Heat Strip Staging

[stonemanjr]

Quick questions: I have a 3 ton Carrier HP and the tech has installed 15 kw of heat strips. We had a 60 amp circuit hookup and he has said that we need an 80 amp and that 15kW is neccessary for this unit to perform properly. the question are:
1) I have read that 10kw is plenty for the size unit and home (1800sq ft ranch), Is this true?
2) Tech said that the strips cannot be staged from 5 to 10 to 15 in sequence, but only 10kw first and then 15 if needed. Is this correct?
3) What needs to be explained here so I can understand this better?

Thanks alot

[stonemanjr]

Also, he only hooked up the 10kW which is operating now, and left the 3rd strip disconnected

[BaldLoonie]

Only a load calc would tell, but you probably will be OK with 10kw plus the heat pump in VA.

Most of the time, mfrs. have the first 10kw as 1st stage, then then next 10kw (or in case of 15, 5kw) as 2nd stage. The heat kit could be rewired so each 5kw bank can be staged individually but probably not worth the controls or the effort.

[VTP99]

Also, he only hooked up the 10kW which is operating now, and left the 3rd strip disconnected

Because the third strip would put you over your 60 amp breaker.

[beenthere]

10KW is probably pretty close to what you need. Give or take 2KW.

[beshvac]

Certain models of the carrier heatstrips can be staged to run 5-10-15. There is a model that runs 3-6-9. Without a load calc, do not know what you really need, but as stated before "typically" in VA 10kw is fine.

[billygoat22]

15 kw usually have a 30 and 60 A circuit to them. If you were in emergency ht on a cold day, you may notice the difference.

some systems disable the extra strip above a preset outdoor temp. It would take a 3three stage tstat or a time delay switch to run the 3rd strip as another stage of heat.

Had a gynecologist that wanted to be able to disable the strips manually, so we put toggle switches on the tstat and modified the control wiring.

[saylor240]

Had a gynecologist that wanted to be able to disable the strips manually, so we put toggle switches on the tstat and modified the control wiring.

Did it really matter he was a "lady Parts doctor"?....lol im still cracking up..

but you guy are all right, you can do anything with proper control wireing, with this "global warming" may be worth upping the amps and getting that full 15kw if needed but thats up to homeowner. just make sure they are on a staged T-Stat so they dont all come on at the same time.

[Accurate Joe]

Yes you need the full 15 kw, You can double check with load calc.

[ThirdCoastAC]

10kw would be borderline, hard to say w/o a load calc. I wouldn't worry about having 3 stages, just do 10kw first and 5 on second. You will need 20A per 10 kw of heat plus your blower (figure 10A). Also you need to have large enough wiring to handle the load, not just a large enough breaker. You would need at least #10 copper for the extra 5kw.

[bmathews]

Who knows what you need without being there. 10 is probably fine. If it's cold outside or as cold as it gets there and it's keeping up, you're probably fine. You can stage anything the way you want it. If the unit isn't equipped to run it this way, you might have to pay extra $$$. What size heat strips did your old air handler have? If you had a 10, then I wouldn't sweat it much. My biggest worry is he's planning on putting an 80 amp breaker to run all this. Is the wire feeding the air handler big enough to handle this extra load? If not, you might have an issue with that, such as a fire.

[stonemanjr]

Thanks. So can a 10kw heat strip unit be staged with 5+5? or must you have a 15kw unit in order to do staging? It was explained to me that the only the 15kw unit allows a setup for staging the strips??? ALso, where does the setup done? in the thermostat or at the air handler where the board is? And is there an easy way where I can check if they are coming on in stages?

thanks again


also, Someone earlier in this said that using a 10kw unit that comes on full with no staging would be fine. Did I understand that correctly?

[Roddy73]

Did it really matter he was a "lady Parts doctor"?....lol im still cracking up..

Gigitty-gigitty!