We have a new 2 ton heat pump and have concerns. advice needed.

3 years ago

Hello all,

We just had a new 2 ton heat pump and air handler installed last week (house is 1300 sq/ft) to replace the original 15 year old one.

We live in western NC and the outside temp yesterday evening was 42 degrees. My wife had been cooking/baking all evening so the indoor temp was 70 degrees. We like to sleep in cooler temps so instead of allowing the house to naturally cool off I thought I would use the opportunity to switch the heat pump over to cooling to try out the AC for the first time.

Not only did it not cool but it actually raised the temp in the house by a degree. I never really tried my AC on my old heat pump in the winter that I can remember so my questions for you fine people that know more than I are...

1. Is this normal for new heat pumps?

2. Do they not allow cooling at certain outside temps to protect the compressor or unit?

3. Should I be concerned that it will not cool when that time comes this year to start cooling?

And as a follow up question my old inefficient unit would run for 20 -30 minutes to reach set temp. This new unit averages 10 minutes run time until set temp reached. Should I also be concerned that it will not run long enough to pull the humidity out this summer, or am I just overthinking it considering it can get pretty hot and humid in our summers here and should run longer when it does get warmer outside than it's having to run now?

Thank you for any advice you can give!

Featured Answer

sktn77a

3 years ago

Its not recommended to use the system to cool when the outside temperatures are below 60 degrees. However, it should still work (heatpumps go into AC mode when they are defrosting). Sounds like something isn't wired correctly.

The heatpump may be a little oversized or your CPH setting/anticipation in the thermostat may need to be changed

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Comments (6)

Zackery Morris
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I should also mention my old unit was also a 2 ton, and my new thermostat is a XR724 Trane which by looking at the installer settings is already set to "less aggressive" which would indicate to me there's not much more thermostat wise to get longer cycle runs if you guys think they're needed.
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Zackery Morris
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Also as far as cycles go I have noticed that it only cycles on 3-4 times an hour, with it usually being 3 times an hour and averages somewhere 10-12 minutes with 10 being the norm. Last week it got down to the 20's at night and it did run longer that night like 15-18 minutes a few cycles.
sktn77a
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Is it a two stage system? If so, it may not be staging, ie it may have been mis-wired to come on 2nd stage all the time.

Wait until the next time the system comes on and after ~ 30 seconds, turn the thermostat up 6 degrees - see if the second stage comes on after a minute or two.
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Austin Air Companie
3 years ago
why not post brand Model # / Serial #?

The unit is new... look at the sticker.

That being said: most units when being used for cooling should not be run in cooling mode when OAT is less than 55 degrees.

Because it's a heat pump doing so is not likely to hurt it any.
mike_home
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Not only did it not cool but it actually raised the temp in the house by a degree.

This could be a sign of an installation problem. The first possibility is even though the thermostat is switched to cooling, the outside condenser may still be operating in heat pump mode. The more likely problem is the heat strips are being turned in the cooling mode. It is also possible the heat strips are always on. If this is happening then you will see a large increase in your electric bill.

I think your cycle times are good. Are you able to tell when the heat pump is in the first or second stage?

We have a new 2 ton heat pump and have concerns. advice needed.

sktn77a

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We have a new 2 ton heat pump and have concerns. advice needed.

sktn77a

Comments (6)

Zackery MorrisOriginal Author

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