Heating & Cooling Q&A

Disclaimer: These are the professional opinions of Baman. No biases to any one company or manufacturer is implied. In many cases, the answers reflect the amount of information, or lack thereof, that was given in the questions. So please call (817-307-2317) to have your questions personally answered, because your situation is likely to differ.

Q. Baman; I was wondering if it is alright to run the heat pump on the emergency heat setting on very cold
nights? A. Even on very cold nights, a properly operating heat pump will still provide efficient heating for your home. When needed the auxiliary heating coils will come on to supplement the heat pump? This is the most efficient operation. Q. I recently moved into a new house and in checking out the bypass Aprilaire humidifer on the furnace (Trane XL80) I noticed that the "power" wires from the humidifier are not connected to the circuit board on the furnace. Where do I connect the 2 wires so the humidifier solenoid will kick in and let the water flow? A. The wires can be hooked up so that the humidifier only runs when the heat runs and humidity is needed. Without knowing any other specifics, I would have a qualified HVAC tech take care of this wiring for you. Q. I have a 6 mo old Trane XR 12 heat pump. Outside temperatures in the 25-35 degree range the unit cycles to the defrost mode every hour or so. Is this normal? I don't see other units in the area that do this. A. Most heat pumps go through a defrost cycle as needed to keep ice build up at a minimum. Some cycles are time driven and other are based on demand. With the temperatures that you have illustrated, this appears normal. Q. My husband noticed a lot of steam coming from our heat pump this morning. What could be causing this? Should I leave the heat pump off until I have it checked out? A. Steam coming from a heat pump on a cool morning is normal. The system is in the defrost mode.

Q. I have a slight buzz noise in my 15 year old Rudd heat pump when not running. The noise is in the unit
outside. It is still working fine but have never noticed this noise before. Should I be concerned or can it be falling leaves in the unit A. The noise you hear is probably the reversing valve in the outdoor unit. This valve stays energized in the heating season anytime the system is in the "heat" mode. It is normal for this buzzing to come and go. To check to see if this is the sound, turn the thermostat to the off position. Q. Baman I have a Trane dual fuel system-XV90 gas furnace paired with an XL14i heat pump. I have never seen my HP in a defrost cycle. Does a dual fuel system have a defrost cycle and how is it supposed to work? A. The point (or temperature) that your heat pump switches to gas may be set to where the pump rarely freezes up because it doesn't run below a certain temperature. This is not uncommon. Q. I have read that it is better to have your blower run continuously to better keep even comfort and avoid heat from pocketing in high places. Is there any truth to this theory. Thank you A. in many instances, it is better to keep the blower running continuously. By doing this you will notice constant filtration, and more even temperature distribution throughout the home. If you have a variable speed fan the cost for this will be minimal. Q. Baman, I recently replaced a one and a half ton heat pump 10 seer with a 13 seer heat pump The indoor coil is a 2 ton. Will a TXV valve be sufficient to match the efficiency? A., the only true way to know the answer to this is to match the model numbers through the manufacturer data to see if it rates to the given efficiency. Q. I am replacing my Lennox of 20 years with Trane xl16i which uses Puron. Should the refrigeration lines to be changed to new ones to accommodate the Puron? A. It is recommend that anytime a system is changed from R-22 to R410-A, that the refrigerant lines be resized and replaced. Q. Baman I'm going to purchase a Trane heat pump in the XL 14 to 16i range. When calculating what's needed, square footage is always mentioned. Why not cubic footage especially since I have low ceilings (7 ). A. when calculating homes requirements, the total volume of the home should always be used.

Q. I just purchased a home that has a Trane outdoor gas pack heat pump. I was under the impression that the
heat pump ran in the winter until the temperature required the gas burner to kick in, but a neighbor tells me that once you turn the thermostat to heat, the heat pump is bypassed, and only the gas heat runs. Could you please clarify which is the correct operation? A. if your system is a "dual fuel" gas /heat pump package unit, the heat pump should operate until the temperature determines that the gas is needed. There are actually 2 ways for this to happen with the Trane system, but this was determined by the installing company. Q. We recently had an Amana 3.5 ton R410a heat pump installed. There seems to be a significant amount of compressor noise being transmitted into the house through the line set. We can hear it and feel the vibration at

the air handler (40 ft of line set and two walls away). The line set does not touch any "solid" part of the house. Is this noise/vibration normal? Can anything be done to reduce the vibration transmitted in the line set? A. Scroll compressors emit a different harmonic sound than the reciprocating compressors. This sound is often transmitted through the line-set and into the structure. Absorbing this harmonic noise/vibration is the key. Several manufactures have devised attenuators that can help significantly reduce this sound. Have your Amana dealer check with his factory rep to see if they have a solution for this. Q. My existing York system has a 5/16 line set. I'm considering a new system; Trane XL16i Air Conditioner (15 SEER), along with Trane XL80 Furnace. The Trane installer says that the existing 5/16 line set is OK to use. A different installer who sells York and Carrier tells me that the 5/16 line set will only support up to 10 SEER. Anything over 10 SEER will overwork the compressor. What do you think? A. the 5/16" liquid line that you are referring to has little to with efficiency, but more to do with matching with the size (or capacity) of the system. Length of the line and rise also has a say in the sizing. Q. My wife and I are having our Hot Water Heater and Gas logs replaced at the same time, by the same company, but we've been told we need two separate Permits for the job..$65 each? Does NC really require permits for this type of work? Should we expect another $65 when we have the water pipes under the house done? A. yes you would require 2 permits in most cases like these. Remember, the permitting and inspection process is in place to protect the consumer, and from what we see daily it works. Jobs that are permitted and inspected are scrutinized by the local inspectors to meet minimum code. Jobs that we see that are not inspected are typically sub-par and unsafe. Always insist that your contractor prove that the job is permitted. Q. Three months ago I had an Amana dual fuel/split system installed. The contractor increased the a/c unit from a 2.5 ton to a 3 ton, and also added an additional duct for a sunroom addition. I now have a problem with excessive condensation on the ducts in the crawl space. The underside of the plywood is wet at the vent which discharges under the kitchen cabinet. The duct is insulated and I do not feel any leaks. The kitchen is at the opposite end of the house from the A/C unit. A/C unit cools very well and I have had no other problems. Any ideas on a fix? A. The air flow of the unit should be measured to ensure that it is moving the proper amount of air. This can be easily accomplished by a qualified technician. I often see contractors increase a system size without increasing the ducting both return and supply. Inadequate air flow would provide problems such as you are experiencing and potentially lead to more serious ones. Q. I have a Rheem heat pump just over 5 years old. Last weekend I came home and the house was quite warm, no AC, but the fan was working. Had someone come out and found the breaker had been tripped, they flipped it on and unit worked for a few hours, then the same thing happened again, except the unit would trip the breaker whenever it came on. Had same people come out again to look at it & determined compressor had shorted out and needs to be replaced. Have you heard of this type of problem before? Should I replace the whole unit or just the compressor? A. Symptoms such as these often result in compressor failures. If the compressor is out of warranty then unit replacement would be my recommendation. It should be noted to be sure that the indoor unit is compatible with the new ( and probably more efficient) outdoor unit. Q. Baman, I'm considering getting a new furnace and AC unit installed. The manufacturer I'm looking is a Trane. I live in Central,NJ. The HVAC rep recommended the XL14i Air conditioner and the XL90 2 stage furnace. What so you think? Also is it worth $1800 more for a variable speed furnace? A. The products that you have mentioned are well worth the investment. You should be very happy with the results given they are installed correctly. Q. I noticed water dripping from an outside drain near the roof. I checked in the attic and noticed that there was probably and inch or so of water in the pan under the AC unit. Is this normal? It is pretty humid in the attic right now. A. you have a main drain problem. When this happens, it overflows to the secondary pan which you see dripping now. The main drain needs to be serviced probably by an qualified servicer. Q. I recently had a new AC unit installed and the contractor used a plastic (DuraGrid) condenser pad instead of a concrete pad. I noticed that the condenser unit was not anchored to the pad (as is done with concrete pads). Is this typical with the plastic condenser pads? Should I be concerned that the condenser unit wasn't anchored down? A. Using plastic pads has become more and more common. From our perspective, there is no problem with this practice. We have only anchored units down in high crime areas. It cost more to do this (correctly) but can pay off if you need this protection. Q. My contractor did a Manual J that showed heating load of 38,265 Btuh and cooling loads of 38,559 Btuh. He is recommending a 5-ton (60,000 btuh) system. This seems too large to me. Am I missing something? A. I would ask your contractor what the sensible/ latent heat split is and then see what the equipment will produce. Keep in mind that there is no 4.5 ton equipment and a 4-ton application may not meet the load requirements of the structure.

Q. Baman- I have a Trane XV80 Furnace (TUD100R9V5K4) with a TXC037C4HPC0 coil. I am replacing the
condenser and am opting for a 3 ton 16i. Is the coil the correct coil for this condenser? What SEER will it produce? Will another coil provide a higher SEER? (I am getting different stories from the contractors who are making bids). The system is currently running with R-22. Will there be any issues in running the same coil with 401? A. I would recommend replacing the coil with one that is a Trane recommended match for this unit. I do not show this coil in my data as being a match. Q. I have a 2.5 ton 10 seer unit. A technician said there is leak from the coil inside the attic and needs to be replaced. But that they don't make coils for 2.5 ton units and would have to use a coil for a 3 ton unit?? Seems strange and does that mean you would have to replace the coil on the outside unit to match the one inside?? A. I am not sure who "they" are but "most" manufacturers make "a" coils in a 2.5 ton frame.

Q. I recently had a new HVAC installed. I had to relocate the condenser which meant the line sets had to be rerouted. The contractor used the old risers and simply ran the additional line set, approximately. 25-30ft, on the ground in the crawl space under the house. The contractor insists that this is a normal and acceptable installation. One justification is the vibrations that occur when the sets are attached. My question is shouldn't the line sets be secured to the floor joints so they are out of the way and do not get damaged? And are there performance or longevity issues having the line set installed at a grade that is lower than the condenser? A. most reputable contractors install line-sets under homes by hanging them using proper hanging methods to insure vibration and sound is minimal. Lying on the ground is only asking for unnecessary trouble. Q. What would cause my A coil to cover with ice and block air flow? It is in a brand new house.

A. Evaporator coils sometimes freeze up for a variety of reason. From my experience the most common reasons
are as follows; Dirty filters, dirty evaporator coil, setting thermostat to an unreasonably low temperature, low refrigerant charge and lack of proper air flow from closing too many vents or blocking return openings. Most of these above causes can be taken care of prior to the cooling season by having the system properly cleaned and serviced by a qualified service person. Q. Is there a required height above ground level a unit must be installed? I just purchased a newly constructed home and found the slab that the heat pump sits on is below several inches of mulch. The drain pipe for the unit is actually under the landscape fabric buried in the dirt! I thought these units had to be a certain height above ground level? A. The pad should be on top of the soil thus providing a 2" height for drainage.

Q. If my air conditioner needs replacing does it make sense to go with a R410 (Puron) unit and commit to
replacing the furnace too (which is old 15+) or should I replace the air unit with a R22. will we still be able to get R22 in the years to come and parts? Is R410 like betamax and may not be the future but only a transition technology? Need advise A. Currently R410-A seems to be the trend that the industry is taking toward the phase-out of R-22. Even if that changes, R410-A should be widely available for servicing in the future. Q. Baman, I just purchased a 20 year old home with the original dual zone HVAC equipment. The home has an Apollo Heating system using a gas water heater located in the crawl space. I am looking at replacing the A/C units, but have been told that the new higher SEER systems are not supported by Apollo. I'm told replacing the Apollo system will mean running gas lines to a new furnace in the attic for the upstairs. As you can imagine I'm not too excited about ripping up walls to install gas lines. Any suggestions? A. If you intend to use the Apollo system to heat and are looking to make a change on the AC side, you can remove the evaporator coil from the Apollo and add a 13+ SEER coil in the duct system if room permits. Q. We are replacing our heat pump with a 3 ton 13 seer unit. We have gone online and found one for around $2000.00 or so. Problem is that no one will install a unit unless we buy it from them. And if they do; they charge you like you did buy it from them. Is this the norm. A. There are many reasons that contractors do not install equipment that they do not provide. First and foremost, purchasing a heat pump system is not like purchasing a home appliance. Care needs to be taken in sizing, equipment matching, application and warranties. Furthermore, many states and/or municipalities prohibit this practice. Have a qualified contractor evaluate your home to determine what exactly you need, get a fair price and let them do there job of helping you. Many items purchased on-line are older (sometimes used) models, and often difficult to obtain warranty parts for. Q. Reliability wise how do Goodman and Trane heat pumps compare?

A. According to many consumer publications (and our own observations), Trane is a superior product. Q. I'm in the process of getting estimates for a replacement heat pump system. My current system is still working
but is 15 years old and I'd rather replace it before it's an emergency. I'm considering a Trane XL14I or an XL16I. The price difference between the two is about $800. I'm aware that the 16I is a dual stage unit with a higher SEER. Are there any other noteworthy differences between the two? Also, I believe I can get the 14I with either R22 or R410. I'm aware that R22 will be phased out over the next 10 years or so. Is there any reason (such as comfort or efficiency) to choose R22 over R410?

A. The 16-I is clearly more superior and with only an $ 800.00 difference it is a no brainer. The overall comfort
and energy savings is well worth the additional cost. Q. Hello I recently purchased an older home and it has a propane furnace, and the vent from the furnace coming off the roof I very tall and looks really bad my question is can I shorten the 6" vent and put on a new vent cap? or is there a reason the flue vent is so tall? A. there may be a reason the vent is so tall. Please have a qualified contractor come out to determine if it can be shortened. Q. My A-Coil needs to be replaced. The replacement will be a Trane 13SEER. My outdoor unit is a 10 SEER. Is this match ok and will my efficiency still be 10? A. Typically a higher efficiency coil is not a problem with a lower efficiency AC only unit. It should improve the efficiency of the overall AC system. It is advisable to see if the coil is rated by the manufacturer to work with that particular unit if possible. Q. I am having a new Trane XV 90 furnace installed & the contractor just delivered a Trane 10 SEER ac unit 4 ton. I have read that a 10 SEER is not accepted anymore & that the standard is at least 13 SEER. Please advise about what your recommendations. I live in upstate NY A. After January 23rd 2006, manufactures cannot build residential AC equipment with a SEER rating of less than 13. There is nothing (unless it is local to your municipality) that prohibits selling and/or installing equipment less than 13 SEER. Q. My furnace/AC condensation pump has been running constantly for the past 3 days. Is that normal...??? I don't recall it running that much before. Wondering if I should call a service man to check it out. A. It sounds as if the float switch is stuck keeping the pump running continuously. I would advise calling for service in hopes that you may save a pump or motor from burning out. Q. I have a home that was built less than two years ago. It has a 4 ton 10 seer A-coil already in the system. Can I use a 13 seer 4 ton condenser unit with this coil? I hate to replace the coil because it is new, but I can get a good deal on a new 13 seer condenser. Any info would be appreciated. A. It is strongly recommended by manufactures that you use a coil that is rated for 13+ SEER for 13 SEER units. For a little more cost it is well worth it to know that the system is working as designed and should deliver the normal life expectancy. Q. I installed a new Trane XE90 Gas furnace (model TUX100498)in 1999. At that time, the installer recommended the installation of the A/C coil (model TXC030) and to connect later to a compressor. Recently I was told by another Trane installer the coil would be no good because it hasn't been used, and other installers say that is not so. I would like to install the compressor this year. Who do I believe? What compressors would you recommend for my furnace and which compressors would be most adequate for my furnace. A. If the coil has never been opened and is sealed from the atmosphere, it should be OK to use. Keep in mind that with efficiency changes it will require the addition of an expansion valve to accommodate the higher SEER requirements. This is easily adapted to the coil that you have. Q. We are buying a Trane XL14i system with a variable speed handler. For future reference, what is the cost of replacing the variable speed motor versus a one speed motor? Thank you for responding. Have a great day. A. Replacement costs for a variable speed motor is considerably more than a conventional motor. However the increased efficiency and comfort level, combined with a far superior reliability record should make the variable speed the top choice. Lastly with the Trane XL-I system, the motor is covered by a 10 year parts warranty. Q. Hello: I am considering the replacement of our 12 year old Carrier HVAC system with a 4-ton heat pump, including the matching evaporator. Since the gas furnace will become "back-up heat", can I recycle the existing furnace/blower unit and just replace the evaporator A-coil? Henry A. You can use your existing gas furnace for the back-up; provided the furnace is rated to supply the necessary airflow for the heat pump system. Q. I have a heat pump system that is not able to be controlled by the thermostat. It comes on and goes off when it wants to, regardless of what the thermostat is set to...Auto, On, Cool, Heat, etc. I have replaced the thermostat and still the same thing. Any ideas on what may be causing this and what can fix it? A. Contrary to what many of us think, HVAC systems do not have a mind of their own, and thus cannot come-on when they want to. I would suggest having an experienced technician have a look at it. Try to provide as much information to the tech as possible to assist in the diagnosis. !! Q. I have a Trane xe80 with a humming sound. I heard it is the transformer. I also heard that you should not replace it unless the noise really bothers you. Should I replace it? How long before it fails? A. Many times replacing the transformer, does not make the humming go away. In fact sometimes it may be worse than before. Many times just loosening a mounting screw will reduce the humming and/or vibration. Q. I'm replacing an 18-yr-old Carrier A/C unit with R-22 with an American Standard 14-SEER heat pump with R410. My installation contractor is telling me that the refrigerant line set doesn't also have to be replaced, while a friend who used to work in the HVAC industry is recommending replacement of the refrigerant line set. What's the best course of action?

