Rheem Heat Pump

Posted by Injun Ear on December 16, 2008, 1:51 pm

I had a new Rheem heat pump system with the variable-speed air handler
installed 2 years ago. 14 SEER. The thing works great in the summer and
winter as long as the temperature stays above freezing. When it's 20
degrees out, the thing keeps doing it's defrost thing ever so often and
when it does that, it blows COLD air on us. As a result, we are not
comfortable. To get some heat, I have to put it on emergency heat mode
and bump the thermostat up about 6 deg. to get it into the second stage
so we can get warm. IN emergency mode, the blower never shuts off, even
though it reaches temperature. There must be a better way. Does anyone
have a suggestion? We're in Fort Worth, Texas, so we don't get that
many days of below freezing. But when we do......

Posted by Noon-Air on December 16, 2008, 3:26 pm

>I had a new Rheem heat pump system with the variable-speed air handler
>installed 2 years ago. 14 SEER. The thing works great in the summer and
>winter as long as the temperature stays above freezing. When it's 20
>degrees out, the thing keeps doing it's defrost thing ever so often and
>when it does that, it blows COLD air on us. As a result, we are not
>comfortable. To get some heat, I have to put it on emergency heat mode and
>bump the thermostat up about 6 deg. to get it into the second stage so we
>can get warm. IN emergency mode, the blower never shuts off, even though
>it reaches temperature. There must be a better way. Does anyone have a
>suggestion? We're in Fort Worth, Texas, so we don't get that many days of
>below freezing. But when we do......

Chances are that it was not installed correctly... The installer needs to be
called back to correct the control wiring issues so the strips are energized
when the system goes into defrost mode. Second, you should not have to turn
the stat up that many degrees to get the strips to come on in emergency
heat. Third, the blower should cycle on and off with the rest of the system
unless the "circ" function is enabled on the controls. and finally, the
refrigerant charge is probably not correct either as the 14 seer heat pump
systems, when correctly sized and installed will only lose about 20 - 25% of
its rated capacity at 17F, so it will still make reasonable heat. Go here
and type in you zip code to find a Rheem Team Top Contractor to correct the
problems with your system.

http://www.rheemac.com/products/ProductInfo.aspx?XSL_File=rheemac_products.xsl&Market=Residential&SectionVar=Cooling&Category=Heat%20Pumps

Posted by Injun Ear on December 16, 2008, 7:16 pm

Thank you very much for that good information. I appreciate a straight
answer like that. So many others on here are responding to a question
with flames or smart remarks. You are the man! If you were local I
would get you to fix it. I already found a local Rheem guy through the
URL you gave. I'll be calling him.

The guy that installed my system was not really that familiar with Rheem
He's a Coleman dealer. I wanted one with the Copeland Scroll
compressor, so we got the Rheem.

>
> Chances are that it was not installed correctly...

Posted by Lp1331 1p1331 on December 17, 2008, 12:58 am

In fairness to your installer, the wiring diagram on Rheem heat pumps
used to (though not positive if they still do) say something to the
effect of "for more economical operation, do not connect this wire"
referring to the wire to turn on the heat strips during defrost. I
personally don't know many/any people who would want the thing blowing
out ice cubes during defrost to save a couple of bucks a month. Heck,
for even more economical operation, set your thermostat to 50 deg. For
the most economical, set it to "off" Noon Air is right on the mark--
when everything is correct on that unit, it should heat your house w/o
aux heat on all but the few coldest days a year, and then the strips
should cycle on and off as needed to keep the temperature at the setting
desired. If it is sized to cool your house in Fort Worth, it certainly
should heat it OK. Good luck and Happy Holidays Larry

Posted by Noon-Air on December 18, 2008, 11:51 am

> Thank you very much for that good information. I appreciate a straight
> answer like that. So many others on here are responding to a question
> with flames or smart remarks. You are the man! If you were local I would
> get you to fix it. I already found a local Rheem guy through the
> URL you gave. I'll be calling him.
> The guy that installed my system was not really that familiar with Rheem
> He's a Coleman dealer. I wanted one with the Copeland Scroll compressor,
> so we got the Rheem.

Your welcome... If you would please, post all of the problems that the Rheem
tech found and corrected. BTW... folks that have bonified problems do get
help here as long as they don['t get ugly because they are told something
they don't want to hear. As a rule the ones that get given a hard time are
the ones that want us to dianose their systems over the computer, site
unseen, so they can DIY when they obviously don't know a hammer from a
screwdriver, or they are landlords trying to fix it for free at the expense
of the tenants comfort, or a home owner that used the cheapest price and now
are not happy because they didn't get what they didn't pay for.

There is something to be said for using a *competent*, licensed, insured,
professionally trained, Master HVAC Tech to install and/or service your
comfort system. Its a whole lot cheaper and easier to get it done right the
first time, than it is to have it done over.

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