HELP: Need unbiased expert hardware advice on TRANE components: Please Read

[atwnsw]

Quick background:

I live in Florida and have a 1939 one story home on piers with crawl space of 2,300 SF. Approx 3 years ago the air compressor died (not Trane) and we switched companies to a new installer who put in the following Trane specs:

15 Seer Rating
4 Ton unit (Hopefully the numbers below are correct - difficult to read hand writing)
Airhandler: 4TEE3X09
Heat Strip Model: BAYHT121408
Outdoor Unit Model: 4TWR5048E
Thermostat Model: TCONT803
Ari: 3523494

The installer put in a Honeywell Thermostat (803), not Trane, for reasons I can't remember. The installer said that they were the same unit. What I don't remember exactly is if the Trane required additional wiring and that was the excuse?

I have complained for the last 3 years that the humidity in the house has been horrible since the A/C company put in the Trane unit. They have sent multiple techs over a dozen times without any relief.

I finally gave up and called the installer about putting in a whole house dehumidifier (Big Bucks) because he mentioned this was the only permanent solution. The owner didn't call me for 10 days. I finally said that I have had enough and called another company. The new company sent a new tech to my house:

The tech identified one problem right away: He said that the thermostat was never programmed to operate properly. Until he showed up the thermostat would only show the current humidity level and never gave me the option to adjust it. After he changed the setting, I can now raise and lower the humidity. He said that the air handler was never programmed to start up slowly in dehumidification mode so it has an 8 minute ramp up. Then he said that the A/C would continue for an additional 3 degrees lower than programmed if the humidity was higher. In addition he said that my thermostat was not displaying the correct humidity levels and was off by at least 10 degrees. Finally the new tech said that while Honeywell makes Trane thermostats, I should have a Trane thermostat since the software communicates differently with the Trane Hardware than the Honeywell unit. He did say my duct work was fine.

All of the techs from the old company never diagnosed such a simple problem.

I have a 10 year Trane extended warranty on parts and labor. While I would like to switch all of my business over to the new company immediately, they cannot honor the thermostat warranty since my installer put in a Honeywell unit even though I purchased a Trane thermostat. So I called the old A/C company to replace the thermostat under my warranty and insisted that they replace it with a Trane thermostat TCONT803 which is what I originally purchased. Today I finally received a phone call from the owner of the old company saying on my machine that he is returning my call about the whole house dehumidifier. It is my belief that he is going to talk me into staying with the old Honeywell Thermostat!

Is there a difference between the units?
The humidity in the house is much better now that the thermostat has been reprogrammed.

Any advice is appreciated? If you need any more information, please advise.

I am tired of being screwed and unable to articulate the facts.

I need help.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Anthony

[teddy bear]

Quick background:

I live in Florida and have a 1939 one story home on piers with crawl space of 2,300 SF. Approx 3 years ago the air compressor died (not Trane) and we switched companies to a new installer who put in the following Trane specs:

15 Seer Rating
4 Ton unit (Hopefully the numbers below are correct - difficult to read hand writing)
Airhandler: 4TEE3X09
Heat Strip Model: BAYHT121408
Outdoor Unit Model: 4TWR5048E
Thermostat Model: TCONT803
Ari: 3523494

The installer put in a Honeywell Thermostat (803), not Trane, for reasons I can't remember. The installer said that they were the same unit. What I don't remember exactly is if the Trane required additional wiring and that was the excuse?

I have complained for the last 3 years that the humidity in the house has been horrible since the A/C company put in the Trane unit. They have sent multiple techs over a dozen times without any relief.

I finally gave up and called the installer about putting in a whole house dehumidifier (Big Bucks) because he mentioned this was the only permanent solution. The owner didn't call me for 10 days. I finally said that I have had enough and called another company. The new company sent a new tech to my house:

The tech identified one problem right away: He said that the thermostat was never programmed to operate properly. Until he showed up the thermostat would only show the current humidity level and never gave me the option to adjust it. After he changed the setting, I can now raise and lower the humidity. He said that the air handler was never programmed to start up slowly in dehumidification mode so it has an 8 minute ramp up. Then he said that the A/C would continue for an additional 3 degrees lower than programmed if the humidity was higher. In addition he said that my thermostat was not displaying the correct humidity levels and was off by at least 10 degrees. Finally the new tech said that while Honeywell makes Trane thermostats, I should have a Trane thermostat since the software communicates differently with the Trane Hardware than the Honeywell unit. He did say my duct work was fine.
Is there a difference between the units?
The humidity in the house is much better now that the thermostat has been reprogrammed.

Any advice is appreciated? If you need any more information, please advise.

I am tired of being screwed and unable to articulate the facts.

I need help.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Anthony

Properly setup a/c should supply cold dry air without t-stat intervention. Its about the blower speed and coil temperature. After a hour cooling cycle the %RH should be less then 50%RH. If not slow the air flow. The features you mention will help as the length of the cooling cycle declines during cool damp weather. Also fan "auto" mode helps.
But as the cooling load declines and outdoor dew points remain high, the a/c will not run enough to remove the moisture. Than a small whole house dehumidifier is nice feature. They maintain <50%RH without any a/c operation. No over-cooling and more comfortable. 78^F, <50%RH is very comfortable and saving a lot electricity. Check out the Ultra-Aire 70H for moderately cost device to dramatically improve comfort during low/no cooling loads.
Regards TB

[second opinion]

Properly setup a/c should supply cold dry air without t-stat intervention. Its about the blower speed and coil temperature. After a hour cooling cycle the %RH should be less then 50%RH. If not slow the air flow. The features you mention will help as the length of the cooling cycle declines during cool damp weather. Also fan "auto" mode helps.
But as the cooling load declines and outdoor dew points remain high, the a/c will not run enough to remove the moisture. Than a small whole house dehumidifier is nice feature. They maintain <50%RH without any a/c operation. No over-cooling and more comfortable. 78^F, <50%RH is very comfortable and saving a lot electricity. Check out the Ultra-Aire 70H for moderately cost device to dramatically improve comfort during low/no cooling loads.
Regards TB

The Tstats are identical with the exception of the Trane 803 does not have a UV light timer.

The humidity is measured in % rh not in degrees, it will overcool up to 3 degrees from set point if the RH is 12% from set point. 1 degree overcool per 4% deviation from set point