A. Where practical, replacement and resizing of the line is always recommended. Q. I've got an R-22 4-ton All-Style evaporator coil that has developed a small leak after six years. My HVAC
maintenance company located the leak and said that due to its location I need a new unit to the tune of $1,400. I got a few other quotes from local HVAC contractors and only one recommended a "stop leak" product that they claim to have used about a dozen times with good results. At $250 plus the cost of an R-22 recharge, it sounds like a good deal. Is it too good to be true? A. With the possibility that adding this product will not stop the leaks, AND the possibility that adding this product could adversely affect other components in the system, we typically make recommendations that we feel will provide more sound results. In this case if the leaks are located and you replace that piece of equipment, you now have taken care of this problem and should have some sort of a warranty to back it up. Q. Last summer I replaced my outdoor heat-pump and a leak in the line was repaired as well. It worked all summer. Then when we turned it on for the first time this summer, the indoor air handler froze up. again. what do we need to do now? A. With any system, new or old, I recommend having it serviced prior to the season weather it be heating or cooling. Many things change during a year of run time and a simple maintenance check and clean can pay dividends to both your energy bill as well as the life of the system. Q. Looking at a Trane system and have two bids. Company 1 has a 4 ton 4TWX6048A heat pump with a 3 ton variable speed 4TEE3F40A air handler. Company 2 suggest the same heat pump but a 4 ton variable speed 4TEE3F49A air handler. I questioned company 1 about the 3 ton air handler and was told it could be set to run with the 4 ton heat pump and size was an issue. It seems a unit rated at 3 tons and made to work at 4 tons does not seem like a good idea. I need to decide quickly!!! Is this true? Which way should I go? A. The 4TWX6048 is a factory match with both air handlers. The 049 will carry a slightly higher efficiency rating out of the box. However, it should be noted that many times an application will drive what air handler a dealer recommends. By this I mean that space is sometimes a concern and a "physically" smaller air handler (040) is a better fit for the application and thus make an overall more efficient system. Q. I have an older Rheem heat pump and I had a digital thermostat put in, and it seems that the fan on the outside unit runs all the time, I can even turn the thermostat to the off position and look out the window and the fan is still blowing on the unit. is this normal? will this not cause my bill to be higher? its spring and I can leave the unit off and save money but not if the fan is always blowing, right? A. if the trouble began when the thermostat was replaced then it may be related to the replacement. A wire may be touching another, or it may not be wired correctly. Another possibility is that a switch outside called a contactor may be sticking and will need to be replaced. Whichever the case, it will cause your power bill to go up if not addressed soon. Q. Baman, I have a 16 year old gas system and I'm looking at replacing it with a dual fuel system. The dual fuel systems are more expensive, are they worth the extra cost? Any idea on the rate of return on investment for the cost in lower utility bills? Are the new dual fuel systems reliable? How many mfgs are making the dual fuel system and which do you recommend? How big of a unit should I get for 1900 sqft living space? A. The rate of return will be based on several things; your winter climate, the cost of the fossil fuel that you use and the cost of electricity. In my area currently, the rate of return on investment is very good. I have found that the added initial cost is quickly offset by overall lower utility bills. Q. I'm building a new home in Granville Coutny NC the contractor tells me that my house only requires a 2.5 ton unit for 1749 living square feet. However I work with a licensed contractor who tells me that the square feet per ton is 600 square feet which would mean that I need a 3 ton. He said that if you get to to little your pump could over work or cause moisture in the air if to much. Can you help me find any NC licensing requirements or information on this so I can hold the builder responsible for putting the right size unit in the home. A. as I have stated many times before, the sizing of a HVAC system is not a guessing game. HVAC contractors in NC are required to perform a load calculation on your home to ensure that the right system is selected. Once the heat loss and heat gain of the structure is known, equipment can be selected based on the results. Two very important things to note; are the plans that the HVAC contract is basing his load calculation on 100% accurate to the home that you are purchasing? And is he/she selecting the HVAC equipment based on the sensible heat gain/ latent heat gain that his calculations indicate and not the combined overall gain? Ask for a copy if you have concerns. Most contractors are happy to provide this given they have performed one. Q. Baman, I know you are a Trane dealer and of course will take that info into consideration. The so called experts in HVAC residential believe Carrier/Bryant has the edge in the high end Infinity systems due to their sophisticated controls. What is your opinion? And can Trane provide as good dehumidification in cooling mode? A. I have no first hand knowledge of the latest from the Carrier Corp. But I do know that I have not seen any conventional cooling system do a better job of dehumidification than the 2-stage Trane XL16-I and XL19-I combined with the proven variable speed air handler from Trane. When combined with a humidistat, the results are what I believe to be unparalleled in comfort and performance. Q. Baman, We have an apartment complex of 80 + units. Our HVAC contractor has inspected all of the A/C units and finds that about half of them are at least 10 years old. We have about 4 units fail each cooling season. He is recommending that we stock up on 10 SEER units (2 Ton) and use them as needed - sounds good. He also says

that if we wait instead and use higher SEER units we will undoubtedly have to replace the inside coils which are currently in spaces that are quite cramped. He believes that the higher SEER coils are significantly larger than what we have and we are therefore faced with moving walls/enlarging utility closets if we don't buy the 10 SEER units from him, NOW.. What do you think? A. The higher efficiency coils are going to create some installation challenges for everyone. But, if you address the issues now and form a course of action, I believe that in the long run it will be a wiser investment. With 80 + units a long term plan should be devised. Q. Baman, our daughter is building a house, she is going to use the garage as a family/study room. I'm trying to figure out what her best bet would be for heating/cooling without involving the main ductwork from the house. I have seen mini split heat pumps, how do they work? would thru the wall heat/cool unit be better? A. Mini split systems do a wonderful job with open room conditioning. What I mean by that is you are conditioning a single room that is unobstructed by walls. The mini split has 2 main parts; one is the blower/coil unit that typically located high on a centralized wall and the other is the remote outdoor unit that sits outside of the home. These are much quieter than through the wall type of units because the compressor unit is located out side of the home. plan on purchasing a 15 seer, variable speed furnace, 3 ton AC (Trane XL15I). I've had 5 contractors out to my home to bid. It seems each has a different idea on what's best for my 80 year-old home, but the last fellow pointed out something the others did not, and I don't know how important it is and what I should do about it: By his estimate my ducts have a 850 cfm capacity which he says needed to be increased to 1250 cfm. What will I gain by spending $1000 to enlarge the existing flex ducts and maybe add a few? Does volume have an effect on efficiency or the longevity of the system? Will my registers whistle and will papers blow off my desk with all that new capacity? A. The duct sizing and design have a DIRECT impact on the overall efficiency, capacity and noise that a system can produce. Spending additional dollars to correct a faulty duct system would be wise. Very wise! Q. We are looking to remodel our 3rd floor attic space and want to heat/cool it. The space is approximately 400 sq. ft. We plan to use the space as storage/kid's play room so we don't need a super energy-efficient system. What do you recommend in terms of a system? Furnace vs.. heat pump? Do all heat pumps make a whistling noise when they turn on/off? Thank you. A. In most instances, I would recommend a small "ductless mini-split" heat pump system for and area such as this. Several manufacturers (including Trane) offer such a product. Q. With the new law now in effect, if a dated outside AC compressor needs to be upgraded to 13 SEER, does this mean that the inside unit (furnace) also needs to be upgraded ? A. A system is only as efficient as the "weakest link" in the system. So if the coil will not deliver a 13+ SEER rating then the outdoor unit (AC unit) will not perform as designed. Some states require that the system be a "matched system" as rated by the manufacturer. Q. I have a 31/2 ton heating and ac system that I am going to replace. The technician said that I only need a 3 ton unit to accommodate my home and that a larger unit would not heat/cool as well. Sounds strange to me. What do you advise? A. I hear all too often of this so called "opinion" that a unit or system is sized incorrectly. The sizing of heating and cooling equipment is the result of a heat gain/heat loss load calculation that is specific to your home. Whereas I agree that many generalities can be made about Btus vs.. square feet, all guesswork should be taken out when replacing your system to ensure proper sizing. Ask a representative from the firm that you have been using to send someone out for that purpose. Should they attempt to derail your efforts to obtain accurate sizing, try another firm. Q. I have a 4 ton Goodman 9 seer unit and want to replace it with a 4 ton 13 seer luxaire unit. should I replace the existing 4 ton a coil to match the 13 seer outside unit or change the expansion valve or would changing the a coil orifice do the trick? A. Regardless of the manufacturer, anytime you replace an outdoor unit, you want to be sure that it has been rated (tested) to operate with the indoor coil you are using. If it is not, then a coil replacement with one that has been rated should be made. This is in fact law (code) in many states. Q. The heat exchanger on my 12 yr Carrier Gas Pack Unit has holes in it and I have to decide to repair or replace. In the interim the unit works fine but I'm advised not to use it as the chances of getting carbon monoxide poisoning are great. I have a carbon monitor and it does not substantiate that warning. What do you advise about use of the unit for the next 3-4 days while awaiting parts or a new unit? It's 27 degrees at night and a room space heater does little more than make noise. A. I do not advise running any heating system that that is known to have heat exchanger problems. Safe and relatively inexpensive space heaters can be purchased at any home center to help warm your home in the short term. Q. Hi , Several times a day (but not always) when my heat pump starts up there is a long whistling-groaning sound, which moves from high to low pitch, that I can hear throughout the house. A discrete puff of smoke (or steam?) rises past the window above where the heat pump is located, and there is a distinct burning smell. Almost every time, about a minute later there is a second bout, with the groan lasting a shorter time. The local

heat pump people thought it was just steam during defrost, but the burning smell is obvious and the laboring, groaning sound is something I have never heard from another unit. Something to worry about? A. the description that you have given indicates a standard defrost cycle. The puff of smoke is steam, the whistling and groaning is refrigerant changing pressures, and the burning smell is probably the supplementary heaters that come on to temper the air while defrosting. This is all probably normal. Q. Please settle an argument for my husband and me. I like to have my bedroom cooler than the rest of the house. I leave my windows open often - yes even in winter. I contend that this doesn't affect our heating bill because I leave my bedroom door closed. Since the thermostat is at the opposite end of the house - the cold air in my bedroom does not affect whether or not the thermostat goes on. My husband contends that even if I leave my bedroom door closed - the small amount of time it takes to open and close my door is enough to cool all of the air - and eventually this will make the thermostat kick the furnace on. Please tell me what you think...it's become a real bone of contention in out house. A. sorry to disappoint you but, leaving your windows open when your system is operating will waist energy and thus affect your energy bill negatively. You may try closing the register or reducing the amount of heat into that room instead of letting it go out the open window. Q. the high pressure reset button is broken on my Rudd heat pump. what is the voltage on these wires ?

A. The voltage on the circuit should be 24 VAC. This should of course be verified prior to any servicing or
removal of these wires. Q. I have a 1989 Trane xl 90 that will turn on in a normal cycle. The gas ignites and stays lit for a few minutes, then goes out as the fan continues. The gas comes on again a little while later and the cycle repeats. It will not maintain temperature due to this condition. Turning the thermostat down and back up will also cause the system to reset and gas to light temporarily. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Chad A. it sounds like the furnace may be over heating. This could be due to dirty filters, blocked or restricted intakes and/or outlets, crushed or damaged ductwork, dirty indoor coil or the furnace over firing. Measure the return temperature and the supply temperature. Subtract the two and the remaining temperature is your temperature rise. Compare this to the nameplate rating for temperature rise. If the value exceeds the nameplate rating check the suggestions above. Q. What do you feel is a fair price for a 1-1/2 ton Trane heat pump, model xl14i installed with r410a refrigerant?

A. It is very important that you seek several proposals to replace/upgrade your HVAC system. The "fair price"
should be decided by you once you have received these proposals. More often than not, I feel that the contractor that you select will be the one that you feel the most comfortable with and provides the "best value". It may not however the lowest price be that you receive. Q. Our 3 ton heat pump went out and our service teck said we would have to replace our present duct work, including the return line to meet the new 2006 codes. The house was built in 65 with metal ducts wrapped with insulation. He also says we only need a 2 1/2 ton unit. My concern is can the new codes force the complete replacement of a working system because the compressor went bad? A. I am aware of no code that would require the entire replacement of your ductwork. I would strongly suggest that you seek another opinion before proceeding. Talk to friends, family and neighbors to find a company that they have used and are happy with. Q. If I change out the outside condenser from a SEER 10 to a dual fuel Seer 13 heat pump, does the furnace unit inside have to be changed out or are there "parts" that can be used to alter the existing furnace for a heat pump? I have a 5.0 ton unit outside I would like to change out to dual fuel, and replacing the furnace would be a major expense that I can't afford. A. Your current AC unit and coil can be converted to a heat pump and your existing furnace can be used as part of the new "dual fuel" application. It should be noted however, that the age and efficiency of the existing furnace be considered. It may be wise (and less expensive in the long run) to "bite the bullet" now and get a new and much more efficient furnace. Q. Hi, As I was reading the questions and answers above, you state that the minimum seer requirement is 13. We bought a new home May 2005, the seer in our unit is only 10. Is there something I need to do about this? A. Certainly not. Every so often energy laws change that affect many things in our daily life such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and even computers. Typically manufactures are required to do things that reduces the consumption of energy on new products. Products that have been purchased and/or installed using the older laws are not affected. It would not make since for you to replace what you have just purchase to keep up with this ever changing cycle. Q. Hi, My central heat & air conditioner is getting frost on the outside of the unit. Is this suppose to happen?

A. The outdoor section of a heat pump will accumulate ice on the fins. It should go through a periodic defrost
that melts this. This typically accures about every 90 minutes or so. Different models may take longer. Q. I am replacing my 15+ year old heat / AC and having the system moved into the attic of my ranch home due to the deteriorating of the existing ductwork, which is encased in the slab floor. I am considering a Trane 2 stage variable speed gas furnace with a single stage heat pump. Is this overkill on the heat side? Or, would it make more sense to not do a heat pump but a 2 stage AC unit instead?

A. The answer may be both. A 2-stage heat pump using gas as the back-up is the best long term option.
Certainly initial cost is a consideration, however when you consider the energy savings and greatly increased year-round comfort level, it may be well worth a few more $'s. Q. I had a Trane XR12 Heat pump installed in August 2005. The AC and Heat seem to work just fine, however, in the heat mode, when the compressor kicks in, there is a rattling type noise coming from the air handler box that is inside the house in the hallway. The noise only lasts about a minute or so and then goes away. Any ideas on the problem? Thank you. A. the noise is most likely a check valve being bypassed. When the system starts, it may take a minute or so for the pressure to fully "seat" the device. This may cause a little rattle within the first minute. If the noise is objectionable, contact your installing dealer. He may be able to provide a solution depending on the type of noise it is. Q. I need to replace the AC and gas furnace for the second floor of my home. I am leaning towards a two-stage variable-speed furnace and a 14 SEER AC unit. Would you recommend a two stage AC unit also? Should I consider changing to a heat pump with gas pack? Would either of these two options pay for themselves through greater efficiency? A. The benefits of 2-stage cooling are well worth the additional investment. SEER ratings aside, the 2-stage should dehumidify better and sustain a more even level of comfort during the cooling season. Many folks tell me that they because of the better moisture removal, they are able to keep their thermostat set as many as 2-3 degrees higher than before with the same comfort level. This action alone saves electricity and over short period of time, can pay for the upgrade. Q. I just purchased new Trane equipment. The salesman told me that the R410A runs at very high pressures and that he wouldn't recommend it. I relied on his recommendation so my new unit has the old refrigerant. I noticed in many of your responses you advise folks to get the newer one. Did I make a mistake with this choice?. A. It is true that R410A operates at higher pressures. Years ago the same could have been said about R-22 when many of the refrigerants operated at lower pressures. We have seen no reason to not recommend the use. You did not make a "mistake" by purchasing the older R-22 system. You should see a normal life with that system and refrigerant availability should be no problem for servicing. Q. We are new to using a heat pump. We just bought a house with one installed. Since it has been cold outside, the inside unit runs a lot. However, the outside unit never comes on at all. Should it? A. Your outdoor unit (heat pump)should run when the indoor unit runs. If this is not happening then you should call for service. Your system will still heat, however your electric bill will be higher and your indoor fan will probably run all the time. Q. Baman, I live in Richmond, VA and we are adding an addition to our house. What I wanted to know is what the cost/efficiency difference between a 11 seer and 12 seer Central AC(not heat pump)unit? Is it worth the extra cost to go up to the 12? We plan to be in our house approx. 8 years. for any insight you can offer!! A. Beginning January the new minimum SEER will go to 13. I would recommend starting with at least that level.

