-off is that they're more expensive to buy than air conditioning coupled with gas or standard electric heat so if one really doesn't need to use heat but on five occasions in four years the cost of purchase/install may not be justified in the long-term vs. how much the electric heat would cost to run in those few instances.
Actually, heat pumps are ideally suited for mild climates. The trade-off is that they're more expensive to buy than air conditioning coupled with gas or standard electric heat so if one really doesn't need to use heat but on five occasions in four years the cost of purchase/install may not be justified in the long-term vs. how much the electric heat would cost to run in those few instances.
yup. In places like south Florida, you'll find electric resistance coils in the air ducts when gas service for the hot water heater and dryer is but a few feet (meters) away.
Texas contingent, we have central HE a/c with electric furnace. How well does the heat pump,a/c fare with lightning zaps from summer storms. My a/c guy seems to think less complicated is better, are the heat pump a/c's more prone to a ZAP, or is it about the same?
Most people I know in Toronto have an air conditioner, and a gas furnace. It's not really practical for me to have a heat pump, as I usually like to get my house nice and warm FAST. Temperatures were like -15 degrees Celsius this week, and I don't think heat pumps could keep up with that load (or could they?).
Right now, I despise my Honeywell thermostat. It's a single-stage thermostat, and my furnace is dual-stage Carrier. My thermostat has that heat by 1 degree, shut off for 5 minutes, and so on. It's really annoying, because then my furnace can never run on high-stage, and it sometimes takes forever for my house to increase from 15 to 22 degrees Celsius, when it could do it in half the time on high-stage. My furnace and AC were replaced in 2003.
Right now, I despise my Honeywell thermostat. It's a single-stage thermostat, and my furnace is dual-stage Carrier. My thermostat has that heat by 1 degree, shut off for 5 minutes, and so on. It's really annoying, because then my furnace can never run on high-stage, and it sometimes takes forever for my house to increase from 15 to 22 degrees Celsius, when it could do it in half the time on high-stage. My furnace and AC were replaced in 2003.
exploder3211
Well-known member
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- Dec 24, 2006
- Messages
- 1,664
What is this considerd??? Its one of those heat things that are typicly found in a motel... Is it a heat pump or? Curious
