New infinity system and have a fan speed question

[eggsped]

I just got a new infinity system installed and am curious about choosing the ideal fan setting for the unit.

The kids bedrooms are always colder in the winter and hotter in the summer than any other room in the house. I decided an infinity system would help balance the temperature in the house and right now it appears to balance the temps very well, but outside temperatures are fairly moderate right now. I set the fan to "low" and have been running the system like that for the last few days. The unit maintains the temperature well but I can't tell if it will ever run the fan at any speed and if it's the best setting to run the unit at.

If I set the fan speed to low will it always run at slow or will the unit adjust the speed to meet heating demands?

To balance the temps in the house is the low setting the ideal one or should I use a different setting?

Is there anything else I should know?

So far I'm quite happy with everything about the system, it's so quiet I can't even tell it's running.

Thanks for all the advice that led me to order the infinity system.

[DGIO-Not]

Forgive me in advance, another post put me in a real foul mood.

The next is tounge in cheek: you have this awesome system with awesome capability, but you are asking a general board how to set it up instead of your installing contractor. Am I reading the post correctly? You are also concentrating on only one aspect of your system (fan speed,) this system (if true Infinity) is truly communicating and you haven't even began to scratch the surface of its capabilities and functionalities.

If were my company, go ahead, call us out again. Have us go through these other settings with you. Our goal is to make you comfortable, IE..please do not be thinking of us except when we call to remind you of maintenance, this is how we truly measure that we are a HUGE success.

[MoveOver]

With our system we don't even run the fan, leave it on auto and I have found the Infinity does a good job keeping all rooms at an even temp. Specially if you have a 2-stage outside unit.

[Cold Feet]

If I set the fan speed to low will it always run at slow or will the unit adjust the speed to meet heating demands?

The unit will adjust airflow to meet heating and cooling demands. The fan speed setting effects only air circulation when there is no heat or cool demand.

To balance the temps in the house is the low setting the ideal one or should I use a different setting?

Use the lowest setting that balances temperatures acceptably. If no setting is adequate, then you need to get some reducting done.

[eggsped]

DGIO-Not, No problem, however, it's Friday night on a holiday weekend. At this point I wouldn't imagine anyone would be in the office to answer my question. I guess I could call the salesman as I do have his cell phone or call the 24 hour emergency number but I personally would feel a little awkward calling with this question unless it were during normal business hours.

In my installers defense they want to schedule one more visit during the next couple of weeks to answer questions and ensure that all is working as it should so I'm not going to bash the installer for not anticipating my question about how the fan speed actually works. It would be better if the Infinity Control instruction booklet spent a little more time discussing fan speed settings and their implications.

[DGIO-Not]

It would be better if the Infinity Control instruction booklet spent a little more time discussing fan speed settings and their implications.

You should see the size of our book :-)

Let me rephrase something you said, if I misunderstood, then feel free to correct me. You do not feel that this is worth inconviencing your installing contractor on a holiday weekend, so you will wait till things are more convinenet.

That is admirable. Your salesman would probably find a tech to talk to you anyway (techs are the best source for this info afterall.) Your concern is great, all our guys deserve time with their families (that is what we work for afterall.) However, we (well most that I know) have a system in place to answer this type of question for you. I am not saying call tonite, but I know you could probably get a rather lengthy conversation come morning.

Techs are problem solvers, it makes them feel better to be able to answer questions, and as they have to answer the calls anyway, you may just help make their "waiting" worth while even if it is minutes on the phone.

[eggsped]

The unit will adjust airflow to meet heating and cooling demands. The fan speed setting effects only air circulation when there is no heat or cool demand.



Use the lowest setting that balances temperatures acceptably. If no setting is adequate, then you need to get some reducting done.

Thanks Cold Feet. I went into this install expecting and requesting that the duct modified but the installer was insistent that my duct work was more than adequate and that replacing it would be a waste of $$.

The more I play with this the more questions I have...