Q. Baman, I have just had a dual fuel system installed with outside thermostat set at 35 degrees. My question is,
what problems will I have with the outside heat pump when snow, sleet and freezing rain covers the fan blades etc, when the temp rises above 35 while still frozen? A. Wayne, your heat pump system has a defrost cycle which should take care of most accumulations of ice and frost. Q. We are considering a Trane dual fuel system: heat pump outside, Gas heater and blower in Garage. We are getting confusing opinions and advice. In order to get comfortable and efficient heat we should have a variable speed blower. The only variable speed gas heaters are two stage heaters. The gas is used as backup and will only kick in as "emergency" heat when temp are below 35F, => only a one stage heater is needed. Are we going to waste money on a too "fancy" gas heater? Reps tell us that a dual fuel system can be manually switched to gas when we choose. Others say that the gas heat can only be activated as emergency heat and then the heater would work at 100%. What is your take on it? A. A 2-stage furnace enhances your energy savings and comfort level when used in ANY application, including a dual fuel system. Trane provides several ways to bring on the gas heat in a dual fuel application. One being the "restricted mode"; which brings on the gas with any heat call below the outdoor thermostat setting. Another being the "unrestricted mode" when the gas comes on with an Auxillary heat signal (2nd stage) call from the thermostat. This can happen at any outdoor temperature. Whereas the "unrestricted" mode is a more efficient mode of heating, we find that comfort levels in the colder temperatures is sometimes compromised. For that reason, we typically recommend the "restricted mode" for most folks. As far as if you want to over-ride with gas only; your thermostat would be put in the "emergency heat" mode for gas only operation. Q. I have a Trane furnace XL80 Model TUD140R960K0. I am trying to figure out what the BTUS on this unit are, a contractor told me that it was a 140000 btu unit and that it was too big for my 1500'sq home, he also said that it was a 5 ton unit, is this correct? A. Yes this is a 140,00 Btu furnace with a 5 ton capacity blower. Generally speaking, for your area, this would be a bit much for that size home. A room by room load calculation would verify this suspicion.

Q. The house I am looking to buy has a Carrier Gas Pack with a Model # 48NMT036. Could you tell me how old
the unit might be? A. The manufactured date is typically coded in the serial #'s of most units. For instance 2791 being the first 4 #'s in a serial # could indicate it was built the 27th week of 1991, Different manufactures use different variations of this coding. Q. Baman, I have a 9 year old Trane Gas furnace that a Sears tech diagnosed a bad sensor flame. He thought the part would be $30 - $40 but it turned out to be only available from the factory for $427. I read on the web that a flame sensor may not work due to residue buildup and that it can be cleaned. I was unable to locate the flame sensor. Can you help? Model tue080a936h0 serial K22542127. A. flame sensors can be cleaned with Emory cloth (not sand paper). They do sometimes require replacement however. I am sure you can find a replacement for that model from a local Trane dealer (us included) for less $ than you have listed. Q. I have a gas pack unit that has finally give out after 11 years. I am look to maybe replace it with a regular heat pump, which would be more cost effective for my home a gas pack or heat pump I live in a 2200 sq foot home. A. several manufactures make a "gas pack" that also is a "heat pump". This application is commonly referred to as a "dual fuel" system. The overall cost is slightly higher than either of the above as a stand alone, however the utility savings as well as the increased comfort level are well worth the investment. Q. I received an estimate to replace my gas furnace. Although I am not replacing the AC unit, he said I needed to replace the AC coils (in a unit sitting atop my furnace York Stellar). Should I replace these now or wait until I replace the AC unit outside? A. We are often asked this question this time of year when folks are considering replacing their furnace. When replacing your furnace it does make a lot of sense to replace the evaporator coil at the same time. It should be noted however, that if your AC unit is of the same age as the furnace, replacement of it should be considered as well. The reason is; the warranty, efficiency, reliability, and overall price is much better when purchased as a package. If purchased separately at a later date, the system may not be a matched system as technology and efficiency laws are rapidly changing. Q. I have a Rheem Gas Forced Air Furnace, which is approximately 30 years old and it seems to be using a tremendous amount of gas. When it is running, you can hear the flame, which sounds like a jet engine. Is there any adjustment that I can make, to make this furnace more efficient? A. We find that furnaces of that age are very inefficient and sometimes oversized. You may want to have a qualified contractor evaluate your system and provide you options for a replacement. Q. Baman, I have gotten conflicting information about high efficiency units. I am looking at putting a Trane system into a two-story town home I am buying. I have been told that the higher efficiency units made today do a great job with sensible cooling load, but are so efficient that the latent cooling load suffers, resulting in a cool temperature but not enough dehumidification, leaving a clammy feeling. It was recommended by one contractor that 13 SEER would be as high as he goes. I do live in Birmingham, AL which has a very humid environment. I am not real familiar with the terms sensible and latent in this case. Your thoughts? A. high efficiency units today do a much better job of controlling humidity than ever before if they are sized, installed, and set-up properly. If humidity is a big concern, several manufactures use 2 speed cooling with additional dehumidification controls that can really make a difference in an area like yours. Trane offers 2 such lines, the XL16-I, and XL19-I, are two great systems that you should consider. Q. Baman, I have a 7 year old Rheem gas pack powered by L.P. gas. How often should the heat exchanger be inspected? A. Clyde, I recommend having your heating and cooling system inspected and tuned up every heating and cooling season. Many things can change in a short period of time, so it is better to be safe. Q. We have a 10 yr. old Trane, 12 SEER combination cooling/Gas heating "gas pack". The heat exchanger is cracked. We live in humid North Carolina. I think 10 is too soon to rust out the heat exchanger. What brand of furnace has a better heat exchanger. We've been very satisfied with "gas pack", which is correctly sized for our 2,400 sq.ft. ranch style house. A. In the last couple of years we have seen several manufactures (including Trane) introduce the stainless steel heat exchangers to the package unit lines. I would expect better performance out of these exchangers than those we have seen in past years. Q. Hi, We live in N. Ill and have a American Standard HVAC system is 9 years old. At the beginning of summer the tech said we had a Freon leak somewhere. He said we should replace the AC. We opted to charge the system . It lasted 2 months. He said HE would not be able to find the leak. Is there something else we can do less buying a new AC? A. Refrigerant leaks can sometimes be very difficult to locate. There are several methods and tools to help an experienced technician locate these more difficult leaks. I would suggest that you call and find someone that may be able to do what it takes to locate these leaks prior to the replacement option. Q. I presently have a 3 ton Carrier gas pac that is 17 yrs old. I am looking at the 13 Seer duel fuel Carrier Infinity with Puron. It is an expensive system. Is it worth the expense or should I be looking at other brands?

A. the premium that you pay for "dual fuel" should be considered as an investment. Your return on your
investment will be through lower overall utility bills and a higher level of comfort. Whereas the Brand is very important, the installing contractor and his/her expertise in their product is perhaps even more important. I am very familiar with the Trane dual fuel systems and have found them to be very versatile and reliable. !! Q. My furnace instantly blows a fuse (3 or 5 or even 7 amp) when the A/C is turned on via the thermostat. The fuses do not blow, when the heat is turned on. Could this mean that I may need a new transformer? Do you think that the extra needed energy to run the A/C overloads the circuit? A. I can only assume that you are referring to the low voltage fuses that protects the furnace transformer. If so, the most likely cause is a short in the low voltage wire that goes to the outdoor unit. Often we find that this wire has been damaged by either a "weed eater" or by an animal chewing the wires where the lines enter the outdoor unit. Q. I am going to replace my old air-conditioning system with American Standard 5 ton Allegiance 18 or Trane XL19i. I want high efficiency and reliability, but the problem is that both of them use R-22. As you know, the U.S. will stop manufacturing of R-22 after 2010. Will the R-22 refrigerant give me troubles after, say, 2015? I mean, in addition to the cost, can I still get R-22 for my Allegiance 18/ Trane XL19i from the market? Thank you. A. We expect R-22 to be available for the life of any equipment installed today. The production of equipment that contains R-22 will cease as of 2010, however ther refrigerant will be manufactured for several more years for repair usage. Q. I have a low to fair amount of seasonal allergies and am considering buying the electronic air filter for our gas furnace. Do you think this is a good investment for the additional $600 cost, or would a medium-efficiency pleated filter do the job? A. an electronic air cleaner installed with your furnace should greatly help your allergies. When it is time to replace your furnace consider a variable speed model, which will only enhance the performance of the air cleaner if used properly. Q. Baman, my upstairs unit (12 year old Carrier) was recently diagnosed with a leaking evaporator coil. The system was recharged and is currently working. I was advised by the contractor to replace the whole system prior to January with a 12 SEER unit with R22. The idea being that it would be cheaper and the newer 13 SEER units that become mandated after the first of the year are "unproven" and will be problematic. I'm concerned I'll just be buying an obsolete system. Is there a significant cost savings between "new" and "old". A. 13 SEER and higher units are and have been on the market for many years. Soon we will start to see an "optimized" (cheaper) version of the 13 SEER models on the market to compete with the lower SEER pricing that we have become accustom to. I would recommend that you take a look at a 14 and higher model to see if the benefits and features are what you are looking for. Q. Baman, I have a two story house with one thermostat. My furnace is 30 years old and the air conditioner is 15+. I am having a new Carrier Variable speed 96% furnace and a Carrier 13 SEER air conditioner installed. The technician said zoning the house would be very expensive. He believes the new system will greatly improve the disparity in temperature between floors and recommends I wait to see how the new unit performs before paying to put in zoning. Do you think a modern system will resolve the problem without zoning ? A. Where a variable speed furnace will improve the temperature differences between the floors, it will not solve the issue. Zoning when done during the replacement is easier and less expensive than returning to do it later. I would recommend that you consider it now. Q. u (and others) often stress Manual J. Yet of 4 estimators that came to my home none volunteered to do so. This is a replacement unit and they quote for the same tonnage that I have. Is there anything wrong with that if the current tonnage does a satisfactory job? Also there are some who say that they do not use nitrogen to purge the lines or pull a vacuum. (I'm asking for new line sets). One reason given for this is the system comes charged for more feet than the line set. These are all dealers who have been doing this work for many years with many satisfied customers. Your comment on whether these dealers should be rejected outright... A. If a dealer tells you that they do not use nitrogen to purge and pressurize a system AND does not pull a vacuum on the lines prior to introducing the refrigerant into the system, I would choose someone else that does. These tasks are basic refrigeration fundamentals that should be performed on every installation. Q. My air condition unit is 7 years old (Carrier). I replaced a bad coil 3 years ago. Now my unit is freezing up and not cooling. The company has come 4 times and put coolant in. It is always low when they come. Do I need to replace coil or will I have to buy a new unit. They suggested new unit (of course they would). A. I would suggest that they perform a thorough leak search on the entire system. This result should give an indication of where the leak is and can it be repaired. Q. I have a 2 ton gas pack unit that is 15 years old and the heat exchanger has burnt out, although the a/c part of it still works fine. I am told that I would be better off to replace the complete unit due to its age. My question is, some people have told me that a heat pump would be as good and be cheaper in cost to put in and operate. Is this true, or is this just heat pump fans talking the gas pack down, and which do you prefer as far as cost to operate and quality of service ? Thanks, Terry.......

A. The old saying goes, everyone has a different opinion. My recommendation would be to look at a "duel fuel"
unit that operates as a heat pump with gas back-up. These units are not alot more expensive to purchase and will save even more on your utility bills. Q. After months of being worked on, the contractor has decided that my Rheem 11 seer heat pump cannot be fixed. He is now trying to locate todays comparison to replace it with. It was originally struck by lightening in May and has not worked correctly since then so insurance will cover a new one. My question is, how do I find the comparable one and know that I am getting what my insurance company is paying for. I am not terribly happy with the contractor since this has been going on for so long and want to do as much homework for myself as I can. The model is RPLA 036JAZ and the serial number is 6083 M)398 16121 if that helps any. so much!! A. For the next few months, the exact replacement should be available. RPLB036JAZ. The "B" is a minor revision to the design. Feel free to give us a call since you are in our market. Q. We have a 2,500 sq. ft. two-story with a 5-ton Goodman AC recently installed. It replaced a 5-ton 9-year old York unit ("builder's grade") when evap coils rusted out and we were advised to change the whole system out (w/10-year warranty). We are now experiencing high (65-75%) humidity levels in the house, not experienced with the previous unit. We are having the fan speed stepped down to medium to give slightly longer cycle times. As a general rule, are you finding that the higher efficiencies now found in today's AC units usually warrant stepping down tonnage after running the J Manual calculations (perhaps in case like outs resulting in 4 tons)? A. When selecting a cooling system application, the nominal or overall tonnage cannot necessarily be used to select equipment. A selection should be made based on two factors when looking at capacity, sensible capacity (or the equipments capacity to remove heat), and the latent capacity (or the capacity to remove moisture). These capacity's vary from model to model even when the same tonnage is used. Q. I have a 10 year-old Trane XL80 2stage gas furnace/AC unit. I want to replace the manual thermostat with a programmable one. Is it necessary to use a 2stage thermostat or can a plain 5 wire thermostat work? If so what is the advantage/disadvantage? A. If you use a single stage thermostat you must jumper between W1 & W2 at the furnace terminal board. This will still stage the furnace but using time (10 minutes of continual run time) as the determining factor for the 2nd stage. Using a "true" 2 stage thermostat, the 1st stage will run unless a drop in room temperature (usually 2 degrees) is noticed. Q. Baman, 4 years ago I had a Trane 3 1/2 ton XL1200 installed with what I am told were 3 ton coils TXC03753HPCO and that is apparently why the system freezes up after running for 20-30 minutes and does not cool very well. Contributing to the problem is that the new refrigerant lines (3/8") were connected to the old line (1/4") running through and out of the house. Technician recommendation- install new 4 ton coils and rerun refrigerant line with 3/8". Do you agree? A. The Coil and AC unit appear to be a match, however the line size is troubling. I recommend having someone access the line size as well as the ductwork associated with that system. !!! Q. Can I just replace the R-22 with Puron? Different oil or what?

A. Eddie, R410-A (Puron) is not a "drop in" refrigerant for R-22. They are not compatible, as they have vastly
different characteristics. The oil that travels with the refrigerant is different, the line sizing, metering device and compressor are engineered to different specifications. Q. I've been told by some people that it is just so hot outside that the ac unit can't keep up. We live in North Alabama and are currently having an unusually HOT summer. Our unit is fighting to keep the inside temp at 78 the thermostat is set at 75. Is there any truth to the myth that the outside temp affects how the ac unit can perform? A. GREAT Question! The outdoor temperature directly affects the cooling capacity of the AC system. When the inside of your home is receiving more heat than your AC can remove the temperature will rise. The system is designed to a specific "normal" outside maximum temperature. This information is standardized data that is specific to your city or town. Over sizing the system for abnormally high temperatures is not practical, because during normal high temperatures and lower, the system would use more electricity, and not remove the humidity which would lead to increased discomfort. One note is to make sure the unit has been serviced and is clean. Dirty coils will reduce the cooling capacity especially during heat waves. Q. Recently had the evaporator coil replaced in my 10 year old Rheem Gas Pack. I was told by the A/C tech that since the new evaporator coil was a GENERIC equivalent( not a true Rheem replacement)that I would need what He called a 'transition of ductwork' in order for the New GENERIC Evaporator Coil to work properly at an 'additional' cost of $200 just for the ductwork transition ?. Is this a true fact or possibility? My common sense knowledge tells me that this 'ductwork transition' was not necessary and that it was just the company's way of adding more 'repair' cost that was not necessary. Hope you can Help. A. Sometimes even with a replacement coil by the same manufacturer and same model, a new transition is required to adapt to the existing duct system. Coils come in all shapes and sizes, so I would consider this normal. Q. I just bought a new home with a new electric heat pump, the unit seems to run a lot w/ thermostat @ 71 or so, the condensate drain outside the home runs steadily while unit is in operation(like a faucet barely left on), keeps grass area very wet. Is this too much condensation? How much should condensate run?

