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rkalbo

heat pump not warm enough

rkalbo
15 years ago

I have a goodman 4ton heatpump 16seer .i checked the temp at the closest duct to the heatpump it was 35deg f outside the air coming from the vent was 79deg F stopped by the place that installed it. told them what was going on they asked if it was keeping up the temp in the house I said it was they said there was nothing wrong with it then.Then they said if they come out and ckeck it and found nothing wrong they would have to charge me a service call which is over a $100.00 suppost to have ten year parts and labor the heatpump is less than a year old. How warm should the air be coming from the vents be.the house is 2200sqft 2x6 walls very tight ducts in the basement stat set at 68degf

Comments (13)

  • ryanhughes
    15 years ago

    More than 79*, that's for sure. What are you using to measure the temperature? Measure the temperature right after the air handler. Your ducts could be losing heat, or your heat pump could be underperforming. When was the unit installed? The company should be responsible to ensuring the unit is operating properly.

  • rkalbo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I am using a round thermometer about 12' from the furnace the ducts aren't insulationed the basement temp is 62f.
    I have been tring to find a thermometer that I could put in the duct over the furnace.

  • tigerdunes
    15 years ago

    ducts should be insulated both supply and return and checked for any leakages.

    get a digital thermometer at one of the big box stores. take a reading at the air handler supply and return.

    79 is low but obviously you will have heat loss with uninsulated ducts.

    IMO

  • tlewis_hvac
    15 years ago

    It would definitely help if the ductwork was insulated, but if this is a 16 Seer unit, I think you have a two speed/stage compressor in that unit. I have seen that problem before where the first speed/stage of the compressor comes on and the temperature out of the vents is about 85F degrees. Then when the second speed/stage comes on, the temperature is around 93F-96F. Then when the heat strips or auxillary heat comes on, the temp. should be around 110F-115F.
    I would tell them to come out and check it for free because you bought a 10 year labor warranty. Plus, it hasn't been a year since it was put in. If they are some what reputable, they would come over for any issues for the first year, at least I know that we do.

  • funnycide
    15 years ago

    Have you checked the temperature more than once? Do you know if you have a 2 stage unit? Do you have a variable speed fan? Some have dip switches to lower the fan speed when on stage 1. That may not have been set up correctly. I am not surprised that the contractor is not jumping to investigate a "problem?" when it is keeping up to temperatures. Most 5 or 10 year labor warranty programs are set up by the manufacturer. The contractor pays $xxx to purchase a 10 year parts & labor warranty to offer to the customer. When part x breaks the manufacturer gives the contractor the part and certain amount of labor money associated with that part. If there is no broken part there is no labor coverage.
    If you can document and explain what you think is a problem than then the contractor should come out to investigate.

  • ryanhughes
    15 years ago

    Single-stage compressor in a 4-ton 16 SEER Goodman. Insulation would help, but even without insulation I don't think 79* is acceptable--not all of my ducts are insulated and I still expect around 85*.

  • rkalbo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Its a single stage compressor.I didn't think I needed insulation on my duct work sense its heated some what only have a couple vents in the basement open its unfinished all open.I have a LP gas for back up 95% model it has a variable speed blower. I talked to the people who put it in someone I had talked to said they though that the blower came setup for a 5 ton. They said they would check it out that was last winter and I have never heard from them. Also I saw that the insulation had come lose on the outside txv and was just hanging over it called them about that said they would come out and never did.

  • jerry_nj
    15 years ago

    Let's get the input temperature. If you run the house at 80 degrees and the HP if putting out 79 degrees, big problem, you must be in A/C mode. If you run the house at 60 degrees,then 79 degrees may be real good. A rise of 20+ degrees across the heat exchanger is pretty good, i.e., you're moving the right amount of air to get efficient heat transfer.

    I have a two speed heat pump and the heat rise is about the same in both speeds, but the air is different: 1000 cfm in low 1400 cfm in high.

    I use a dark room thermometer to measure air temp. I drilled a 1/4" hole in the duct just above the air handler and stick the 4" long temp sensing rod into the air flow. My air delivery ducts are insulated, the return is not.

    If you're running your house at 70 degrees, the air out of the HP near the heat exchanger should be around 90 degrees.

    I run my house around 65 degrees and get 85 degrees out of the HP.

  • dadoes
    15 years ago

    Last night the ambient was somewhere between 29°F and 32°F. I was getting 87°F to 88°F out of my Carrier heat pump, with the input 68°F to 69°F, so that'd be about right.

  • jerry_nj
    15 years ago

    Agreed, about a 20 degree rise over "room ambient" - not outside ambient. Now, how long it runs will depend on outside ambient, other conditions constant/fixed.

  • garyg
    15 years ago

    Here is some techical data for my 3-ton, 14 SEER R-22 Goodman heat pump installed in '07:

    Outdoor-------Temp after
    temp----------indoor coil

    45F-----------99.1F
    35------------95
    25------------91.6
    15------------88.1
    5-------------84.4
    0-------------82.6

    The "temp after indoor coil" is based on a return air temp of 70F.

    You can get the same technical info for your 16 SEER heat pump on Goodman's website. Look under heat pumps, then product specs.

    Good luck

    Here is a link that might be useful: Goodman web site

  • jerry_nj
    15 years ago

    garyg,

    Does your data say and air-to-air HP will deliver heat from zero outside ambient? I assume the 82.6 is with no resistive auxiliary heat. Do you have the COP for that condition? Is it about ONE? Thus, with defrost, the "gain" could be lower than resistive heat.

  • troubleshooter321
    12 years ago

    Closing on a house soon. Need to get the Heat working right.
    AC on the Brant 2005 is working fine. Put it on heat and it only puts out 82 f on emergency heat is is 75 f. A tech working a separate problem happened to check the heat strips i think they were drawing around 20 amps apiece. I am not an
    ac tech, but i am an electronic tech. I plan to get training, probably through Penn Foster. Right now the prewssure is to fix this.

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