[eggsped]

You should see the size of our book :-)

Let me rephrase something you said, if I misunderstood, then feel free to correct me. You do not feel that this is worth inconviencing your installing contractor on a holiday weekend, so you will wait till things are more convinenet.

That is admirable. Your salesman would probably find a tech to talk to you anyway (techs are the best source for this info afterall.) Your concern is great, all our guys deserve time with their families (that is what we work for afterall.) However, we (well most that I know) have a system in place to answer this type of question for you. I am not saying call tonite, but I know you could probably get a rather lengthy conversation come morning.

Techs are problem solvers, it makes them feel better to be able to answer questions, and as they have to answer the calls anyway, you may just help make their "waiting" worth while even if it is minutes on the phone.

I'm not a tech but I do have to deal with problems as they arise when they arise, we run 3 shifts, and I'm always appreciative when the guys in the shop wait for me to get into work to ask non critical questions.

[teaysvalley]

There is a good point here about the little booklet that comes with the Infinity Control. It doesn't even scratch the surface of all the possible settings and what they do or their consequences. I have a technical background and enjoy tinkering with high tech stuff. If it wasn't for a link that someone posted here that took me to the installation instructions, I wouldn't have known the full capabilities. I feel I shouldn't have to bother a tech to setup my thermostat.

The guys that installed mine let it do the self install, set the media filter, slipped the booklet behind the thermostat and ran. That may be okay for the average Joe, but I want my money's worth out of it.

[DanW13]

Not sure where your from but if your in the midwest as I am you'll want to keep the fan setting on low most all the time except when your running your AC the you going to want to have the fan on auto.

The low fan speed will move the air even though when you put your hand near the vent your not going to feel much air moving but believe me itis moving quite a bit of air even though it doesn't fell like it.

During the winter heating season you may even want to bump the fan speed up to med just to move the cold air around alittle more and to also move the hot air off from the ceiling will mix the air alittle more than low speed IMO.

What do you have for cold air return, are they all on the floor or all along the ceiling ot do you possibly have one high and low for the different season such as to have the floor return open during the heating season and the ones at the ceiling open during the cooling season ? The IMO is the best set up for the return air in climates like mine here in the upper midwest (Wisconsin) and I was raised in homes that this is the norm for most all homes in our area.

There's alot of other settings such as set-back for night time temps, and then you can have the set point kick up to normal day time temps and the infinity controller will do this all based on both the indoor temp and outdoor temp and will calculate when it needs to start to raise the set point based on both temps. you'll have 7 day programing which allows you to control temp, fan speed, several different settings for each day of the week plus the weekends.

If you have either a eac or filter media there's settings for that as well. plus a humidifier, UV lights, ect..... So as oyu can see there's alot to read up on and to learn. Call the tech as soon as you can to wither have someone stop by ASAP to show oyu how to set everything up based on all the equipment you have or had installed otherwise your not going to beneift form having the controller.

[AggieEngineer]

If you are in an area with humidity, running the fan continuous in cooling causes moisture on the coil to be revaporized during the off-cycle, dumping it back into the house. The fan does shut off for a period of time at the end of each cooling cycle but it still puts humidity back into the house. The infinity system will pull the humidity back out but that requires the system to run more costing $$$.

Unless there is a significant unbalanced building load problem, don't run the fan in continuious during cooling. In heating, it is fine to run it on continuous.

The infinity is really an awesome system.

[tedkidd]

Totally sweet system, hope you got HybridHeat (5 stages heat, 2 cool). Tell the system your humidity preference and you'll find warmer temperatures comfortable when cooling and colder temperatures when heating.

I don't think you'll go wrong having the fan run on low whenever you are home. Every house is so different that many of these suggestions are likely wrong for your situation. You will simply have to live with it a while, and experiment, to see how it works in your home. Part of the fun of having such a nice new toy.

You may want to get a SAM so you can control it over the Internet. I'm pestering Carrier to start data logging for their SAM customers so people can see history of run times and home temperature to outside, and dial in their programming for comfort and efficiency.

