Hello all,

I am in the middle of building a 2400 sq ft ranch in michigan.
I finally(9 mos. later) got the insulation installed, and turned on my Trane heat pump.

The next day, the house was fairly warm(65 deg. F) but the unit has been running NONSTOP for about 32 hours straight. The aqir coming from the registers is luke-warm, not at all like a forced air furnace.

I also noticed the "loop" lines were sweating quite a bit in the basement. I am assuming that all of this is normal, but basically wanted some re-assurance.

FYI - I have a Trane heat pump with 2 electric back up heaters. My loop is a closed loop with 1800' of pipe buried in the yard. The unit is also equipped with a desuperheater...my hot water tank is alreadt connected to the heat unit, but there is NO water in the HWT, nor is there power to it. I don't know very much about this heating/cooling system, just what i have read on the DTE web site and talking with a handfull of people.

Any responses would be greatly appreciated.

Yuppie

 

No the air wont be as hot. But Id ask why the electric strip heaters didnt kick in ,if like you had the tstat set for 72o
2400sq ft up there how many KW heat do you have in there??


Why isnt this working also and tied in ????????


Do you mean the ground loop or lines on the unit. The loop pump is working ???????
Id say something is not right here . Id get the company that put it in, back right now on it . Is this the first one they put in ????

ED

 

Not sure why the electric strip heaters didnt kick in, but I manually turned them on through my thermostat yesterday and let them run for about 2-3 hrs...the temperature was noticeably
increased during that time.

The HWT is not up and running because the plumbing is not finished yet - Am I going to hurt anything by running the unit without water in the HWT???

The loop lines are the ones that are sweating - the 2 lines coming through the basement wall. When I say sweating - they were wet and cold to the touch - with minimal water spots on the basement floor.

I just called the company that installed the unit, and am waiting for a call back - they have done these types of systems before.
A fairly close friend of mine has the same system installed by the same company - 3 years running - no issues.

regards,
Yuppie

 

On the heatpump tstat most of them are set for a 2o drop then turn the strips on. Like if you set it at 70oand the pump cant do it and it drops to 68o then the strips should kick in Also if you go to AUX or some say EMER this should turn the strips on and heat the home with out the heatpump at all

Shouldnt take this long.

This is the way to go with the heatpump just have to get it all working right

ED

 

I've personally installed both Trane (used to be Geosystem). I don't understand the condensation on the ground loop. To get that the water has to extremely cold and/or the inside has to be warm (which it is) and humidity higher than the dew point for moisture to form.

One thing I've learned with experience that no matter how large of a pump you use to purge the system, small pockets of air typically form after operation. The air either needs to be bled off either at the circ pump or get the purge kit back in their and purge the entire system again. At that point you should be good to go.

I didn't notice - - what size heat pump is installed? I assume your pipe is installed horizontally or is it a vertical system?

 

I apologize for the mis-information

I took a second look at where the condensation is coming from - it is NOT coming directly from the ground loop - but rather from the 2 lines that run from the water pump (mounted on the cement wall) to the unit.

The ground loop (which is a horizontal closed loop) lines are wrapped in insulation - the lines that are condensating (from the pump to the unit) are NOT wrapped.

Other pieces of information:

1.) the temperature outside has been approx 35-45 deg F
outside.
2.) the house is only "partially" insulated right now( R-11 in the ceilings) - to be finished after the drywall is installed (at R-38)
3.) the "bond-joists" are not insulated at all in the basement.

summary: I know my house is not as efficient as it is going to be when it is finished - but it is ONLY about 40 deg F outside right now - and this thing will not quit running - what is it going to do next winter when it hits the ZERO mark??

worried and frustrated,

Yuppie

P.S. fortunately, though, it is only 66% paid for - that oughtta give the installer some incentive to get his a!@ back out there.

 

Get two thermometer that read the same. put one in the intake return of the unit and the other one on the plenum out side of it and see just what the temp diff is that you get over the coil???

ED

 

You can also take a refrigeration thermometer and find the temperature difference between incoming and leaving water temps. Check with the tech specs with the equipment to verify if TD is adequate.

 

How deep did they bury your loop? How deep is your frost line in the winter? I live in Tx. and I have similar problems only opposite in the summer. The loop doen't get burried deep enough and when the ground dries out, the loop looses its ability to reject heat. I think that many contractors use the Hz. loops because they are less expensive than the wells. Although the wells are much more reliable when done properly. Of course your house not being finished isn't helping anything either. A heat pump will not put out as hot of heat as a gas or straight electric heating unit, but you can't beat them for efficiency or quality of heat. I lived in Mich. a long time ago (Harrison), my last winter there was 30 below, and that was enough for me. I like the 50*+ winters down here. I am a A/C tech. and have been for 30 years, and really love the trade and helping people solve problems with their systems. If I caan help you, you can reply to this, otherwise, best wishes and God Bless.