A. In the area that you live, condensation levels of this type are normal. Q. Baman, I recently replaced an 18 year old York heat pump (9 SEER) with a new Trane heat pump (XL14i)
and gas furnace. I received my first electric bill after the install and found the kwh usage (1900) to be about the same as the old system. In summer with the old system the kwh ranged from 1600-2000. Both readings on my electric bill were actual readings so it is not an estimation issue. I also noticed that Comfort-R is not operational (fan on only when outdoor unit is on). I am going to have the installing contractor check the system. My question is, what could have been set-up incorrectly to make the system so inefficient, what should my contractor be checking? I would like to compare what my contractor actually checks vs. your recommendations. I was told to expect between 30 and 40 % in energy savings from the old unit, was this a reasonable expectation? A. I would recommend having your contractor come back an go through and "set up" the system per the manufactures specifications. If they are a "Trane Dealer" they should be trained to perform this task. It is difficult to compare power bills from month to month and year to year as temperature variations, lifestyle changes and other factors contribute to the overall bill. Without question, if set-up correctly and operated normally, the newer system should use significantly less power. Q. Hello Baman, Your "ask the expert" column is a great resource for HVAC questions. In the Southeast, you are aware that humidity is a big concern during our summer months. I notice on my new Trane variable speed gas furnace located in my crawl space that there is a great deal of condensation on the outside of my evaporator coil, supply transition to ductwork, and condensate pump literally dripping onto ground. This makes me wonder about the inside. Is this something I need to be concerned about? If so, what if anything is a suggested remedy? A. Your problem is common. Many variable speed applications move the air a little slower across the indoor coil which results in two things in the summer months. Supreme dehumidification in your home and colder air temperatures. These are both good things to most home owners, however in some areas of the country the colder air temperatures within a duct system make the duct work (even well insulated) sweat on the exterior of the ducting due to high crawlspace/basement humidity levels. Remember that the inside of the ductwork sees only the dehumidified air so it should not sweat. To reduce this problem, take measures to reduce the humidity levels in the crawlspace/basement. Q. I was told that there really is not a need for a humidifier in this (Charlotte) area if you install a variable speed furnace, unless you have delicate furniture pieces. Is that true? Under what conditions should a humidifier be considered? A. A humidifier is needed for many homes in the South. Cold temperatures coupled with lower humidity, keep many homes too dry in the winter months. Variable speed has no bearing on the need for a humidifier, it does help dehumidify in the summer however. Q. Baman, I am planning to install a variable speed furnace and XL14i air conditioner. What kind of thermostat do you recommend as optimal for such a heating/cooling configuration? A. A Trane full 7 day programmable thermostat is your best option.

Q. I recently had a service tech look at my AC units. He recommended a cleaning service to make them operate
more efficiently. Can you explain such a service, the benefits, the efficiency gain, and potential energy savings? A. Having your system serviced and cleaned on a regular basis WILL lower your operating costs, prolong the systems life and alert you of any potential problems that your sytem may have before they become major. We feel that this servicing will pay for itself over time. Q. We are getting ready to purchase whole house air conditioning for the first time, along with a new, more energy efficient furnace. Only one contractor quoted us a Seer 13 A/C unit using the new refrigerant - Puron. Should we avoid purchasing the units utilizing the R22 refrigerant, and is "PURON" just a name coined by the Carrier Corp.?? A. We recommend that you let features and benefits of a system and an installing contractor that you feel comfortable be the driving force of your purchase. If all is equal, then an R-410A ("Puron" a Carrier brand name)system would most likely be the better choice over time. Q. We are buying an older house with a Trane YCC042F Gas Pack that was installed in 1996. Our inspector noted "a fair amount of rust" on the visible sections of the heat exchanger. How concerned should we be? Is it possible to replace just the heat exchanger? A. It is normal to see "some" rust on or around an exchanger. I would have a qualified HVAC tech inspect the exchanger for problems. If it needs to be replaced the exchanger may be under a warranty. The labor and additional costs would not be covered however. Q. Baman, I noticed yesterday that our fan continued to blow, even though the ambient temperature was cooler than the thermostat setting (it was on A/C). I could hear the blower turning on, then quickly turning off, erratically. Today I tried turning the system off, and putting the fan on auto. The fan continued to blow. Rather than have a technician charge me $75 for a house call, only to tell me I should buy a new thermostat, I thought I'd ask you- is it likely this is just a thermostat issue? Anything I can do to check it? A. Without knowing what model of furnace you have it is difficult to diagnose the problem. It may be in your best interest to have a technician look at the problem prior to spending the $ on a thermostat that may not fix the problem.

Q. With so many brands to choose from, and all heating contractors having their favorite brands, how does one
make an intelligent choice of a replacement heat pump. I have a 1985 3 ton York heat pump that should be replaced, though it still works. Do any comparative testing results exist for heat pumps, ala Consumer Reports? Which brand is a Best Buy for price and reliability. They all provide SEER and HSPF data, but really, how does one pick? A. Choosing a brand is much like choosing a brand of car. Features and benefits of the equipment coupled with warranty, and a reliability history that you feel comfortable should be your driving force. The most important factor should be choosing the right (best) contractor. Regardless of the equipment, this alone seems to lead to the best (or worst) overall satisfaction. Ask friends and neighbors about their experiences. Q. I have new Trane dual fuel system-XLi heat pump with variable speed gas furnace. My question involves the variable speed blower and Comfort R feature of dehumidification. The blower seems to be the same speed all the time based on my observation of the strength of the air flow from the supply vents. How can one tell if the blower is functioning properly and is it true that the Comfort R feature only works with the "fan on" continuously setting? This confuses me and I would appreciate your advice. A. I suggest that you have the installing contractor return and check the setup. He must manually set the system for "Comfort R" as well as other settings specific to your application. Q. I have a two stage, non variable speed furnace and am purchasing a new AC unit. I am considering a high seer single stage unit vs. a two stage AC unit. Without variable speed, is there any advantage to the two stage unit? I am willing to pay some premium if it will provide more comfort, saves energy and is quieter in the bedroom. A. If you are considering a two stage, I would suggest a variable speed furnace be strongly considered. Depending on the brand, variable speed is not an option when using a two speed AC or HP. Comfort and cost of operation are far more superior when this match up is used. Q. Baman, I have a 18 year old Amana split system heat pump in a 2 story 1780sq.ft home in North Carolina...want to replace both air handler and heat pump but would like to know what would be a good reliable and efficient unit with a good warranty...Thanks, Mike A. Stick with the well known brands as they tend to have the best warranties, proven technology, and adequate parts availability. Reference consumer magazines and web sites to get a consensus to what the current consumer opinion pole may be (these are typically very accurate). Q. Replacing old central air conditioning unit (in and out). New units can use Puron. Can existing copper line be properly cleaned from Freon and installed with Puron. Please give me your opinion Thank You A. If replacing your old system, it is best that you replace the copper refrigerant lines whether converting to R410A or not. Line sizing with R-410A is different than R-22 and cleaning the lines completely is impossible. Q. Hello Baman. There continues to be debate about R-22 vs. Puron(R410a)refrigerants. Could you elaborate and explain why you recommend R-410a? Putting the environmental issue aside for the moment, why would one want to purchase R-410a equipment that costs more as well as the refrigerant being a lot more expensive at this time? What are the benefits? It seems that this issue divides the HVAC dealer community. for your reply. A. Great question! the simple answer is that in the future, with a new R-22 system, your options for repair/ replacement WILL be limited and more expensive. The auto and appliance industry went through this very conversion in the early 90's with the R-12 phase-out. Much like now the opinions were slow to change but after just a few short years it was difficult and expensive to repair and/or convert from the older refrigerants. In the end, let features, and benefits of the equipment and installation drive your purchasing decision. Once you find the right system for you, choose the refrigerant type that you feel the most comfortable with. Do remember however, when your system goes out of warranty in a few years, systems will not be manufactured using R-22 refrigerant. At that time, I believe you will find R-22 the more costly refrigerant. Just as the automobile/ appliance industry observed in the early 90's and increasingly so today. Q. Hi, I have a 3 ton split heat pump system ( Trane originally 1985 ). The evaporator has a leak and I have been told I need a new air handler. The outside unit is a 10 seer and is only 5yrs old. Should I replace the air handler only or go for a complete new system with the r410a. A. I recommend replacing the entire system with at least a 13 SEER unit and I would recommend using an R410A system. Be sure that the installing contractor has been certified in the R-410A application. Q. I just bought a house. The heat pump was inspected and serviced prior to closing. Being from the upper Midwest I was never acquainted with heat pumps before this one. The problem that I am having is that the outside unit is constantly on despite the thermostat having been shut off for 3 days. Is this normal? Will it ever shut off? A. You have a problem with the pump itself, perhaps a contactor that is stuck keeping the unit on. Turn the power off to the outdoor unit ASAP and call your local servicer. Q. I have a Goodman split central Heat Pump/AC system. The problem is very specific. The outside compressor fan and compressor both work fine. The air handler unit, however, will not run in the AUTO position but works fine in the ON position. This caused, I think, the line into the air handler (and probably the coils) to ice up. Is this

possibly due to a bad thermostat and, if so, how would I verify this (tying the red and green wires together?). If not the stat, then what? A. As if the fan will come on in the "on" position but not in the "auto" position, the thermostat should be the problem. Q. I just purchased a 20 year old home. It has a roof mounted fan. I am not sure if it works. How can I test it? Where is the thermostat located? Can I heat it up with a hot air gun to verify it comes on? What temperature should it come on? Lastly, can I change the temperature setting on the thermostat? Thanks, Erick A. The thermostat is located in the attic adjacent to the fan motor. Some controls can be changed and some have a fixed temperature range. The setting for your area should be around 100 degrees. Q. I have a Coleman air unit, and the outside unit will not come on. I here a clicking sound when I turn on the thermostat. Do you know what this may be? A. It sounds as if you are not getting high voltage power to the outdoor unit. Check the circuit breaker or fuse that controls this unit. Q. want to replace my 18 year old Carrier central air with a new unit. I'm getting conflicting advice on whether or not I have to have new copper pipe run from the compressor to the A-coil (old is Freon new is Puron) or can the old pipe be flushed somehow and re-used with the new unit since it will be very difficult to run new copper through a completely finished basement. A. It is highly recommended that the refrigerant lines be replaced when changing your AC system. A few hundred dollars spent now will save a lot of heart ache down the road. Q. We recently had a Trane XL 1600 unit stalled on our roof. The AC sounds like a helicopter rotor blade thumping sound that can be heard in almost every room. The heating side is quiet. We were first told the noise was normal but after complaining the Trane service tech said the noise is from the fan and he plans to replace it with another with a different pitch. We think the unit was not properly installed on the base. Have you heard of a new XL 1600 with an improperly pitched fan or one making a thumping noise? A. Noise from outdoor "prop type" fan blades is a common complaint that is only amplified when on a package unit. Sometimes using a different "factory approved" blade with a different pitch will take care of the complaint. In rare cases have I found the problem to be anything other than this. Q. I have a 10 year old Bryant heat pump. It's about to get it's 5th coil. Do you have any idea what could be causing coils to continue to fail every two years in an otherwise trouble-free system? It's located in the attic, which is well ventilated. It supplies heat / cooling for my second floor. The first floor is a combination Bryant a/c and gas furnace. The factory has not responded to my requests for assistance / advice. A. 5 coils in 10 years "sounds" like a manufacturing defect in that particular model. If the factory is not responsive I would suggest looking into a different model or brand. Q. I had a Frigidaire SEER 12 Heat pump installed a year ago and I find it much noisier than my old Rheem. I'm told you can install a sound insulation cover over the compressor. Is this something I can install myself? A. Some manufacturers do offer sound blankets for their compressors, primarily for sound attenuation. These blankets are very simple to install by following the instructions given. Take care to turn off power to unit and when complete check to make sure no wires are close to the outdoor fan blade. Q. We recently installed a 3 ton Trane condensing unit, we then found some un-repairable leaks in the air handler the owner purchased a Goodman air handler 3 ton once it was installed the compressor started to make a lot of noise only in heat mode. can you tell me what can be done to repair this problem? A. You should not have installed a unit that is not in the same product family and rated as being compatible. I recommend getting a properly matched air handler installed. Q. Baman, I have a 4 ton Weather King Heat pump. If you charge it according to the chart in heat, then the cooling charge is too low. If you charge it correctly in cooling, then the heat charge is too high. I am looking at putting an expansion valve on the indoor coil instead of the #82 piston that is currently in the coil. What do you think? A. In almost all instances where there is a seasonal charge imbalance, air flow problems is the primary problem. Perform an accurate airflow measurement, insure that the line set is accurately sized and the problem should be solved without a TXV. Q. I just replaced a Rudd heat pump with a Trane XLI 14 and a Trane 90+ variable speed furnace. The way the system is set up the heat pump runs as my main heat down to 25 degrees. My Rudd was set up to have the furnace kick in when the temp was shut down to say 60 degrees, and we wanted to bring the temp up to 70. Why I ask this is it my brand new heat pump has been trying to get the temp to 68 for four hours and it is still only 67 degrees right now. The temp out side is 45 and the air output from heat pump temp is 88 degrees. Is everything set up correctly? A. This does not sound normal, I recommend having the installing contractor come back out to check the system. If properly sized, the heat pump should handle that temperature with no problem. Q. I have a Honeywell electronic air cleaner and the indicator light which is to come on and off with the fan operation is constantly on. Is there anything I can do to fix this with the costs of electricity these days?

A. The problem most likely is with a switch that is located within the cleaner. It probably needs replacement. If
you have an older model, the switch could be external to the cleaner. Q. How can I test or inspect the heat exchange unit of my gas fired heater? It's about 10 years old and I'm fearful of carbon monoxide leaking into the living area of our home. A. The inspection of a heat exchanger should be performed by an experienced HVAC technician. We carry special tools that help us see areas that you cannot. Q. How can I test my compressor to see if it is shorted to ground?

A. A simple test to check for a shorted compressor can be performed with an Ohm meter. Disconnect all power
to unit, remove the leads from the compressor (note which terminals each wire connects to), ohm between the copper lines leaving the compressor and each terminal. A measurable reading signifies a shorted compressor. Q. What is your opinion of extended warranties to cover labor costs for a ten year period on a new York heat pump installed at the beach?? A. If the warranty cost seams reasonable, I would recommend it. Be sure that it is a manufactures warranty and not a third party warranty. Also check for exclusions and/or deductibles. Q. I have a Rheem gas furnace. With the fan on the on position we get heat. We tried replacing the thermostat that wasn't it. When we just have the fan to the auto position the furnace does nothing. Any ideas? A. Depending on the age of the furnace, (newer) it could be a circuit board that has gone bad. (older) A device called a fan/limit control or wiring associated with it could be the problem. Q. We have a Trane XR12 heat pump. Installed 6/02 . I had a problem with the heat pump running continually. The house temp was not getting up to the thermostat setting of 68 degrees for several hours .The outside temp was about 30 degrees. This had been going on for a couple of weeks. We had a service man out to check and he discovered that the refrigerant had leaked because two of the copper tubes in the coil had been rubbing together. The cost to repair will be $1212.00. I didn't get the extended warranty but I don't think I should have to pay $1200.00 for this repair it seems like a design problem with the copper tubes set too close together allowing them to rub. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. Have you heard of this happening before? A. Many contractors offer free second opinions. I would recommend having another firm give their opinion.