AGGIE - the best way to save energy is not run the system at all. If you buy an Infinity the idea is usually comfort THEN efficiency, a few extra pennies doesn't matter to the Infinity customer (and let's face it - their bill is already likely to be lower).
Maybe there are allergy issues. Constant air filtration and great temperature balance instead of adequate or poor balance are probably well worth it.

[eggsped]

Tedkidd, I did jump on the hybrid system and am really liking it so far. I've been running it on low for now but will likely switch to auto tonight. Contolling it over the internet sounds very tempting.... As I type my smoker is being controlled over the internet and tweeting... I just have to keep playing with it to find what is ideal for the house.

[DanW13]

being that this is a completely new system for you all you can do is exactly what you mentioned, and that is to just play with it and take notes and record your RH, indoor temp compared to the outdoor temps, RH and see what your happy with. I recall thats what I did with my furnace is to change settings until I found a happy medium. Have fun and let us know what you end up with based on your average temps ect....

[dallasbill]

We run the system at the 1.5 story (open loft) end of our house on 'low' whenever we are home. The humidity has never bumped up at all in cooling season in the 4 yrs we have done this. The pre-set 5 minutes after the call for cooling has ended, that the fan stays off, works for us.

Have fun w/ your new system!

[sastexan]

We just got an Infinity system installed ourselves, and I have similar questions / issues as the original poster. I will ask my installer soon, but I'm trying not to harass him anymore than necessary (I'm still working on my punch list for them before I make the final payment - also, he is out for the next few days for surgery - and these aren't critical issues; I want to save the direct phone calls for those instead of crying wolf all the time).

I noticed that the Infinity controller will put it in "dehumidify" mode but fan is noted as "off" (I have the fan set to auto) frequently. We live in a high humidity area, but the past few days that the system has been operational the temperature has been pretty moderate, not needing any cooling in the house. But the system seems to let the RH climb up pretty high (I saw it hit 58% a few times, even though I have it set to 48%). The temp is set to 78, and the actual temp indoors is 77 or 76.

My questions are, what is the system actually doing in "dehumidify", and why is the controller allowing the humidity level to climb that high?

Thanks!

[AggieEngineer]

[QUOTE=sastexan;4454822]My questions are, what is the system actually doing in "dehumidify", and why is the controller allowing the humidity level to climb that high?
QUOTE]

In dehumidify mode, the Infinity runs low cooling mode with reduced indoor airflow. This greatly increases the latent capacity of the system. Depending on settings, the system will overcool the room up to 3°F to satisfy the dehum demand. I don't believe it will allow to go more than 3F. In humid areas, it is best to have the fan on auto as you said you have it.

[AggieEngineer]

I believe there is a setting for high humidity areas. Have the installer make sure that is set in the Advanced setup.

[dash]

We just got an Infinity system installed ourselves, and I have similar questions / issues as the original poster. I will ask my installer soon, but I'm trying not to harass him anymore than necessary (I'm still working on my punch list for them before I make the final payment - also, he is out for the next few days for surgery - and these aren't critical issues; I want to save the direct phone calls for those instead of crying wolf all the time).

I noticed that the Infinity controller will put it in "dehumidify" mode but fan is noted as "off" (I have the fan set to auto) frequently. We live in a high humidity area, but the past few days that the system has been operational the temperature has been pretty moderate, not needing any cooling in the house. But the system seems to let the RH climb up pretty high (I saw it hit 58% a few times, even though I have it set to 48%). The temp is set to 78, and the actual temp indoors is 77 or 76.

My questions are, what is the system actually doing in "dehumidify", and why is the controller allowing the humidity level to climb that high?

Thanks!

Likely not set to "cool to dehumidify",ask them.

[DanW13]

The Cool To dehumidify setting is this a setting that only works when you have both matching pieces of equipment or will it work with say a Infinity furnace and a Payne outdoor unit ?