What was so hard about that? We've been doing that for years. I'm still amazed at the information or lack of information provided by tech reps to their customers.

 

When they installed our Evolution System 2 years ago, the controller came with an OAT Sensor. When I questioned them about it they said it is included for scenarios like yours. So I gues you have to blame the installer for not installing it at the time of the install, unless Carrier does not include them anymore with the controller.
In our case they did not install the OAT sensor because the Outdoor unit is on the North/East side. We do get some high OAT reading in early am when the sun hits the unit.

 

Part # for Outdoor Air Temperature OAT Sensor

Thanks for the information. I too had an Infinity system installed and my heat pump unit gets afternoon sun so the outdoor temps are off each afternoon.

Q. Anyone have the part # for an OAT sensor that works with the Infinity zone controller board?

Q. How about part # for the LAT and/or HPT sensor?

Since my old system was a Carrier Comfort Zone II zone system I temporarily hooked up a Carrier P/N 920076 but it always diaplsays 75 degrees F on the User Interrface no matter the air temperature.

Any help appreciated.

 

Thanks for the information. I too had an Infinity system installed and my heat pump unit gets afternoon sun so the outdoor temps are off each afternoon.

Q. Anyone have the part # for an OAT sensor that works with the Infinity zone controller board?

Q. How about part # for the LAT and/or HPT sensor?

Since my old system was a Carrier Comfort Zone II zone system I temporarily hooked up a Carrier P/N 920076 but it always diaplsays 75 degrees F on the User Interrface no matter the air temperature.

Any help appreciated.

OK...I did some research, found in 25HNA6 manual a thermistor ohms vs Temperature chart and cross referenced with a Type II 10K ohm thermistor curve.

Hope this helps others.

 

That can be an issue with any system using an outside sensor, for dual fuel, humidity control, whatever. Hard to beat into the installers' heads, put on the shady side of the house!

 

I am Curious is the sensor on the performance HP located were all the electrical and refrigerant lines are located? If so I know I am going to need the OAT additional sensor.

My HP is located in a corner that will see sun from about 1pm on and the corner with all the hookups is facing the sun. I am worried about it saying it is hotter outside than it really is.

Is the additional sensor included with the infinity controller that I bought and just an optional install item? Our install is mostly done, just waiting for Elect Inspector sign off (they are rediculously slow here), but would like to have my installer install this if they come back out, as I know my unit will get direct sun all summer from 1pm-5pm.

 

I have the Performance HP and the outdoor temp probe is inside a panel where you connect the thermostat wire coming from the furnace. I've occasionally checked the OD temp reading on the controller. It does read a little high in the summer afternoon when the sun hits it, but that doesn't concern me much as much as how it does in the winter when it controls my hybrid settings. In cooler weather it reads pretty accurately. My feelings are if it's within a couple of degrees, I'm fine with it. You can adjust it with an offset in the advanced menu.

As far as I know the optional OD temp probe for the Infinity thermostat does not come with it.

 

I can see this being a bit of an issue if you have a straight cool system, but less so with a heat pump. When my unit's not running for hours at a time, the temp sensor DOES read high. BUT once the heat pump starts up the sensor reads very close to the outdoor temp due to all of the airflow around the unit. Then again, my unit is sited so that the sensor faces the building / plants rather than having the refer pipes & panel exposed to the sun.

 

I'm poor at making long stories short, but ...

During the winter, I noticed that the temperature readings were incorrect -- high -- due to sun exposure on the a/c condenser, where the outdoor air thermistor is located.

Bad information ... because of sun ... was likely to screw up at least the first two. My HVAC guys said I had to live with it.

Regional Tech Support, similarly, told me to live with it.

Repeated nagging calls and e-mails, however, to Carrier corporate, yielded the following information:

The auxiliary sensor was installed today -- in a location selected by Carrier's instructions (north side, up high, covered, etc., etc).

The first problem is solved: the outdoor temp display is accurate. I may test the second function (by freezing the display and watching the RH setting, at the panel) or ... wait until winter.

I can't tell you how many hours and phone calls I had into this. The HVAC contractor finally told me that Carrier wasn't going to "re-engineer the system just for me."

