Posted: 11/8/2012 4:20:45 AM EDT
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New house and we have a heat pump in the basement. I have no experience with heat pumps at all. It was getting cold down there so I tried running it for awhile. Could figure out why it wasn't working.
It turns out I had the thermostat on "EMER" not heat. When I switched it back to heat, it works. So my question is, why didn't emer work? My understanding is that its a back up coil heater of some sort in the indoor unit that is used when the outside unit is destoyed or frozen. Do Georgia units simply not have the backup coil? |
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It should have the coils. They can break and not work though. Did the fan run when you were in emergency heat mode? You could disconnect power to the unit, disconnect the wires from the heating elements and check them with an ohm meter.
As I understand it, the coils turn on when the unit is in defrost mode anyway since the reversing valve basically sets the thing in AC mode in the winter. The coils prevent it from blowing full on cold air. I know there are real HVAC guys in here . One will probably be along shortly. |
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Quoted:
It should have the coils. They can break and not work though. Did the fan run when you were in emergency heat mode? You could disconnect power to the unit, disconnect the wires from the heating elements and check them with an ohm meter. As I understand it, the coils turn on when the unit is in defrost mode anyway since the reversing valve basically sets the thing in AC mode in the winter. The coils prevent it from blowing full on cold air. I know there are real HVAC guys in here . One will probably be along shortly. Yes the fan run....Just no heat, checked with a IR laser. Its fairly new and still may be under warranty. That's my main reason for asking. |
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several things
) emergency heat does consist of an electric heater (coiled wire) in the unit (like the ones you see that glow red when activated) they can be added to the air handler or taken out, or a larger or smaller heater installed ) shadey contractors have been known to leave out the emer heat/coil heater because it costs extra money. about $100/5kw most 3 tons have 10kw. when you go to 4 or 5 ton then 15KW ) there should be a #6 wire going to your air handler. the blower motor only requires a #12 because it only pulls about 5 amps or so. (determine wire size......if there is NOT a #6 wire then the a/c guy did not install back up/em heat strips) ) find the breaker for the air handler. it should be a 60 amp or so. ) take the front cover off. if there is a sheetmetal blank on the top portion over the blower you do not have heat strips ) some of the newest units have an outside t stat on the outside unit. this will not allow the heat strips/em heat to come on unless it is 32 degrees or below. the reason is if your wife comes home from church and is chilly, the temptation is to turn on the heat strips (for warmer air) this kills your efficiency and light bill you can email if you want and i will give my number and i can walk you through it. i am in brunswick so it is a little too far for me to drive to atlanta |