Frigidaire IQ Zone - Auto Switching from Heat to Cool

[Tom_F]

I need some advice on programming the local zone thermostats for connected to a Frigidaire IQ Zone master thermostat to switch automatically between heating and cooling.

I recently had 2 new Frigidaire IQ Drive HVAC units installed in my house, one for the second floor and one for the first floor. The upstairs and downstairs units are identical (Furnace model FG7MQ, Condensing Unit model FT4BF and Indoor Coil model C6BH-I), except that the downstairs unit is divided into 2 zones using Frigidaire's IQ Zone system while the upstairs is a single zone using the standard IQ Drive thermostat. The upstairs thermostat allows me to program a temperature for heating and a temperature for cooling and then automatically switches between heating and cooling as needed - great for these Fall days when the temperature swings 30 degrees in a day. The main IQ Zone thermostat in the basement allows me to override the local thermostats and similarly automatically switch between heating and cooling, but then I lose the benefit of the local zone controls. The instructions for programming the local zone thermostats do not explain how to set both a cooling temp and a heating temp so that the system automatically switches. In other words, I have to manually select either heating or cooling and then set a temp. My contractor said he's sure the local zone thermostats support auto heat-cool switching, but he does not know how to program them. I've tried Frigidaire customer service but have not yet gotten an answer. Can anyone explain how to program these so they auto switch from heat to cool and vice versa? Thank you.

[jtrammel]

I'm not sure that they do, the zone tstats for the iq drive are the only thing that is sub par IMO about these systems. It's been a 11/2 years since I've installed one so they may have improved it since then, I sure hope so. I have the tech manual at my office and will look about it tomorrow and get back to you if someone else hasn't already

[Tom_F]

Thanks. Agree that the tstats leave quite a bit to be desired. They are difficult to program, not back lit and therefore hard to read and lack a lot of the functionality of the non-zone tstat. I really like the system overall but the zone controls are more of a necessary evil than a feature.

[jtrammel]

Thanks. Agree that the tstats leave quite a bit to be desired. They are difficult to program, not back lit and therefore hard to read and lack a lot of the functionality of the non-zone tstat. I really like the system overall but the zone controls are more of a necessary evil than a feature.

You nailed it, I don't understand why they would use such a "crappy" zone stat for such a high tech, high dollar system

[jtrammel]

I looked through my book and it appears there is not a way to apply auto changeover from heat to cool on the zone tstats

[Tom_F]

Sorry for not replying earlier, but I just saw your reply. Thanks for the effort, but I think you're right. Of course, I never heard back from Frigidaire customer service. I love the system overall, but hate the way they've done the IQZone part of it.

[dan_liptak]

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[dan_liptak]

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[Tom_F]

Let me ask you this:

Do you have an humidifier tied into your system?

Dan,

No, we do not have a humidifier, but we have considered one. Thanks also for the explanation of auto changeover from the manual. The central controller supports auto changeover, and allows entry of dual setpoints (one for heat and one for cool), but there does not seem to be any way to enter dual temps into the zone controllers so I don't know how practical the dual setup is. After all, if I have temp set at 65 expecting a cool day, I don't want the controller deciding there is more demand for cooling and taking the temp down to 65. As I said in an earlier post, we love the system, other than the loss of some functionality when using zone control.

By the way, if you have never installed one of these before let me warn you about a problem we ran into. One of the outdoor temperature sensors was not corrected properly initially and the entire system was malfunctioning for weeks with multiple errors at the thermostat/controller. Once the outdoor temp probe was hooked up and functioning, it has been problem free. We've had the system for coming up on 2 years now and remain very, very pleased. We did have one of the outside units fail, but Frigidaire provided a replacement within a couple of days. I think your customer will be very happy.

Tom

[jpsmith1cm]

dan_liptak

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