Q. I am ready to purchase a new system and have the residential heat loss and heat gain calculations for my
home. I have determined that the total heat gain is 19,191, the total heat loss is 43,972, the latent gain is 1925 and the sensible gain is 17, 266. All figures obtained by using HVAC-Calc. I think I need a 4 tons heat pump but am having trouble figuring what BTUH capacity air handler I need. I'm interested in the Trane Variable Speed AirTite system using R410A refrigerant. Any suggestions? A. The Trane variable speed air handler is a good choice. You should consult with a reputable Trane dealer in your area to look at the different match-ups. The latent/sensible loads vary depending on the exact outdoor unit and indoor unit listed ratings. Your dealer should have a program called "Trane perf", which will calculate any Trane match-up that you desire. Q. Trane heat pump (4twr2024a100) and air handler (4tee3f31) installed in July 2003. The problem is fan runs continuously even after heat turn off when desired temp. Is reached. This happen specially when outside temp. Is below 40f. Unit works normal when temp. Is above 40f. (replaced thermostat ) what could be the problem? A. You may want to have the system looked at. The fan running continuously can be a symptom of a problem with the heat pump. If this is the case, your power consumption may increase drastically. Q. Can a dirty filter cause a furnace to shut down. Filter is only 1.5 months old, but is dirty.

A. A dirty filter can cause the furnace to over heat, thus causing it to lock out for protection. Replace your filters
monthly or sooner if needed. Q. Baman, I am looking at purchasing a system for a townhouse (end unit, one shared wall). I suspect the current unit was sized incorrectly and is too small. I have received differing information on the necessary unit size based on how to calculate a heating/cooling load taking into account the shared wall. What is the proper accounting for the shared wall in a load calculation? A. A shared or partition wall should be considered with no temperature difference as under normal circumstances it should be conditioned relative to your space. Q. I have a Carrier split heat pump manufactured in 1986. The outdoor unit does not come on anymore, the heating is done from the indoor unit only. My question is: should I replace both indoor and outdoor systems at the same time? I believe my unit is too old and should get a newer, more efficient system. Thank you A. I strongly recommend that you replace your entire system with a high efficiency system of 13+ SEER, as this will be the minimum beginning 1/1/2006. Strong consideration should be given to the newer refrigerant (R-410A), because R-22 (the old standard) is being phased out of equipment production beginning that same year and completely by 2010. Q. About 18 months ago, the heat exchanger on my Combination Goodman unit was found to be terribly cracked. It was replaced. Yesterday during a routine inspection, the new heat exchanger was found to be cracking as well. The HVAC company says that the part is covered by warranty, but the labor is $350 to replace it. #1) Does it seem reasonable that it should crack this soon again? #2) Is this a reasonable amount? You can

access the exchanger by just a few screws on the lid, and considering that it was done that recently, should I be paying $350 let alone anything? A. I would have little confidence that replacing the heat exchanger after only 18 months is going to solve your problem long term. Either the manufacturer has an issue with the exchanger or more likely there is something wrong with your gas pack that is causing the premature failure. Common problems are overheating due to lack of airflow, and/or over firing of the burners. Overheating can be a bi-product of poor duct design, dirty filters, and/or coils. Q. Ahead for your expert advice. I have a Rheem gas furnace with a hot surface igniter. It's cracked and needs replacement. Is it as easy as plugging in a new one or do I need to check the resistance or something else like that. A. It is very straight forward. Just a few tips however, do not touch the dark igniter surface with your hands and the igniters are extremely brittle, so be very careful. Q. I have an older 2 story home and am getting ready to purchase a new central air unit. My home is approx. 1650 sq ft. What size do you recommend? I have had 2 answers 1 being a 3 ton and the other a 3.5 ton. Also when considering seer I was quoted almost an $800.00 difference between a 12 seer and a 13.5. Is a 1.5 difference worth an extra $800.00? A. The size of your system is not a guessing game it is an exact science. I recommend asking both of your contractors to show you their load calculation that they performed on your home. If they won't show you this then you need to find another contractor. Beginning 1/1/2006 the Minimum SEER is 13. I recommend getting 13 + and be sure to ask about the newer refrigerants that are being used today. Q. Hi Baman, We are building a new house and have the choice of Rudd or Gibson for heating and air. Which would you suggest. A. I recommend checking consumer publications that rate the reliability of heating and cooling equipment. This should give you an insight into the best product to purchase. Q. Baman, We're putting a new furnace in our house. I'm trying to compare the Lennox 2 stage model with the Rheem single stage option. Is the Lennox worth the extra money? Both are 90% efficient according to the literature, so it's just a 2 stage/1 stage question at this point. A. Decide what furnace will benefit your comfort needs the most and go with that model. You will most likely determine that the two stage model (regardless of the manufacturer) delivers the highest comfort level. It also should cost less to operate in the heating season. Q. I have a 2 story un-insulated house in the northwest. I have a choice between a single speed vs.. a variable speed furnace of similar efficiency. The variable speed one is much more money - and I am also wondering about reduced reliability with the increased technology of the variable speed. A. Variable speed motors are no longer considered "new technology" and are in most cases more reliable than conventional motors. Take advantage of the benefits of the variable speed and enjoy. Q. I have a 2 ton 13 seer 13 yr old Trane central AC unit. I have a leak in the handler coil. My compressor is in good shape and may last a year or two longer. My question is: would it be ok to just replace the handler at this time and replace the compressor in a year or so when needed? I know that ideally to replace the whole system is best, but I dont really have the means to do that at this time.(but, don't want added problems down the road) Also, any input on Freon vs. Puron would be helpful. A. Unfortunately, now may be the time to make the change to a newer system. Replacing only the air handler will severely limit your options and will also guarantee that you must replace the outdoor unit within the next few years. Your current system uses R-22 refrigerant and the only air handler that will work with it is an R-22 model. Some manufactures are making noise that they will stop producing these systems within a couple of years (definitely by 2010) thus converting to R-410A refrigerant. Replacing now will save you money, both in purchase price and energy savings over the long run. Seek financing options and replace the entire system now. Q. Baman, I have a Rheem heat pump 8+ years old, seems to operate properly, heating and cooling, but has become rather noisy coming on and going off. Does anything need to be done? A. If the increased noise is unusual then I would recommend having it looked at. Sometimes, paying a service call can save a lot of money in the long run. Q. Baman, we have an appx. 1992 Rudd gas forced air furnace which the pilot light intermittently blows out. A new thermocouple and an adjustment of the gas pressure (tech) does not help. Will check exhaust to see if clear. See a big draw on the pilot after gas shuts down and blower continues in cool down mode. A. There are several reasons that this could be happening, One major issue may be that the heat exchanger is cracked or defective, and the fan is creating the draft. Q. I have a Rheem heat pump (8 yrs old) and the outside unit needs the reversal pump replaced. The pump that changes from heating to defrost mode? Est. $1,000 to fix it. Is it worth it? Or is that unit near the end of it's life. The Rheem unit is considered a builders unit (low end unit). Any help would be appreciated. A. I do not consider spending that much money on an 8 year old system a good investment. I would recommend replacing the entire system for improved efficiency and reliability.

Q. Hello Baman. I have a new Trane Dual Fuel system(Heat pump with variable speed gas furnace). In your
opinion, is it better to run fan continuously or just when system either heating or cooling is operating? A. Your system is designed for the fan to operate continuously. Use it and you should have much improved filtration and system balance. Q. Recently installed new gas furnace. Upon firing it up I got burning smell and set off the smoke alarms. It's been three days no smoke but a slight burning odor remains. Is this normal? A. It sounds consistent with our experiences with new furnaces. However, if you don't feel comfortable, please call the installing contractor back out to make sure. Q. I have a Rudd heat pump and my electric bill is around $30 to $45.00 in the summer, but in the winter it goes up to $212.00 and over. I have a programmable thermostat, but the auxiliary heat is always coming on. I set the temperature from 70, to 58 degrees during the day. Why is it so expensive in the winter? and why does it still feel chilly when I set it to 70 degrees? A. You may want to have your local service tech have a look at the system. It sounds as if the heat pump is not operating properly and you are heating with the supplemental heating coils. This will cost a lot if not corrected. Q. I have a three story town home with a separate furnace for each level. Whenever the outside temperature drops below freezing for a couple of days, the furnace for my main level(middle floor)stops completely. I have had several service calls, and each time the problem is diagnosed as a frozen condensation line where it leaves the building. They have insulated this area with some foam and duct tape but the problem is still occurring. When I need my heater the most(cold weather), it freezes up. I have a 2001 Lennox system in a two-year old home. Why would any system be installed that would expose condensation lines to freezing temperatures and what can I do to prevent this from happening? A. This is a common problem when the temp gets well below 32 degrees for any length of time. I recommend cutting the tube off as close to the building as possible and insure that the tube has a substantial downward slope to it. You can then affix a larger (3/4") pipe over the tube to run the water away from the foundation. This will most likely eliminate the problem. Q. I have a brand new Trane XL-90 for both levels of my new home. Today, I came home, the temp was showing 68. I turned the thermostat to 72, the unit started running and the temp, after several minutes, dropped to 66. Upon inspection I found the condensing pipe to be frozen. My service tech says that there is not much I can do about it. Do you have any suggestions? A. this is a common problem when the temp gets well below 32 degrees for any length of time. I recommend cutting the tube off as close to the house as possible and insure that the tube has a substantial downward slope to it. You can then affix a larger (3/4") pipe over the tube to run the water away from the foundation. This will most likely eliminate the problem. Q. I recently had installed in a new home in another city a Trane XL14i three ton and the appropriate air handler. Due to tight space the filter for the air handler can not be removed and changed. Is it ok to leave this in the air handler while changing the filters regularly at the air returns? Any harm done? A. I strongly recommend removing the filter in the unit even if you destroy it in the process. The system should have been designed and installed with one filter location and in your case, should be the return grills. If you can't get it out, have the installing contractor do what it takes to remove it. Q. I have a 12 year old Trane Weathertron packaged heat pump system that trips the breaker every time the outside temp gets below 20 F. This only seems to happen in the middle of the night. I reset the breaker and the unit trips it again after 10 minutes. After resetting the breaker at least 3 times, the unit performs back to normal until the next night if the temp gets below 20. Any ideas on what is causing this? A. It sounds as if something is shorting out when the second stage heat kicks on. You may have an outdoor thermostat that only allows this to operate below a preset temperature. I would recommend letting a qualified service tech address this issue. Q. Recently brought older house with Trane xl-1000 heat pump. had to have indoor heat/fan assembly replaced by home warranty contractor. not sure if they replaced with existing vfd motor. now when outside air is 30 to 40 degrees heat pump supplies only 80 degree indoor air. house seems to stay cooler than before. is this correct supply air temp for conditions? A. It doesn't seem that the temperature is as warm as I would expect for the temps that you described. I would recommend having it checked and serviced by a reputable servicer. If something is wrong, this service call will pay for itself with energy savings alone! Q. When the auxiliary kicks on, there is a slight burning odor. It does not set off the fire/smoke detectors. Is this normal A. The smell is probably dust burning off of the elements. This is very normal.

Q. I have the option of a two speed gas furnace or a variable speed furnace. One has a BTU of 45,00 and the
other, 70,000 (the variable speed). My house is an old row house of about 850 square feet. Which would be a better choice? Does rhe term 'variable speed' mean the fan is on all the time? Is noise a factor? Because of the size of the house, noise is a consideration.

A. I can assume that you are comparing two different quotes and trying to determine which is best for your
home. First and foremost, the accurate size of the furnace is the most important, and there appears to be too wide of a range. I would suggest that you get another quote and ask that person to run a load calculation on your home. After the size has been determined, almost all variable speed furnaces are also two stage, so that would be the furnace that I recommend. Q. Hi Baman. It appears the pilot light went out on our furnace (Trane XE60) and having moved into this house last year, do not have a manual for this furnace. How is the pilot light relit? for your reply. A. The instructions for lighting the pilot should be located on the blower door of the furnace. *

Q. I have a Carrier Home Heating and Air Conditioning system that was installed in May 2003. No matter what
season I am in, there is always a humming noise coming from the inside unit. Everything is functioning correctly but the noise becomes annoying and causes static on the cordless phones in the same vicinity. What could this be...the transformer???? A. Yes it is the transformer. Try and reposition the transformer in the brackets and move all phone cables from this area. If problem persists, replacement of the transformer should be considered, however this may not solve the issue. Q. I have a 14-year old Trane Weathertron electric heat pump. Lately when the heat is on, the outside heat pump makes a "bursting" sound and then a large amount of what looks like steam is emitted from the unit. This only lasts a few seconds. We contacted our service company but they did not seem concerned. Your feedback is appreciated. A. Matt, the heat pump is going through a defrost cycle and is completely normal. QI have a York heat pump. When the heat kicks on, the contactor pulls in on the outdoor unit, but the motor does not start. I can hear it whining. If I jump start the motor by turning the blades of the fan with an expandable tool, it will start and run. It just does not have the "umph" to get started. I check the voltage from contactor to motor and it all looks good (248 Vac). Can my capacitor be bad, or is it the motor, or something else? A. Either the capacitor or the motor is bad. If the motor, replace the capacitor at the same time.

Q. How can a residential home owner get the installation instructions for a Trane Gas furnace with AC? I believe
my new indoor evaporator coil is installed incorrectly! Coil may be rotated to accommodate a horizontal installation in an above garage location. A. You can try the Trane website. Also the installation instructions should be near the furnace as required by local code. Q. Hi I have a Rheem heat pump connected to GulfPower "Good Cents" system which is a cost saving system. Lately in the heat mode it will come on and stay on and start to blow cold air and will not turn off. Even when the temp is in the high 50s it does the same thing. I was thinking it was in the de ice cycle, but occurs when warm outside. Any ideas? A. You may have a problem with your heat pump (outdoor unit). If not operating correctly, the thermostat will never satisfy, and the indoor fan will run all the time blowing room temp air. Q. Can you explain to me the function of the "crank case heater" in the Trane xe 1000 high efficiency weathertron heat pump.2 what will happen if it goes bad? 3 and what is the cost of new one. A. The crank case heater keeps liquid refrigerant from accumulating in the compressor and thus damaging it. Costs vary from region to region. Q. I am replacing an outdoor heat pump made by Trane (XE800 weathertron, 3.5 ton) which is 17 years old. Indoor air handler is also a Trane, was part of the original packaged system installed in house and still functions properly. My concern is mixing and matching units as the HVAC contractors I've talked to are suggesting models other than Trane for the outside replacement while retaining the indoor unit. Is there any reason for matching the indoor and outdoor unit with the same manufacturer or is it ok to mix/match? A. Two things, you certainly want to stick with the same manufacturer. However, the system will still not be matched as so much has changed over the years. I recommend replacing the entire system with a high efficiency system. There are many more benefits to this and actually in many states is required by code to be a match. Q. I have a 20 year old Trane heat pump. Is that a long time for one to last? I have to decide between replacing the reversing valve and buying anew heat pump. What do you recommend? A. I would suggest that you replace the entire system with a new high efficiency heat pump. You will be more comfortable, it will cost you less to operate, and most now come with a warranty as long as ten years. Q. We have a Trane 1200 heat pump. The question that I have is when is it appropriate for the auxiliary heat to kick on. The outside temperature was 43 degrees outside and it was in recovery. The setback temperature was 68 and it was heating to 72. It seems to me that the auxiliary should not be coming on as much as it does. Since we are not overriding the normal recovery and asking for it to be heated immediately. The Honeywell programmable thermostat does not indicate that there is any problem. A. Depending on the model that you have, when recovering from that much of a setback, the aux. heat may come on. It may be wise though, to have a service tech. check the system over. I consider the cost of a service

call a good investment, when you consider that your power bill will be dramatically affected if it is not running correctly. Q. Hi Baman, I have a 9 year old Rudd 90 Plus Gas Furnace. Recently I have noticed water accumulating in the drip pan. Any suggestions? A. It seems that you may have a clogged or broken drain line and it is now overflowing to the pan. Inspect the tubing and/or clean out if possible. Q. We have a Rheem heat pump. When it gets cold out it always stops working I go out and reset and it comes back on sometimes it stays on and sometimes I have to reset every 15 min or more. A. The reset button is a high pressure cutout. It will trip in the heating mode for several reasons, dirty filter and/or indoor coil, low airflow and/or duct problems, incorrect refrigerant charge, or equipment line set mismatch to name a few. My recommendation is to have it serviced by a qualified servicer. Q. I have a heat pump. It runs just fine. When it turns off I hear a series of bangs that last for about 2 seconds. It does not make any unusual noises when it runs. Wondering what this might be. for your help A. The sound that you hear may be the ductwork "popping" after the pressure in the duct system changes. This is very common in duct systems that are constructed out of un-insulated sheet metal. Overall probably nothing to worry about. Q. Hi Baman , I have a 5yr old Rheem heat pump. A year ago in the spring the A/C stopped blowing cool air. The repair man replaced an expansion valve which apparently was blocked. Now, today in the heating mode I have the same problem, no heat with the compressor running continually. What could be causing this? A. There are many problems that could cause this type of result. I would recommend calling your repairman back out to evaluate the system. Q. Hi Baman, I have a nine year old Trane furnace (I believe XL 90) that quit working last week. I found the control transformer to be burned up. I replaced it with a new 40VA unit and it worked for 3 days and burned up again. The top windings on the transformer are charred and open. Can't tell if they are the primary or secondary side. Any past experience on this? A. It seems that you have a short somewhere in the low voltage circuit. This could be in the wiring or a component that is going bad. Q. Hello Baman. We moved into our house in April so this is our first heating season. When we put our heat pumps into heat mode, we noticed a distinct vibration and consequently, noise, from the Freon lines. You can feel a lot of vibration in the lines and hear the noise all through the floor system of the second floor where the lines run. A local HVAC company came out and pretty much said "Tough luck, everything is working normally." Any advice? A. The problem is the copper line is in direct contact with a part of the structure and thus transmitting the normal vibration of the system. I have found two reasons that could cause this: one could be a poor job of protecting the lines during the installation process, or after they were properly installed and protected, the lines were moved by another trade in order for them to perform their work. In either case your local contractor pretty much spoke the truth, unless you are willing to cut out drywall to correct the problem. Q. Hi we recently bought a house the furnace is about 30 years old. Since moving in the furnace is working fine it just seems to run constantly. Hot air first then cool air. Back and forth. Is this a thermostat problem. Please help! A. Sounds as if the fan is running continuously. It could be the thermostat is set for the "fan on" position, or the fan/limit control is not set correctly or is defective. Q. Hi Baman, My house is less than a year old and has a Rheem gas heating/air cond system. When I turn on the heat the a/c compressor runs (so does the furnace). I replaced the thermostat and it did not fix the problem. I called the installer of the system and explained the problem. He says that it is an electrical problem and to call an electrician. Any thoughts on what could be causing this problem? A. I am not impressed with your installer. The problem "most likely" lies with the low voltage wiring, which he/she should be responsible for. Q. How should I adjust the thermostats in my 2-story home? I mean aside from what my temperature preference is summer vs.. winter, what I'm asking is should the upstairs thermostat be set one to two degrees higher/lower than the downstairs in winter vs.. summer? Thank you. A. I recommend setting each thermostat to a level that you are comfortable with on each floor.

