oil vs HP

with that kind of winter electric rate and the price of oil, absolutely get the system checked out and serviced by by a pro. you will be putting money in your pocket when you are able to run HP vs the more expensive oil heat.

IMO

I 2nd tigers recommendation. Thats a good electric rate (especially if thats your total rate per KW).

Might be something as simple as the way the thermostat is set or the controls.

Keep in mind heatpumps aren't so good at bringing back up the temperature. That slightly warm air at 50 degrees is probably in the 90's or even warmer. Thats good stuff. It takes more time but it will heat your house. Quite thouroughly too. You could get a fancy thermomemeter and test the temperature coming out of your vents. You can buy a thermometer like that on ebay for under $10.

if your A/C works, their is a good chance your heating side of things is working too. Having a $400 electric bill in the summer makes me wonder though. Probably worth calling a pro. If the heatpump is only 6 to 8 years old I would think its atleast 12 seer which isn't too bad.

with $400/mth electric bills in summer, system should be checked out by pro along with thermostat dual fuel operation.

This is my first house and I never had a heat pump nor oil heat before.

Someone mentioned that with heat pump I should expect around 90 degrees temperature coming out of my vents. Is that correct? Does it depend on the room temperature setting I set on my thermostat, like 65 vs 75 or is it steady at or around 90 all the time regardless of the thermostat setting?

Also, what temperature should I expect coming out of my vents when I use oil heat? I'm going to have an oil tech clean my system and I want to make sure it functions the way it should.

Another thing that doesn't look right - the fan is always running, regardless whether it's set to "Auto" or "On" even when ac\heat is not engaged. I have a switch on the wall, which is like a regular light switch but it functions like a circuit breaker for the whole system I guess and I use this switch to turn the system (and the thermostat) on and off.
I guess the wiring is messed up.

Thanks.

By the way, the switch on the wall that I mentioned above is not the same as the switch that I have on the furnace. The one on the furnace is red and I think it should turn off just the furnace, while I don't really understand what the one on the wall is for, but the one on the wall turns off the whole system including the fan.

Is there a way to find a wiring diagram for my thermostat - Bryant

oil vs HP

the HP is a Bryant? you are certain? post mdl number.

what about the furnace? brand,mdl, size.

this should have been checked out before purchase by a pro.

anything here would be a WAG.

call a pro before they get busy with the first cold snap.

system should be checked out and you need to learn about the controls you have for best operation.

IMO

Oh, I wish I knew what I am looking at. Is there a way to post pictures here?

Heat Pump - Trane XE 1000 Model twr042c10083

Beckett Oil Burner model "AFG"
on the site of the burner it says Beckett Model "k37mybkn-597"

on the top of the burner Honeywell thermostat
R8184 G 1427 Intermittent ignition oil primary

The thing with big air duct on top and oil burner mounted on is Bryant. Room thermostat is also Bryant.

When I turn on heat and set it to 73 (current temp 69) the heat pump occasionally makes some humming noise like it tries to start the fan, but fan wouldn't move. The air is coming from ducts is around 70. if I move the thermostat up to 75 the oil kicks in and I get about 105-110 at the air ducts.

Thanks

It's 70 outside and I decided to try ac. To my surprise the heat pump was making the same humming noise, like it would try to start the fan, but the fan wouldn't start. I pushed the fan blade with a stick and it started spinning.

Questions -
1. Is that something inside the fan that needs to be fixed and if so, what could it be and how much would it cost to have someone fix it? Can I fix this myself?
2. Since I use the main switch on the wall to turn on and off the whole system, could that be causing this problem? If so, may be I need to let it run for a few minute and the fan would kick in?

Thanks.

So now that the fan comes on does it keep coming on when you turn the system on or do you have to give it some help by giving the fan blade a nudge? That might explain your hi ac bill. Without the fan running it would work but very IN-efficiently.

You can't fix the fan motor yourself. It shouldn't be a ton of money though. Probably one hour of labor plus the part.

I don't see how the 'main switch' is the problem. You might want to do more experimenting to understand how your controls are setup. A 6 year old heatpump probably still works fine.

oil vs HP

it is doubtful that an XE1000 Trane HP is a six yr old system.

As far as fan condenser operation, probably a contactor which is a relatively inexpensive part and easy to replace-by an HVAC Pro. just making an educated guess.

You need to have your system serviced by a Pro and also learn how the operation controls work which obviously you don't know.

any idea when system was last serviced?

no more advice from me. good luck,you may need it.

IMO

The heatpump has 02 date on it, so it's 8yr old or less.

when I flip the switch on and off the fan in heatpump doesn't always work.
I tried like 6 times and it turned on by itself only once or twice.

Also, I noticed that the circuit breaker (inside the house) makes a noise every time the fan is trying to start. Is that normal for circuit breaker to make this noise? The lights in the house flicker when it makes this noise, but once I start it up with the stick everything is back to normal. I had an oil service rep over at my place and he said it's normal for lights to flicker, but at that time I didn't know that the fan doesn't work. now I wonder if it really is normal.

Another strange thing - it 70 inside and 70 outside, but when I tried to bring the room temperature to 68 the air coming out from the ducts wasn't cold enough, not nearly as cold as it was in the summer.I ran AC (with fan running) for about 45 min, but it's not the ice cold air that I was getting in the summer .

Thanks

call up an HVAC service guy and have it fixed. It sounds like its just not working right. Let us know after its done how the controls are set to work.