Heat Pump + Aux Heat Problem

Posted by David White on December 24, 2008, 7:04 pm

Hello. I have a relatively new house (2.5 years) that has an American
Standard Heat Pump (2a6b3018-060a1000a). It also has some form of
American Standard aux heater (bayhtr???) in the air handler. This is
controlled by a Panasonic TH8000 thermostat.

We have had a long period of cold weather here in Seattle and I have
noticed that during this time two unusual behaviors are happening with
my heating system:

(a) I have not see the AUX Heat indicator come on on the TH8000
thermostat. I have seen this frequently before and I took it to mean
that the aux heater was helping the heat pump along. But I have not seen
it at all in at least a week and I have looked frequently at the thermostat.

(b) There are times when the heat pump is not operating (I can see the
fan blades stopped) but there is significant cool air (not icy cold but
certainly not warm) coming out of my heating ducts. It is clearly being
blown by a circulating fan in the system but there is no warmth.

I have looked as much as I can at the heating unit under the house and
see nothing unusual. I checked the electronic air filter and it seems fine.

Any idea what may be wrong here? Thanks.

Posted by on December 24, 2008, 8:09 pm

On Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:04:11 -0800, David White

>Hello. I have a relatively new house (2.5 years) that has an American
>Standard Heat Pump (2a6b3018-060a1000a). It also has some form of
>American Standard aux heater (bayhtr???) in the air handler. This is
>controlled by a Panasonic TH8000 thermostat.
>We have had a long period of cold weather here in Seattle and I have
>noticed that during this time two unusual behaviors are happening with
>my heating system:
>(a) I have not see the AUX Heat indicator come on on the TH8000
>thermostat. I have seen this frequently before and I took it to mean
>that the aux heater was helping the heat pump along. But I have not seen
>it at all in at least a week and I have looked frequently at the thermostat.
>(b) There are times when the heat pump is not operating (I can see the
>fan blades stopped) but there is significant cool air (not icy cold but
>certainly not warm) coming out of my heating ducts. It is clearly being
>blown by a circulating fan in the system but there is no warmth.
>I have looked as much as I can at the heating unit under the house and
>see nothing unusual. I checked the electronic air filter and it seems fine.
>Any idea what may be wrong here? Thanks.

I have 1 million ideas as to what can be wrong. Send me a dollar per
idea and we can play, otherwise you can call a licensed hvac
contractor and they can actually walk up, touch it, see it, and fix
it. Merry Christmas!

I am the real ftwhd and I approve this message.

Posted by Injun Ear on December 24, 2008, 10:14 pm

Come on, guys, how bout giving him a straight answer. It's probably
going through a defrost cycle. Your HVAC guy can adjust it so that the
heat strips kick in when it's in defrost so you don't feel so cold.

Posted by David White on December 24, 2008, 10:29 pm

Injun Ear wrote:

> Come on, guys, how bout giving him a straight answer. It's probably
> going through a defrost cycle. Your HVAC guy can adjust it so that the
> heat strips kick in when it's in defrost so you don't feel so cold.

Thanks. I have tried putting the thing into emergency heat mode and I
find that this both gets heat coming from the registers but also gets
the aux heat indicator showing on the thermostat. So it seems that at
least part of the thermostat is ok and that the heater is working. But I
am not sure what to conclude must be wrong here. Happy holidays!

Posted by doh! on December 24, 2008, 11:18 pm

> Injun Ear wrote:

> > Come on, guys, how bout giving him a straight answer. It's probably
> > going through a defrost cycle. Your HVAC guy can adjust it so that the
> > heat strips kick in when it's in defrost so you don't feel so cold.

> Thanks. I have tried putting the thing into emergency heat mode and I
> find that this both gets heat coming from the registers but also gets
> the aux heat indicator showing on the thermostat. So it seems that at
> least part of the thermostat is ok and that the heater is working. But I
> am not sure what to conclude must be wrong here. Happy holidays!

Most likely there's nothing at all wrong with your thermostat--but with a
trane / american standard then in order to get your electric strips to come
on during condensor defrost you need to connect the black wire ( defrost
signal ) at the condensing unit outside up to the aux heat terminal at the
inside air handler--probably you'll find there is a spare white wire that
you can use for this.

--

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Heat Pump + Aux Heat Problem - Can You Help?