Q. Baman, I have an automatic powered attic fan and was wondering if I should turn it off in the winter in order to
keep my house warmer? A. Jeff, your roof power fan should have a thermostat that automatically cuts it on and off. This setting should be around 100 degrees. Q. I have a Rheems 5 tonn unit on a project. The house is 2800-2900 squ ft. I am told this unit is undersized for the home. It has maintained a 69/70 on fairly hot summer days. But, I am told, the unit will have to work too hard over the years and will fail prematurely due to being to small for the house. What is your opinion.??

A. If your system maintains 69-70 degrees on a hot day, I do not believe that it is undersized. My opinion is if it is
not broken... don't fix it. Q. I have a two-story home (approx. 2150 sq feet). In the winter months, there is probably a 10 or more degree difference between the upstairs and downstairs levels (upstairs always being hotter). I've tried shutting vents upstairs, but that doesn't seem to help much. I ventured into the attic but did not see any type of dampers to adjust the flow of heat. Are there any relatively inexpensive solutions to my problem, or should I just learn to live with it? A. The best solution is to add a zone kit to your current system. This will allow you to have thermostatic control on both floors without adding another system. While not cheap, this is the best long term and very reasonable. Q. I have an older Payne furnace (aprox 20yrs). Since a recent power outage, the fan is stuck on. I have tried the reset button and power cycling with no success. Any suggestions (besides getting a new one)? A. Depending on the model, the main circuit board may have had a power surge that caused a board failure. The fan running all the time is a common result. Q. Baman, Our furnace has been acting strange the last week or so. The furnace comes on and seems to work fine but the blower shuts on and off while the furnace is running. It may shut off 2 or 3 times each time the furnace comes on. A. The problem may be as simple as an adjustment to a control called a fan/limit control. The cut off setting may be to high. Another problem could be the return may not be sealed or the duct not connected, thus pulling in cold air and making the fan cycle. Q. Hi, I have a Rheem forced air gas furnace and have used it the last 10 years, replacing the hot surface igniter twice. This year it didn't turn on so I had the igniter replaced again. When the heater is turned on, the igniter glows red but never ignites the gas. The repairman said the gas valve wasn't responding and I had two choices to fix it. He could retrofit the igniter system with an electronic igniter system, with a cost of $975 for one hour of work, or replace the faulty gas part for $1200. He said it is a 1989 unit. After picking myself off of the floor, I told him don't call us we'll call you. Was this guy taking me for a fool, or does his diagnosis seem appropriate? Thank you. A. As with any repair quote of this nature, a second opinion would certainly be wise. Many contractors will offer this for free, to have an opportunity to earn your business. Q. I am getting a 12 Seer Am. Std. to replace my Trane 8 Seer. Two out of three contractors wanted to rip up my drywall and put in a larger width line set. Is it necessary? The odd contractor wanted to use an expansion valve and save my drywall. What should I go with? A. The size of the line set directly effects the efficiency of the equipment. I would replace it if at all possible, if it is not what the manufacturer recommends. An expansion valve is good and is probably being used by all three contractors. However it will not substitute for an undersized line set. Q. Baman, I have two Rheem RGPJ gas furnaces. One up and one down. The upstairs unit is not heating. I went up in the attic and the electronic igniter seems to work properly. It heats up, then the flames occur, but only for about 5 seconds. Then nothing but cold air comes out of the vents. Any ideas? A. The problem "could" be with a flame sensor that detects the presence of flame and thus allows the furnace to continue operating. It may need cleaning or replacing. Q. I would like to know if the Thermostat on the heating/cooling heat pumps have to be near the return? I would like to move mine somewhere other than my foyer close to the door. A. Generally speaking the thermostat should be in a central location where it will sample an overall average for that zone. This is typically near a return. Q. I have a Trane xe 1000. Some wires apparently loosened and were being hit by the fan on the outdoor unit. I removed the top and rearranged the wires. When I turned on the unit the compressor started working but the fans were not turning. Is this normal or should the fans turn whenever the compressor is on. Did I inadvertently disconnect an electrical terminal? A. The fans should operate whenever the compressor operates.

Q. Hello Baman, I have a Rheem Heat Pump and for some reason when the "Blue Light" comes on an awful
smell will come through the vents. We had a service man come and service the unit and they treated it with an antifungal spray. We also had a Clean Air Specialist come and service the unit. (It smells like "dirty socks"). The unit is only 3 years old. Help! A. Unfortunately "dirty sock syndrome" is a very common problem that effects all equipment manufactures. One method that we have used and has been somewhat effective is to thoroughly clean the indoor coil, let it completely dry, treat it with an antifungal spray and let it dry. In addition I would consider adding an ultra violet light to shine on the coil directly. These are commonly available to your HVAC contractor. Q. We have a Rudd heat pump. I was wondering why the blue light (auxiliary light)comes on. I have never had the red light go on? A. The blue light will come on when the room temperature falls 2 degrees below the set point of the thermostat, or the system goes through a defrost cycle.

Q. My home is four years old. We have the standard double pane windows throughout. I noticed last week on
the coldest mornings that the windows had a large amount of condensation on the inside, not between the panes. What causes it and how do I prevent it? A. It is not normal to have condensation on the inside windows in the heating season unless you have a humidifier that is really oversized. If you have a furnace that burns fossil fuel, (gas or oil) I would recommend that you have it inspected ASAP. The moisture may be related to a problem with the furnace and/or venting. Q. I have a new 90+ efficient furnace and just recently, since the cold weather, I have to turn the thermostat on and off to start the heating cycle again. I replaced the thermostat and still the same problems. The house will not warm more than 66 degrees. A. It sounds as if the furnace is "locking out" during a cycle which would require you to turn the system off then back on. Because of the complexity of the furnace, I recommend calling for service from a qualified technician. Q. I had a Carrier Performance 93 furnace 2-stage furnace installed a couple weeks ago. The standard thermostat they install is AC model. The book says to use HP model Thermostat for 2-stage application. The dealer said the furnace will determine which stage to use automatically. Dealer said if I want, I can have HP Model installed for extra charge. What difference would it make in operation? Is it worth extra investment? A. The system will operate more efficiently if a 2-stage thermostat is used however, you should realized higher more comfort letting the furnace determine this. The thermostat method will let the room temp drop 2 degrees before bringing on the second stage, where the furnace will do this after a given time elapsed period, usually resulting in less than a 2 degree swing. Q. I have a Rheem Criterion furnace which is 11 years old, powered by propane gas. My local repairman told me I should not use a programmable thermostat as it takes more effort in the morning to heat the house. He feels that I should leave my thermostat at one steady temp all day. He also advised me not to use 3M Ultra Allergen filters as they cause furnaces to overheat due to the reduced air flow getting through the filters. Are both of these statements true ? A. If programmed correctly for your region, a programmable thermostat WILL help you reduce your energy bills. I would suggest talking to a person from the local gas company to find your programming limits. The dense filters that are commonly available today do pose problems if they were not taken into account when the system was designed. They can be used IF the additional resistance is offset by additional area of the filter. Talk to your local contractor about accomplishing this with your application. Q. This is probably a simple problem for you, I need your help , and for the help before. Our furnace blower blows for about 5 minutes kicks off less than a minute later it stars to blow again for about 30 sec then stops then in about a minute it comes on again for about 30 to 45 secs. what do you think I really appreciate all your advice Baman. A. The problem is most likely either a setting on your thermostat called a heat anticipator which was not set correctly or someone recently changed. Or a part called a fan/limit control that tells the fan when to come on in the heat mode. Q. Baman, I have a Trane xe1000. It worked fine for the first 2 years. During the winter months of these past 2 years, the Heat pump will blow a 24vdc 5-amp fuse (230vac step down to 24vdc transformer). This occurs only when the outside temperature is below 60 degree. (If fuse does not blow, The system will also turn on (cycle on / off every 2 - 3 seconds) even though the thermostat switch is turned off. The unit works great (Heat / Cool) when temperature is above 60 degrees). Absolutely, no issue with cooling during the summer months. A. This is an issue that can only be resolved by an experienced technician performing an on site analysis.

Q. Hello WE have a Trane furnace, the blower motor burned out. I installed a new one and we get a lot of
vibration in the house from it. The blower drive is a direct drive and the cage is no rubbing on the housing. What other things should I look for so much Dave A. One of two things may be causing this vibration, The blower wheel may have gotten bent and is out of balance, which then will need to be replaced. Or some paper or debris may have gotten in the blower wheel and again thrown it out of balance. The second is very common when replacing a motor. Q. I have a forced air furnace and the fan motor stopped working, we replaced that. My Question is, it will run for a while and then when it tries to turn back on the fan won't come on, but the Element gets hot, Cause I can smell it. Any ideas? A. The problem may be a relay called a sequencer. This brings on both the element and the fan at different times to create a warm air feel. This sequencer probably needs to be replaced. Q. Baman, I had a new Trane furnace/AC installed in late summer. Since I began running the furnace about three weeks ago, I have noticed a strong metallic/chemical smell in my house whenever the furnace runs. Sometimes stronger than others, but always present. There was no smell when the AC ran in the summer. I don't have an electronic filter, but I used initially an allergen filter, but switched it back to a plain blue one thinking that might be the problem, but to no avail. Still have the metallic smell. I have no idea what to do next. Any ideas? I've called the dealer but they can't come to check it out for about a week. KLD A. The problem may be just the new furnace burning off an oil coating on the heat exchanger. If possible however, do not operate the furnace until a technician checks it out.

Q. I have read conflicting info re using a programmed thermostat with a heat pump. We have a '91 Trane 2 ton,
10.00 SEER and use a digital/programmed thermostat for adjustments during the day when we are away, at night, and at home. Is this the right thing to do or should we just leave it at one temperature? Is it hurting the life of the hp? A. If used correctly, a programmable thermostat can reduce operating costs on any system. The key is how much and how long to set it back. Every region is different depending on the climate, which effects the recovery rate. Give me a call and I will be happy to discuss your settings, given I am located in your area. Q. I have a 7 year old Trane heat pump/AC unit & two speed furnace unit with propane emergency/backup. I have one room on the upstairs (far side)that gets very little air-flow. On the terminal board for the fan labeled HEAT, I have changed it from the blue wire (which is med-high)to the (black which is supposed to be for high)...If this does not work. Would a inline booster fan on the duct feeding that end of the house be an option? I realize it would have to be wired to come on with the fan. A. Your problem is very common and in most cases is related to poor duct design. A booster fan "may" help, however improving the duct design and delivery to that area of the house is sure to solve the issue. Q. Hi Baman, I have a new Trane Heater/Cooler that came along with my new apartment. I replaced the thermostat and now the system won't turn on anymore. I even installed the old thermostat which still works but the system still won't start. Does the system have to be reset somehow? A. You may have shorted out the transformer in the air handler. Consider having a qualified servicer look to see if the wiring is correct and the thermostat is receiving 24 volts. Q. Hi Baman. I am having a problem with a Rheem Criterion 11 gas furnace. I click the heat on the thermostat, the blower works and the electronic pilot lights the three burners but we are still not receiving warm air. The air comes out as room temperature. The unit is three years old and we haven't had any other problems. I would appreciate any assistance in this matter. Thank you. A. Check to make sure that the AC is not running at the same time as the heat. I have recently experienced this issue and it was related to a faulty thermostat in both cases. Q. I have a Rheem Criterion furnace which operates well except that the flue fan doesn't shut off. Occasionally it will stop, but it runs for a very long time. A. The fan may have a relay that is sticking. I would look at that before anything else.

Q. Hey Baman! I know almost nothing about heat pumps other than mine is an 18 year old Trane that is
probably going to jump the tracks pretty soon. When I go to replace, can I just replace the outer unit that sits on the pad or do I need to replace the heat exchanger (is that the right term for that huge box?) under the house as well? A. With the systems today, it is advisable to replace the entire system (both indoor and outdoors) for a proper match. Q. I have a Trane 3.5 ton heat pump that works great in AC mode. However, in the heat mode just is not getting hot as it should be. I had a tech check it out and he said I need a new indoor coil, due to a bad check valve, cost $2,300. Question can the check valve be replaced with out replacing the indoor coil/evaporator? I should tell you this is a dual TXV system. A. In most cases a check valve can be replaced without replacing the entire coil, however, it may require that the TXV be replaced at the same time because they are often built together. I would recommend getting a 2nd opinion just to be safe. Q. I have a 2 year old American Standard furnace that makes several "tap" and/or "bang" noises that reverberate through the ducts before the heat kicks on. What causes it, and how can I fix it? A. The noise that you hear could be the heat exchanger heating up and as this occurs, the metal expands and sometimes makes these types of noises. There is probably no problem; however I do suggest having it checked out by a technician. Q. Hi Baman, Can a faulty fan and limit control cause a burner not to start? I have read that it can shut a burner down if the upper limit is reached. If it (the fan and limit control) burns out, could the contacts remain "open" so that the burner would not fire again (even with a reset)? A. It is possible that a fan/limit control could have that problem; however I have never seen that. It is more likely that the problem lies somewhere else. Q. I have an older home with an old Sunbeam furnace, probably 50 years old. The furnace seems to be adequate but it is driving me nuts. I have replaced the thermostat and fan limit control switch. The problem is that I hear and see the gas valve open and the fire ignites. But the fire is shut down prematurely, that is, it shuts down before the temperature is high enough for the fan to come on to push the heat out. I don't think it is the fan limit control switch as I watch it and it rotates correctly but the fire goes out before it gets hot enough to trigger the fan. The fire stays lit for a minute or so then is shut down. The house does seem to be comfortable; it just drives me nuts that it comes on and shuts off so much. The system works OK if I turn the temp up on the thermostat to force it to stay on longer so as to satisfy the more aggressive heat request.

