Problem with new Amana 18 SEER heat pump

[beenthere]

A properly sized unit will have long run times to keep up. And it is suppose to have long run times.

They can use the same digital manometer to test static pressure, as they use to test gas pressure on gas furnaces.

[dj1993]

As far as the house, we have a 1647 SF one-story home (over a crawl space) that we bought 3 years ago and gutted 90% of it and reinsulated prob. 90% of all exterior walls (2x4), installed all new construction Low E argon-filled windows and replaced all but one exterior door with energy efficient ones. We have installed extra insulation in the attic this year before they installed the new heat pump and have R-60 over most of the attic area. Heat loss is not our problem. When we have turned the heat pump off, it took an hour for the thermostat to drop a degree when it was 32 degrees outside.

Also, we had the installer install all new ductwork when they installed the heat pump. They added cold air returns in the ceilings because we did not have any. We are wondering if there is an issue with the duct work for this unit that is causing the problem. Some of the previous posters in this forum suggested that could at least part of the problem because of the variable speed blower motor pushing against high static pressure (using large amounts of electricity).

Supposedly, the installer is getting the equipment to perform the static pressure test.

We have had one of the warmest winters we have had for years and have hardly seen temperatures below freezing (highly unusual). Considering what our electric bills have been, I would hate to see what they were if we had a normal winter with this new unit.

[Gross]

As far as the house, we have a 1647 SF one-story home (over a crawl space) that we bought 3 years ago and gutted 90% of it and reinsulated prob. 90% of all exterior walls (2x4), installed all new construction Low E argon-filled windows and replaced all but one exterior door with energy efficient ones. We have installed extra insulation in the attic this year before they installed the new heat pump and have R-60 over most of the attic area. Heat loss is not our problem. When we have turned the heat pump off, it took an hour for the thermostat to drop a degree when it was 32 degrees outside.

Also, we had the installer install all new ductwork when they installed the heat pump. They added cold air returns in the ceilings because we did not have any. We are wondering if there is an issue with the duct work for this unit that is causing the problem. Some of the previous posters in this forum suggested that could at least part of the problem because of the variable speed blower motor pushing against high static pressure (using large amounts of electricity).

Supposedly, the installer is getting the equipment to perform the static pressure test.

We have had one of the warmest winters we have had for years and have hardly seen temperatures below freezing (highly unusual). Considering what our electric bills have been, I would hate to see what they were if we had a normal winter with this new unit.

if this company doesnt trust a manual J and doesnt know to do/ doesnt have the equipment for a static pressure test i'd be EXTREMELY skeptical of their ability to size ducting IMHO

[dj1993]

They came yesterday and adjusted the differential on the thermostat to low (they said there was only low, medium & high and it had been set at medium).

They also brought equipment to do static pressure test. They had an electronic meter with a small length of clear tubing attached to it. They drilled two holes (one in the ductwork below the furnace (going to the ductwork under the house and one in the ductwork above the filter (going to the cold air returns). They stuck the tubing (no probes) up to the holes they drilled and took the readings. Did not stick any tubing or probes into the ductwork. The readings were 0.2 and 0.1 and they said it showed the ductwork was fine. I asked about sticking any probes or the tubing into the holes because everything I have read or videos online that I have viewed about taking static pressure tests said for probes to be placed through the holes into the ducts at a 90 degree angle to the airflow. I was told that there was no need to stick anything into the holes because the airflow would cause false readings.

Is this the way to take static pressure readings? Is it accurate?

[udarrell]

They came yesterday and adjusted the differential on the thermostat to low (they said there was only low, medium & high and it had been set at medium).

They also brought equipment to do static pressure test. They had an electronic meter with a small length of clear tubing attached to it. They drilled two holes (one in the ductwork below the furnace (going to the ductwork under the house and one in the ductwork above the filter (going to the cold air returns). They stuck the tubing (no probes) up to the holes they drilled and took the readings. Did not stick any tubing or probes into the ductwork. The readings were 0.2 and 0.1 and they said it showed the ductwork was fine.

I asked about sticking any probes or the tubing into the holes because everything I have read or videos online that I have viewed about taking static pressure tests said for probes to be placed through the holes into the ducts at a 90 degree angle to the airflow. I was told that there was no need to stick anything into the holes because the airflow would cause false readings.

Is this the way to take static pressure readings? Is it accurate?

Two videos showing the proper way to check static pressures:

Video #One;

Video #Two;

If your furnace has an evaporator coil on it, there is no-way they are going to get a total of 0.3" static pressure on that system; NO coils, including NO condensing coil in the furnace, then you 'could possibly' get 0.25" SP.

Most times the probe will NOT be placed ahead of the condensing coil, therefore, the total static reading will Not be read. I have never seen the pressure drop listed on a high-efficiency furnace condenser coil.

Compare how they took the readings to a PRO showing you how it should be taken.

[beenthere]

Yep, they took the readings the wrong way. Ad it makes it seem like everything is ok.

[jpsmith1cm]

eliteair

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[beenthere]

bigshow, this is the Ask Our Pro's forum, and only Pro members that have been vetted by the AOPC may post advise here. Please apply to the AOPC today, thank you.

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[dj1993]

Well, update on what has gone on. We did not seem to get any support from Amana. No one could explain why we were having such outrageous energy consumption from the 2 Amana units we had installed. We got very tired of trying to monitor the on/off cycles. We finally told them to pull the Amana system out and put something else in. Amana did not seem too concerned about finding out what was wrong with the system.

They installed a York communicating system after we had the factory representative come to our house and look at what we had and discusswhat we were expecting and what they would do if we had similar problems. They installed a York 18 SEER communicating sytem and, so far, it has worked fine. No more short cycles on & off or run times of 2-4 hours at a time. The run times seem appropriate for the temperatures. Unfortunately, it has not been as cold consistently as it was prior to this one being installed, but the day-to-day energy consumption is showing that this heat pump has energy consumption more in line with what we should expect. We are hopeful at least. Thanks for all your suggestions and comments.

[wahoo]

Please post back here and let us know how things worked out. As pros we are interested.

[jpsmith1cm]

joseph glynn

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Your post has been deleted.

[dj1993]

Update on this problem. Our York heat pump system is working great. Our utility bills went down and (so far) we are satisfied with the system. No more run times lasting hours or shutting off for a few minutes only to restart again (like with the Amana). The system has worked great this summer and we have had EXTREMELY high temperatures this summer and our cooling bills have been manageable.

The company that installed the systems say they are no longer installing Amana or Goodman systems any more because of the problems they were having with them and the lack of support from Amana. I know they were extremely frustrated with Amanda when they were trying to figure out what was going on with the two systems they installed in our house.

[bobboan]

What size is the York system?