Two stage air conditioner

[sbudnick]

I have a Lennox two stage furnace and two stage air conditioner paired with a VisionPro thermostat. Is there an easy way to make sure the air conditioner is runing in both low and high stage? The thermostat appears set up properly and the settings on the furnace as well. I am having my annual air conditioning sevice tomorrow. I want to make sure I am getting the comfort/efficiency I paid for. Thanks in advance for your help.

[danglerb]

Ask your technician when he comes out?

When you say VisionPro, is that the 8321? I seem to remember three variations of even that model number something like 1006, 1009, and something else.

Yeah, safe answer is just ask the tech. Kind of the point of these fancy new systems beyond the energy savings is that the operation is supposed to be seamless so you don't even notice its running.

You may have some advanced mode that could force the mode to one or the other, but I am not sure that would still tell you anything about how it behaves normally, thats in how the system was setup.

[t527ed]

even if thermostat is set up right have the tech check to make sure furnace is set up for 2 stage a/c. blower speed should change with cooling stages.

[sbudnick]

The technician was out this morning and I have some concerns. He spent an average of 7 minutes with each air handler( 2 furnaces and 1 heat pump) and checked the refrigerant levels of the AC. When I asked him about how we could check about the 2 stage AC, he told me to look at the thermostat to see what stage it was on( I do not think the VisionPro even shows that). I do not want to complain to the company if this is what I should expect with the maintenance agreement, but on the other hand I can not help but feeling I did not receive a thorough job. What should I expect, and should I call a manager? Thanks.

[kevinmac]

Lower the thermostat to a very low temp setting then run outside to see if the unit sounds like it switches to a higher running speed! Most 2 stage units will run on the lst stage until the 2 2nd stage is needed to play catch up. When you lower the temp it should switch to the second stage until the set point is reached, then switch back to the 1 st stage. Along with that a VS AH will also switch to high cfm setting or 100%

[danglerb]

If your basically happy with the system don't pester them during the busy season.

I've been trying to figure out some of this stuff for about a week, and lets just say the installer has several ways they can set the system up, and some of the systems even appear to kind of learn and respond differently depending on past usage and current conditions. Even if you send out the whole family with walkie talkies each reporting on what some part sounds like as the system cycles, how do you know that its doing what it should? It could be stage 1 when it should be stage 2 and vice versa.

Who picked the thermostat, you or the installer? If you picked it, then its kind of up to you to read the manual and figure out how to use it. If they picked it as part of the system, then you should really read the manual and figure how to use it, but I would expect them to maybe once walk you through the operation.

When the tech said look at the thermostat, that would have been a good time to look as dumb as possible and ask him to show you since them boxes is a mystery. ;) An extra 5 min while the tech is there is asking a LOT less than for them to roll another truck. Read the manual in case its something simple for you to do, then maybe call the company and ask about it, but don't expect them to satisfy curiousity when other people need basic cooling.

[sbudnick]

Satisfy curiosity? I am happy to pay someone to confirm it is working correctly. I am not confident it is, as I had to call them back twice to setup the heating correctly. This is about customer service. A satisfied customer is the best advertising. My request is reasonable and I am always polite.

[danglerb]

Originally posted by sbudnick
Satisfy curiosity? I am happy to pay someone to confirm it is working correctly. I am not confident it is, as I had to call them back twice to setup the heating correctly. This is about customer service. A satisfied customer is the best advertising. My request is reasonable and I am always polite.

If you are getting cooling its working correctly, what you are asking is more of a is it working perfectly or how is it doing the fine job its doing. I agree its something you are entitled to know, but after the first week of hot weather many contractors have 16 hour days booked 3 weeks ahead with people that need basic cooling. If you put yourself in the shoes of one of the waiting people your request may not seem so simple.

Not saying this is the case, but your installer might not be 100% knowledgeable about this thermostat and optional ways to hook it up.

You might as well start reading the manual while you wait.