So ... to those considering the system, owning the system, selling/installing the system: you may want to throw in the aux temp sensor for ANY install where the condenser MIGHT receive sun ... at any time of year.

It was a REALLY cheap/easy fix to a REALLY silly problem ... that shouldn't have taken ME so much time and trouble to resolve.

Hope it helps ... somebody

How high off the ground should the auxiliary sensor be mounted? Anyone that can share information on specific's regarding the most ideal scenario in terms of location etc would be most appreciated. My tech is coming by tomorrow as I decided I wanted the Infinity thermostat after all :angel:

 

North side soffit



If your circumstances (home design, ability to have wire run, etc.) I'd recommend having the OAT sensor mounted on the north side of your home in the soffit which puts it in the 7' to 9' range if on a 1-story home or higher if on a 2-story part of the home. Height isn't that critical but I'd prefer it be higher than most folks could reach to keep accidentaly tampering to a minimum. NOTE: I'm just an informed and well read homeowner so take my advice appropriately.

 

Well I have it installed on the North side of the house behind a bush.(no sun) .....and its not picking up the correct temp. Its reading 5-6 degrees warmer than the air temperature.....Its only 1ft off the ground. Although it would be ideal to have it higher to avoid less chance for "tampering" how it could the temp be so far off. Any ideas?

I'm all for it being run higher but the wires coming off the sensor are only 2ft in length. Now thats fine for the current location as their long enough to get through the foundation wall. And then they used wire nuts to connect the 18 gauge 2 wire to the furnace. However if you go outside your going to need to connect the two sensor wires with 18 gauge using wire nuts? Wont this require a box to protect it from the elements then?

 

Q. Is that north wall on your garage or part of the condition home space?

Q. Where is your condensor (or heat pump)?

Q. What is the routing (interior, exterior, attic, inside wall, etc.) of the wire they ran from the unit to the new OAT?

 

Outside air temperature sensors should be mounted in a location meeting all of the following criteria.

1. Never ever in direct sunlight. Watch out for seasonal changes.

2. Where air can circulate around it.

3. Well away from any heat radiating source, including the ground, operating equipment, or a surface that may get direct sun at any time during the year.

4. Away from any vent, especially a dryer vent.

 

If the ground is a radient source then this may be my problem..But how far off the ground is considered far enough? Also couldn't attaching it to the house it self be an issue....As inherently the house (siding or concrete foundation) be a source for hear loss, thereby effecting the reading?

 

One of the best place is under the eaves on the north side. With a well insulated house, radiated heat from the structure should be very minimal as long as the rest of the mounting criteria are met.

 

Correct. My original outdoor air sensor (OAT) had been installed facing down and on the soffit along an east brick wall. In the mornings, the thing would read up to 10 degrees higher. I suspected it was the sun heating up air along the 8' high wall of brick and the hotter than ambient air would meader up to the eave/soffit and give false readings. Readings were more accurate in the dead of winter when the thing was needed as it was used to determine when to cutover from heat pump only to heat pump plus hydronic (or furnace only in other installations).

Since HE's sensor is mounted low and behind a bush(es), then as others have alluded to, the air is not circulating well and the air warms up a bit, especially if that north wall is part of the heated area of the home.

 

First picture look below window....That is the current location.

This is facing north

Other option is to run the 18 gauge wire on the back side the downspout then come under the white portion of the sofit. Their is a lip where the cedar shakes hang down. The wire could be run behind here and run away from the corner as that side is the east where you get alot of morning sun.

I dont have a heat pump

I dont have 2 stage condenser

What role does the OAT sensor serve then for my setup?

Lastly because the wires coming off the sensor are apprx only 2ft they need to be joined with wire nuts to the 18 gauge wire...Again I ask wont this connecition need to be enclosed in a box? Or can can they simply have the electrical tape over the wire nuts and left exposed.... The reason I ask is I will need to decide where I want an electrical box

 

First picture look below window....That is the current location.