A. Strangely enough it may well be the fan/limit control that is not bringing the fan on soon enough and another
limit switch in the blower compartment is taking the burners off line. One remedy maybe to replace your current fan/limit control with one that has a "fan assist" feature that helps bring the fan on earlier. These are a very common item and are easily adapted to your current furnace application. Note that a setting within the thermostat will need to be changed once this is done. Q. We have a heat pump with gas aux heat. The thermostat reads 70, I set the heat to 72. The aux heat comes on, instead of the heat pump. This happens quite a bit, within the 2-degree range of the reading versus the heat setting. I would prefer the hp to kick on rather than the aux heating, to heat within the 2-degrees diff. Is there a way to set this to a 3-degree instead? It's a Carrier system. A. The thermostat tells the equipment what to do. Some digital thermostat models have adjustments that can be changed for that purpose. Q. We had a Rheem, Criterion II Plus 2 furnace installed three years ago. We have a yearly checkup done. This year the tech say we have carbon monoxide levels of 4 to 5 per million being emitted. I would think a three year old furnace should not have any emissions. Have other consumers had any problems with this particular furnace? Who do we contact if this is a problem to address if the contractor who installed it no longer is in business? A. We have experienced very few problems with that furnace. My question is, where is the C-O being emitted to? The house, or out the chimney, or out the flue pipe. If it is being vented out properly then there appears to be no problem. If you are getting fumes in the house or crawlspace then you have a problem. Q. Hi! Is it more efficient to have one or two furnaces (one dedicated to each floor)? (I realize that it also depends on what you set the temperature at). We've been offered a 130,000BTU for our 1550 sq ft bi-level or a 90,000 up and 50,000 down if we went with two furnaces. I'd appreciate your opinion. A. It is always more efficient to zone or use 1 system per floor.

Q. Baman, I have had a heating guy over 2 times and he has replaced the transformer twice. The furnace kicks
on and runs normal for 15-20 minutes while he watches it. But after that something is shorting the transformer out and everything is dead. My guy has no answers and isn't sure what to do. Any help would be great. A. The first thing I would do is install a fuse at the transformer so you are only blowing inexpensive fuses and not transformers. Next I would suggest having another technician that is experienced with low voltage issues check it out. Low voltage shorts can be very tricky sometimes, and a different set of eyes are probably needed. Q / The home I rent has a Trane XE 80 unit. When I changed the filter I noticed a red light flashing in the clear port on the lower cover. I called the owner. Should I be really concerned? What does this mean? A. The light that is flashing is a status light. The steady blinking is normal. If a problem ever occurs, take note of the flashes. It will help the servicer identify the problem. Q. Hi Baman! My Rudd heat pump, 6 years old, periodically causes the over-pressure switch to pop. The blower on the evaporator continues to run but the outside condenser unit shuts down. I have to go outside and reset the overpressure switch manually on the condenser unit. The local repair guy has been over twice and can not find the cause of the overpressure. All the related causes: dirty air filters, blower motor, dirt in the gas lines, block vents, overcharge of Freon, etc... have been checked and everything looks normal. The condition does not appear when he is here. It does seem to happen during the night though. Any ideas? A. Jerry, There are many reasons that the switch could trip. I assume that it is tripping in the heating mode. If that is correct and it tends to trip at night then that would lead me to evaluate the defrost cycle. When defrosting, the pressure can get very close to that cut out point. Another point is to make sure that the refrigerant line size is exactly matched for that application. Q. My nine year old Trane XE1000 heat pump was performing poorly so I had an AC contractor check it out. He said there is a leak at the evaporator coil and I should replace it (for $1200) but even better I should replace the entire fan coil unit (for $1800). This seems like a big hit for a nine year old unit and why would the evaporator coil fail anyway? Don't most leaks occur at connection fittings? A. Our experience has been that most leaks occur in the evaporator coil. Sometimes replacing the air handler is a better long term decision. Note that many contractors offer a second opinion at no charge, if you are uncomfortable with the evaluation that you have received. Q. Hello Baman. I have recently received a computerized Manual J heating load calculation from a Trane dealer. I know that equipment such as a heat pump is sized to the cooling load. I see on this Manual J report that the cooling load is broken out by 2 categories; equipment @ 1.00 RSM(30,786 BTU) and latent cooling(5091 BTU) for total of 35,877 BTU. What exactly does this mean? Is a certain proportion of a heat pump cooling BTU directed at sensible cooling and a certain proportion at latent cooling? And in your opinion, does a 3 1/2 ton 14XLI heat pump seem to be a proper equipment size? For info, heating load was at 66,000 BTU. for your reply. A. Your Trane dealer should be able to help you match a piece of equipment with the load calculation that you have received. Trane provides to your dealer data that takes all of the guesswork out. The equipment is rated for both sensible capacity and latent.

Q. I have a Trane xl 90. The igniter will light sometimes when you first turn the unit on and the furnace will light.
Then the burner goes out and the fan continues to run with no flame and the furnace won't light and the igniter won't work until the next day and the same thing happens. What could this be?? A. Most newer Trane furnaces have a diagnostic light inside the blower compartment that indicates what the problem might be. First when this problem occurs, leave the thermostat in the heat position and calling for heat, then go to the furnace. There should be a small clear viewing port on the face of the blower door. Look into this hole and you should see a light blinking. Count how many times the light blinks before a long pause off. With that information, refer to the instruction manual for specific diagnostic instructions. Q. I have a Trane xe-90 propane furnace that will not ignite the burner. When the thermostat calls for heat the blower starts and continues to run till you turn it off at the thermostat. The burner does not seem to even attempt to ignite. The igniter does not glow. There is a small round viewing port that has a blinking red light. It blinks repeatedly four times and then pauses. I believe this is a problem code indicator but I do not have a list of what these codes indicate. The furnace had been working fine this fall. The unit is about ten years old. A. The instruction manual should have a guide that tells you what the four blinks are indicating.

Q. I am going to replace my gas furnace soon. I live in Pennsylvania. I am torn between purchasing an 80%
efficiency. Furnace from American Standard or a 96% efficiency. from Bryant. I have been told by many people that the higher efficiency. furnaces have more problems because of the complicated electronic circuit boards they use. Is this true? I want a reliable furnace for years to come. What do you recommend? A. Furnace technology today is pretty reliable. A 90% + furnace does have a few more items than an 80% model. However, we do not see any notable difference in repairs between the two. Q. I have a Bryant heat pump that is about 7 years old. Recently it started acting strange. The outside unit will come on and run for a short time but the fan does not circulate any air. The thermostat shows that the unit is in Energy Saving mode. The fan does cut on at times and the temperature is holding where it's set. I've let the thermostat stay in both Heat and Auto for awhile and did not notice any difference. I've tried pushing the fan button and although it say Run, it doesn't come on. I'm not sure if this is a serious problem or just some "feature". A. Some models have features that will delay or change the speed of the fan. I would recommend having it serviced for the winter by a contractor that knows that product. Q. Hello Baman, We just had a new Honeywell F300E Electronic Air Cleaner installed with a new Trane furnace. There is a noticeable metallic smell to the house now. I don't mind it but my pregnant wife whose sense of smell has been sharpened is very unhappy with it. What would you advise for this? Will this smell dissipate over time? A. The smell that you are experiencing is called "ozone" which is put off from most electronic air cleaners. Many people are sensitive to the odor and others never notice it. A brand new air cleaner will smell strong at first then mellow some with time. You may want to have your contractor check to see if it is operating normally and if so, there should be a setting to reduce the ozone output of the cleaner. This reduction however will lower the cleaning capabilities as well. Q. I received two quotes to install a Trane heat pump. The first was from a registered dealer/installer with Trane and the 2nd was from a long established company not registered as a certified dealer with Trane. Both bids were about the same as far as size of units but the first was $4,000 higher. Is there any problem with accepting the lower bid from the 2nd company (warranties, etc.)??? A. Anytime you have a large gap between two quotes it would send up a red flag to me. I would recommend getting another quote and if are interested in Trane, I would strongly suggest using an "authorized" Trane dealer. Q. having a new HVAC system put in - oil furnace forced hot air system - that we will add AC to later. We have received 2 quotes (1) Rheem and (1) Lennox and are awaiting a 3rd - not sure what manufacturer the 3rd will recommend. We intend on staying in the house long term maybe > 25 years - Which manufacturer would you recommend? A. Both Rheem and Lennox are widely considered as reliable and reputable manufactures. Trane, Carrier and a few others are in the same category. Since you will be in the house long term, focus on efficiency, and quality of installation (ie. reputable contractor). Q. I have a Rheem high efficient furnace. I have a problem about 4 times per winter. It seams when the wind comes from a certain direction toward the vent it causes the furnace not to restart until I shut the power off for about 3 hours then it will restart & run perfect again. can you tell me what I can do to repair this. Rheem dealer told me I would have to live with it A. A wind baffle installed over the vent termination should solve your problem.

Q. Hi, I have a Bryant gas furnace in my basement. It's an old furnace (approx. 26 years old). It is not working. A
service person came and found out that it has a bad module on gas valve part which need replacement. I have home warranty which will cover it. He said the cost will be 375$, which the home warranty company will bear. I spoke to him about replacing the furnace and he worked out a deal for me and said it will cost me 1050$ for a Trane furnace which will be last year's stock. He said it will improve efficiency by 30%. I do not know whether I should go for it and whether it is a good value. Please advice.

A. My advice would be to get at least two more quotes from reputable contractors in your area. Try to find the
best product for your application including brand, size, and efficiency. Then if you feel that that product fits your needs and is a good value.... move forward. Q. I lit my pilot on my furnace tonight and got no heat. So I checked the air and same problem. I also checked my breaker box in my garage. My pilot stays lit. My thermostat is a Comfortmaker. My furnace is a 1989 Comfortmaker/snyder general, .as is my central air unit. Is there a reason why neither of my systems are working and if so can I fix or check the problem myself? A. Check to see if a switch near the furnace is turned off. This switch may look exactly like light switches so dont be confused. Also, check to see if the furnace doors are securely attached. Q. I replaced my thermostat to my heat pump, how hard can that be. The problem is that the furnace used to work and now it does not. Is there a reset I am missing? I can hear the power humming in the box, just no movement or heat. A. You stated that you replaced the thermostat on your "heat pump" and now your "furnace" does not operate. Replacing a furnace thermostat is pretty straight forward, however a heat pump replacement is sometimes much more complex depending on manufactures differences. First check to see if a low voltage fuse is blown, if not I would recheck the wiring connections. Q. Hi, You answered my question about the Trane XE 80 that I told you was blowing cold air sometimes and not hot air. You said that it could be a dirty filter, but this can not be the case as there is a new filter in the furnace. Do you have any other suggestions? A. There are many variables to consider, I would recommend calling a qualified service person.

Q. Hello Baman. When sizing a heat pump for a home, is it true that one can oversize a unit paired with a
variable speed gas furnace up to 25% higher without creating a dehumidification problem? example: cooling load calculated at 39,000 BTU... should customer take a 3.5 ton unit or would a 4 ton unit be OK? You get the extra cooling and heating capacity with the larger unit. I understand there are different opinions on this issue. for your reply. A. In my opinion, there is too much downside in over sizing to consider that. First variable speed doesnt extract humidity as well, operating cost will be higher, and the initial purchase price is much higher. I do not consider over sizing equipment a wise choice in almost every case. Q Hello rob. My furnace fan stays on constantly in heat and cool modes. Switching the fan switch on the thermostat to auto does not help. Any Ideas? A. Depending on the age of the furnace, the problem could be either a defective circuit board or a sticking temperature sensor called a fan and limit control. Q. Hello Baman. When a professional and experienced HVAC person sizes a residential heat load, I understand that they first look at cooling loads. Should they use latent or sensible cooling when performing their load calculations and can you briefly explain the difference between the two? A. In the southeastern US, most residential equipment sizing is driven by the outcome of the cooling load. Furthermore, in that area the sensible load (heat removal) and latent load (moisture removal) are both used to determine what the appropriate size system required. Q. We can hear our furnace come on, but no air comes out of the vents. Do you think the fan's motor needs to be replace? A. Depending on the age of the furnace, the fan is brought on by two different methods. Older models rely on a thermal sensor to tell the fan when to come on, and newer models rely on a circuit board that uses a time delay to bring it on. Q. Can I jump the r wire and w wire on my thermostat in an attempt to start my furnace? If it starts I believe that it suggests I have a faulty thermostat. A. If you have a gas furnace, you can jump the R to W to bring the heating system on in most applications.

Q. Hi I've searched for an answer to this, but I have had no luck. The gas heater on my Trane XE 80 is going out
but the fan stays on. If I turn down the thermostat, the fan turns off immediately, then when I raise the thermostat, the glow plug lights, the gas comes on, the fan starts, and everything works fine for a while, then the gas turns off and the fan stays on. This used to happen less frequently but is now happening more frequently. Could the fan relay contacts be sticking or is this a sensor problem? Any help would be appreciated. A. The problem could be simple as a dirty filter. If that is the case, the burners are cutting off because of overheating the limit switch. In some models, the fan will run continuously until the thermostat is turned off. Q. Hi Baman, I have a Rheem heat pump, for some reason the high pressure switch keeps shutting the unit down and I have to keep resetting it, I have cleaned the coils out on the unit under the house but this does not seam to help, can you tell me what I can do or do I need to call the problem in, sometimes the outside unit keeps running and the unit under the house is not. A. If the unit outside is running and the indoor unit is not, that is your problem. In heating the head pressure will rise above the high pressure switch setting, thus tripping the switch. I would suggest finding out why the fan is shutting off.

Q. Split system, no problem with cooling, but heat would not shut off twice last winter without turning breaker off.
Replaced thermostat with same model. Same problem only one more time. Transformer is putting out 25V AC. Could it be a sticky sequencer, and if so would the most likely one be the one that transformer wire goes to. A. I can assume that you have an electric furnace. If so then yes a sequencer could be your problem. Try to find the one that is associated with the fan circuit. Q. Hi Baman, I have a relatively new home (7 years old) and have yet to have our furnace serviced. I have recently noticed that our house seems to be cooler in the winter and the furnace runs frequently. The air temperature when the furnace kicks on is lukewarm, not hot. The furnace also pops when the furnace kicks off, this also happened this summer when the central air kicked off. We are planning on having our furnace looked at very soon but I'd like to have an opinion as to what might be the problem and if it's something that is fixable compared to buying a new unit. We currently have a Lennox unit. Thoughts? A. The popping noise is probably due to ductwork expanding. This can be caused by an extremely dirty filter. I would check this and then schedule your routine service. Q. Hello Baman. Heating and AC manufacturers have these nice glossy brochures at their dealers that promise SEER and HSPF ratings up to certain figures. I was surprised when told that on a certain high efficient heat pump that I would not get the SEER and HSPF rating indicated on brochure because of its size(3 1/2-4 ton) and because it would be coupled with a high efficient variable speed gas furnace rather than a high efficient variable speed air handler. I don't understand this. Is this correct? A. Yes the SEER ratings that are listed are typically the very best scenario in a brochure. However when choosing a package, your dealer should be able to provide you with the exact manufactures rating for that equipment match. Don't get too excited about small fluctuations as many of the benefits of these products go beyond those ratings. To clarify, if a system does a better job of removing humidity in the summer, you will feel more comfortable at a higher temperature setting.. . thus increasing the efficiency of the system. This however is not measurable. Q. Hello Baman. This is additional question on a system I am considering(92+ AFUE variable speed2 stage gas with HE heat pump). What exactly are the benefits of a premium gas furnace with the "direct vent" feature as far as home comfort, air quality, reliability of furnace, etc. Is this a gimmick? for your reply. A. All 90%+ furnaces are direct vent and are very reliable. I see that you are looking at matching it with a heat pump which will increase your comfort level as well as lower your overall operating cost. Q. What is opinion on variable speed 80 pct gas furnaces vs. 2 stage vs. single stage? Is one more prone for repair? Can you comment on your perception of performance and reliability of the amer std 80pct units? A. Variable speed has to be the best product we have seen in our industry in the last 25 years. If you use a variable speed in conjunction with a two stage furnace, your comfort and utility bills should be very good. American Standard(Trane)has consistently been one of the most reliable brands. Q. Hi Baman New homeowner and I am in a 2000sq foot "A frame" 3 level 100 year old house. I have two questions: (1)I find that if I put the fan to "on" the heat works better throughout the house. Is it ok to do that? It seems that it runs forever, shuts off for a minute and then goes right back on again. (2)I have the problem of the basement being very cold and the attic bedrooms being hotter. The main floor is best. The furnace is only 8 years old but was never taken care of really. I had it serviced as soon as I moved in (cleaned). Should I get another thermostat for the upstairs and zone it as well? My house inspector said he didn't think I could do that as it would be very expensive. for your help. Jill A. Running the indoor fan is the best thing you can do to improve your comfort throughout the house. The only area that will be accurate of course is the level that your thermostat is on. If possible a zoning system would GREATLY improve the comfort year round. I would recommend having a qualified heating and cooling person look at your situation to determine if you are a zoning candidate. Q. On my heat pump my emergency heat light comes on and stays on. If I cut off the heat and then turn it back on after about 5 mins the emergency heat light comes on again and stays on. I have a York system. A. You will need to have an authorized York dealer look at your system. They have a defrost control that requires a special analyzer to help troubleshoot the problem. Q. I am having some insurance work done to an AC unit in my house. I dont get a good vibe from the techs that have come out to investigate. They say I have a coil that needs replacing. Which, the coil does need to be replaced. The issue I think I'm having is I think they are going to try to claim on insurance that they put the proper coil in, but sale me a smaller one. I currently have a Trane XE 80 (5 ton)...the guy says that its going to be hard getting the old one out cause its so big and extends a bit above the door jam. But, he says the one going back in is smaller and easier to put back...after I asked him why its smaller, he says cause its how the new ones are made. My coil is 11 years old. You'd think a direct replacement for this unit would be the same size...right? or am I mistaken? A. As with everything that is manufactured, products change size and shape even when the model #'s are identical. I would recommend having someone come out and give you a second opinion. Many contractors will offer this service for free.