This is facing north

Other option is to run the 18 gauge wire on the back side the downspout then come under the white portion of the sofit. Their is a lip where the cedar shakes hang down. The wire could be run behind here and run away from the corner as that side is the east where you get alot of morning sun.

I dont have a heat pump

I dont have 2 stage condenser

What role does the OAT sensor serve then for my setup?

Lastly because the wires coming off the sensor are apprx only 2ft they need to be joined with wire nuts to the 18 gauge wire...Again I ask wont this connecition need to be enclosed in a box? Or can can they simply have the electrical tape over the wire nuts and left exposed.... The reason I ask is I will need to decide where I want an electrical box

This is my question. Do you have a humidifier? Does it over humidify the house (condensation) ?

The reason I'm asking I'm picturing either no humidifier or a humidifier that couldnt keep up regardless of outdoor temp. And no good reason for you to even have OAT.

And this is why I dont hook up the OAT on Lennox systems for people that equipment does not benefit from having that information. They will just complain that its inaccurate (which resistance temp sensors generally are depending on install).

I hooked up my outdoor sensor using stranded 2 wire. Kept the wire well away from any other wires esp. high voltage wires (avoiding EMI). Then soldered the connections, then heat wrap around that. Mounted it on the outdoor unit between it and the house. Temp is "fairly" accurate, but a weird breeze off the sun lit side of the house will throw it off. Or on a day thats warming up a breeze across the cold ground.

Of course my system requires an OAT sensor for its dual fuel operation.

 

No humdifier. I thought with the 3 stage Carrier I have there was some interface in terms of how the furnace fires based on the outdoor temp. Why the hell dont they make thses sensor's wireless :angel:

 

If you've got an an Infinity AC with furnace, the OAT is not really needed.

I don't recall if the Carrier Infinity AC condensor units have the built in OAT or not. They likely don't have but the HP units do have factory OAT.

In your case, looking at your pictures, I don't think I'd bother moving the OAT from the bottom of the siding under that window all the way to the soffit in that corner. Those two spots are so close horizontally and close enough vertically, I'd not bother running wire under the siding and up behind the downspout and behind that lip.

However, should you choose to do so, there are two options regarding the wire nuts you speak of. Option 1 could be to mount a small J-box where your existing OAT is mounted and use the J-box to connect the new wire you run from the soffit down the J-box to the existing wire that is currently installed through your foundation wall that goes to your air handler/furnace. Option 2 would be to run wire all the way down from the soffit (new OAT location) and have enough left over to pull through your foundation to the furnace. This way, you have no wire nut connection at all. As they say, the best connection is no connection. With option 2, you'd use your existing wire in the foundation wall as a pull wire for the new wire.

I'd leave well enough alone as I predict you'll still have some variability of temp even on that soffit given wind currents, etc. Main thing is you'll have good enough temp sensing on an hourly basis.

As the previous poster said, if you have or ever put in a whole house humidifer (think "Skuttle" here), then having an OAT is a helpful thing. I have noticed that the Carrier Infinity system does take into account the outdoor temperature and has varied my home's humidity levels from the mid 40s to 30% RH based on outdoor temp. This sure is handy as in the past, I'd have to manually adjust my Skuttle humidistat down when the outdoor temps got way low (that's about 0 to 9 degrees F here in Oklahoma).

My thought is the OAT sensor in your case (AC + furnace) is for informational purposes only but the OAT is helpful if and when a whole house humidifer enters the equation.

For those interested, I've been most pleased with the Skuttle free standing steam humidifier (I think it is a 60-BC or something like that) I intalled 5 or 7 years ago. We get lots fewer scratchy itchy throats these days since I installed it.

 

Slightly off topic but related...

http://www.goskuttle.com/pdfs/60-BC1 Tech Sheet.pdf

the link above is the humidifier I spoke of in previous post. I have no affiliation with the manufacturer other than being a satisfied customer.

We've saved enough $$ since we don't have to go the doc as often for bronchitis each winter. Before humidification, each of us in the family would have one trip to the doc each winter. Now, only 1 of us on average will get the coughing/hack each winter.

Plus, we were able to reduce the thermostat temperature setpoint be a few degrees.