Q. Dear Baman, I am considering replacing older equipment in my home. A friend recommends Rheem as
reliable and affordable. What do you think? A. Rheem has been manufacturing heating and cooling systems for over 40 years. I have found them to be both reliable and affordable for most applications. Feel free to give me a call for a system evaluation. Q. Hi-I need a new furnace. I am thinking of getting a Rudd Single Stage furnace. My home is 1,000 sq ft and they say a 75,000 BTU and also the air conditioning would be a 2 ton with a 10 seer. I have also looked into a Tappan 72,000 BTU with a 2.5 ton air conditioner. Help I really am confused. I need help like yesterday as it is really getting cold. A. This is a very important purchase for your home, so I would suggest getting at least 3 opinions from "reputable" contractors. Ask friends, family and neighbors of their experiences with folks that they have used. A load calculation will determine what size units are required for your home. Ask each contractor for this information. Q. I have an American Standard furnace that when I move the thermostat to the off position, the fan continues to run on the unit. To shut it off, I have to go down stairs and shut down the furnace. Is it possibly in the thermostat unit that there is a problem or is the problem located on the furnace. A. To isolate the thermostat, remove the green wire from the terminal board at the furnace and restore the power. If the fan no longer runs then it is probably the thermostat. If not then look to the furnace. Q. Hi Baman, We have a new Rheem Furnace that was installed 1 year ago, it worked fine all last winter & I turned the thermostat to "off" for the summer months & now that its cold out, it won't come on. We cleaned the air filter, tripped the breaker and reset everything but it will won't kick on, is there anything we can be doing? A. Julie, I would start by making sure that the power is getting to the furnace. Next turn the thermostat from the off position to heat and raise the temperature. Observe the operation from this point as there are a variety of things that could be wrong. Good luck and resubmit your question when you have additional data. Q. I Have a Trane BWD730A100B1 Heat Pump. I am installing a new thermostat and new wiring to the air handler. I need a schematic for the Heat Pump. Where can I get one? A. I would suggest you contact a local Trane dealer that may have an old product manual on his/her shelf. They can make you a copy of a schematic and fax it to you. Q. I have a Coleman Evcon Furnace combo air conditioning unit (the furnace fan pushes air for both). My question is, I am trying to switch over to heat but the fan isn't kicking on. Will it just take longer to get to temp. and then trip the fan since the air conditioning sits below the furnace, and could be absorbing all the heat? A. I assume that you have an electric furnace. The blower in most of those is controlled by a time delay switch (sequencer). This switch is probably defective. Q. I have a Trane heating and cooling system, that are not heating or cooling the house, they both kick on and blow air but don't cool or heat at all A. Without more information I cannot be much help. I would recommend having a reputable service technician perform a seasonal tune up since we are moving into the wintertime. Q. My house lights dim when my Rheem 5 ton units kicks in. Any fix for this problem?

A. There are several reasons that the lights are dimming. One may be that the wire size to your home may not
be adequate. This is common in older homes. Another may be the wire size to the unit. I would recommend you have a qualified electrician check your electrical situation. Q. My Carrier heat pump stopped cooling yesterday. fan was running but the compressor was not . I shut it down for 3 hours and turned it back on the compressor came on for a while and then shut off. I removed the side cover and the compressor and fluid lines were hot. what's going on ? any ideas ? A. It sounds as if the compressor is overheating for some reason. One may be that it is low in refrigerant. You may want to have a qualified technician have a look at it. Q. Hi there. I have a Trane XE-80 installed in my garage. It sits on top of a wood "box" platform. The main (return?) inlet comes from a large vent on the other side of the wall - which is my front living room. The air comes in through the large vent into the wood box where it is drawn up into the system. Anytime the fan comes on, it is very loud. We have vaulted ceilings and the sound just spreads everywhere making it hard to watch tv or even talk. Is there something that can be done to deaden the sound? A. This is a very common issue with any furnace installed in this manner. I have seen people build a box over the opening in the living area and create a "muffler" type of effect. The main problem is the proximity of the blower assembly to the living area. Try to create more distance between the two. Q. The compressor on my Trane XE 1000 A/C (TTR036C-A?) seems not to run. The condenser fan and inside blower turn on, but no cooling results. The system operated problem free all summer. How can I check out this problem? I understand electronics and have a multi-meter. A. If you believe that the compressor is not running, then I would suggest that you turn off the power to the outdoor unit. After you have done this then remove the top of the unit and feel the compressor. If it feels warm or hot to touch it is probably overheated. Allow 6-12 hours of off time to allow it to cool down. Restore power and

listen to see if you hear the compressor running. The problem is most likely is either a capacitor or low in refrigerant. Q. I have a Trane XE60. The blower motor started making a squealing or grinding noise but it is intermittent so I'm, not sure if it is a bearing or the fan making contact with the housing. Are there lubricating points for the blower motor fan that you know of? A. Every motor is different. Some have lubrication points that can be accessed at the motor itself, others are permanently lubricated. As a rule, by the time you hear "squealing" the damage is done. Another problem to consider may be that the blower wheel (squirrel cage) is coming apart and is scraping against the cabinet. Q. Our serviceman told us to replace the old contactor, which we did about a week ago, the ac unit was working fine but then today, it started acting up again, blowing out air. The new contactor appears to have burned up again. What could be causing this? We also replaced the old thermostat. A. There are several reasons that the contactor could burn up; The replacement might not have been the right one (size), or you may have an additional problem with the compressor. I would suggest having your servicer back out to further troubleshoot the problem. Q. If an air type heat pump is installed in a residence, at what point in supplying heat does it lose its efficiency? I am referring to the outside temperature. Also , what amp. Electrical service is required? A. The colder it gets outside the less efficient the unit becomes. Every region is different depending on humidity as to when the curve really gets steep. The electrical question cannot be answered without more information. Q. I have a central air-condition. When I turn the air-condition on it runs. It is blowing cool air, but the problem I have is the coil in the air handler freeze up like ice around the coil. Can you tell me what the problem is? A. Typically the unit will freeze because of low in Freon. I would suggest calling your local servicer and having the unit serviced. Q. Hi, We purchased a home with rather new central air. The problem is now that the fan on the outside unit is not spinning. I have a Payne model PA10. There is a humming sound from the unit, but all it blows out is warm air. I have reset all of the circuit breakers, and nothing seems to work. We are sweltering, can you help? A. It sounds as if the fan motor may be bad or the contactor that feeds the motor is malfunctioning.

Q. I was told that my compressor was shot. (Lennox, 1982). Symptom: Circuit breaker tripped and trips again
immediately when trying to reset. I ruled out faulty breaker. Does a bad compressor sound right? Can you give me an idea of approx. what I should pay for a new system. (Carrier Comfort 10, 3.5 Ton). Trying to figure out if I got a good/bad deal or not. A. It sounds as if the compressor could be shorted to ground. System replacements can vary quite a bit due to application, SEER ratings and local marketplace. I recommend getting three estimates from local reputable contractors. Go with the one that you feel the most comfortable with. Q. I own a Rheem heat pump unit, would like to install a Honeywell thermostat, model t8611g2002 or ct3611r. Will these stats work well on my unit, and easy to wire to the unit. What is the best one for my Rheem heat pump with natural gas back up, turn @ 38 degrees? A. The 8611 should work fine for your application; however I would recommend having it installed by someone familiar with dual fuel applications. Q. Replacing a heat pump and can't decide whether to go with a unit that uses R410 or R22. Have received bids for a Lennox that uses R410 and a Carrier that uses R22. Have you heard of any dependability problems with the units that use R410? Will the unit last as long as one that uses R22? A. Both R-22 and R-410 units are very good decisions. The industry in general is moving toward the R-410 area, however at the moment R-22 systems and refrigerant are a little less expensive. Q. My neighbor recently installed an attic fan. Unfortunately, the back of his home faces our house. His attic fan runs constantly because he set it for 85 degrees which I told him was too low. But it also makes a constant noise which is very disturbing to me and my family. Is this normal? I thought attic fans were silent. Please respond about issues, temperature setting and noise. A. In our area we suggest a 95 degree setting. Different fans make more and less noise depending on CFM and overall design and quality. Q. What are the pros & cons of the furnace being in the attic? I am looking to purchase my first home and the furnace happens to be in the attic. The home is 2 stories, no basement. for your feedback A. I see no major issues with a furnace being located in the attic.

Q. I have a Trane xe 900 and American Standard Thermostat. Trouble is, SOMETIMES when I place the unit to
COOL, the auxiliary heat light comes on and it blows heat out of the vents. For the most part, it works correctly, the light does not come on and it blows cold air. Any help? A. You may have a wiring problem or a thermostat that is bad.

Q. We are building a 3200 square foot colonial with an attic that eventually will become a game room. the builder
said that a 3 ton unit will suffice. is he accurate, or will I be better off with a) one five ton unit... or b)two separate unites (one three ton and one two ton) ??

A Sizing an AC unit is an exact science. Your HVAC contractor should run a detailed load calculation on your home. I would recommend that if you have separate floors in the house, you should consider zoning or a separate unit altogether. Q. My home AC unit is blowing cool air but not cold. The fan outside in the compressor was not running. I found that the contactor spring had fallen out so I decided to replace the entire Single pole contactor. The part I bought is a two pole definite purpose contactor. Will I cause any problems if I replace a Single pole contactor with a two pole contactor? Both contactors look very similar except for the new one has another bridge point instead of being always connected. A. It may create a problem if you use that contactor, as some components may use power even though the unit is off. You may use a properly sized jumper for that side of the contactor for a quick fix. Q. Baman, I have a three year old Comfortmaker 10. On the house I have 2 PVC pipes on the outside off my house. One is where the unit is and the other is on the same side of the house, it's just on the upstairs/attic half. The higher pipe has been leaking water out of it since we moved in (3 months). Is this due to the Heat pump or should I look elsewhere foe the problem? Do both pipes have something to do with the unit? in advance for any advice. A. I believe that the upper pipe is an overflow pipe. This should only leak water when there is a problem with the primary pipe. Give me a call if you need help cleaning this out. Q. I currently have a frigiderm air handler that has a drain pan leak. I have a home protection warranty and they had a contractor look at the problem...it cannot be fixed. My option is to have them replace it with a Payne (model pf1mnb042000) system. Is this a good system? A. Payne is a brand name which is manufactured by Carrier Corp. I am not familiar with that exact model.

Q. Hi Baman, I have a PGE10 series Armstrong gas heat/ electric cooling unit about 8 years old. Two days ago I
came home to a hot house. The thermostat is fine, the circulating fan is fine and the condenser fan operates normal when the thermostat calls for cooling. With the system set to cool I can hear a buzzing noise at the compressor for about 3 seconds, every 2 minutes or so. Can it be the capacitor or is the compressor locked up? Also I can manually engage the contactor switch and I get the same thing. in advance, Marty A. It sounds like the compressor is locking up. This is most likely caused by a faulty capacitor.

Q. We are purchasing a house that needs both a new heat and air system. On average what can we expect to
spend? A. That question can not be easily answered without knowing the size of the systems and overall layout of the home. Q. I have a Rudd split unit the contactor is burned out I cant get the specs for the contactor Rudd dealers will not deal with me unless I am a contractor. the model no of the unit is # haka-037jaz I need to know the coil voltage of the contactor A. The voltage of the coil is 24vac.

Q. I am building a Cape Cod, 2500 sq foot story and a half home in Central MO. It has a cathedral ceiling in the
dinning room allowing for an open stair case. Three bedrooms, excluding the Master are upstairs. My questions are. Would "zoned" heating and A/C (the correct tonnage) or a separate unit housed upstairs be the best both in operational means and price? A. Separate units are the best way to go as far as comfort and operational costs. Zoning however, should be less expensive to install. Q. The electricity tripped out a moment ago and came back on. After that my air-condition started to blow room temperature air, almost hot air. Last time this happened, maintenance in my apartment building wrote in the report that they reset the breaker for the contender unit and checked the pressure. How do I do that? Its a Trane air-conditioned and is from 1985. A. The circuit breaker should be in your main panel board and marked AC unit. Turn this off then back on.I hope that this helps. Q. I have a 5 ton Rudd unit that is five years old and for the last 5 years I continue to have problems with the evaporator freezing up. The compressor had a leak and was repaired; still froze up. TXV went bad replaced recharged; still froze up. Evaporator with TXV replaced; still froze up. The return duct work was up sized as directed by Rudd rep; still froze up. Freon lines were up-sized; still froze up. The house is 2800 square feet and according to the five different A/C Contractors that have tried to repair the unit, they have said the unit is sized properly. Is it possible there is a factory defect with the unit? During the day with the outside temps at 85 its 80 in the house. At night we are lucky when it drops to 75. Please let me know if you can offer any advise. A. It is very difficult to give any advice except, try to get the manufacturer's rep more involved.

Q. I have a Comfortmaker air handler and when I turn my a/c on it will run for about 20 minutes then the blower
will stop running and it will start to just hum and smell like it is burning until I shut it off. after about an hour of being off I can turn it on again and then it will run again only for 20 minutes and repeat the same problem. A. The problem could be a faulty capacitor.

QI have a house built in the 1950's when attic fans were popular mounted on the floor of the ceiling. I need to replace the fan belt and cannot find a site that sells replacement belts for attic fans. Can you furnish some websites for replacement belts? A. You should be able to go take your belt to an automotive store and get a match.

Q. I have a Trane heat pump and it works fine. I recently discovered that when it was installed they ran one
copper line above ground (and insulated) from the air handler in the house but the other copper line exits under ground from the house in a plastic pipe and then the bare copper tubing continues underground then surfaces at the condenser unit (I assume this is the high pressure side). Won't the copper line eventually corrode? A. Anytime the refrigerant lines are in contact with the ground is a bad thing. The main thing to be concerned about is vibration that can create a hole in the tubing. I would try to protect these lines if possible. Q. Hi Baman, live in the southwest and have a 2 story home with 2 Trane XE1000 (TTR030C100A2) units. Both were running fine in the heat this summer, until, the mornings got much cooler. Summer temps at night were around 90, now they just started to run in the upper 70's. The downstairs unit I have found is frozen (outside unit), the large tubing is covered with ice and of course no air blowing inside, but the outside fan is turning and I can hear the compressor also. This also happened last year when the outside temp changed. Air flow looks ok, filters clean. Is this a low refrigerant problem? Thanks, A. It is possible that the refrigerant level is low. I would have it checked by a service person.

Q. I have a two story house (2100 sq.ft.)and I am replacing my heater and air. I have been given two choices: 1)
a 4 ton two stage furnace; 2) a 3.5 ton variable speed furnace. The place tells me that even thought the variable has less tonnage, it will work better. There is not enough room for a 4 ton variable. What do you think? A. A detailed load calculation should have been performed on your home. This then should be used to chose the equipment that suites your home. By looking at the manufactures specs on that exact model furnace, you should be able to determine if the 3.5 Variable furnace will adequate. Q. I recently cleaned the coils in my furnaces because we were getting a musty smell when the air came on. the Armstrong units are only 2 years old. the pan under the coils are rusting, and it is starting to rust on the bottom coils. both drains are running very well no plugging. we also filled them with Clorox to make sure no algae. Water is clear that drains outside. do we have any recourse on Armstrong or is this normal?? I have severe asthma so we use the highest quality filters every 30 days. we live in Atlanta and set furnaces around 78. A. Any air conditioner (particularly in the south) will put off water which can create rust, mold and mildew. Almost all manufactures have gone to the sloped drain pan which minimizes standing water in the pan. My best advise is to have the coil cleaned regularly by a professional. Another option to consider would be an ultra violet light located at the coil which kills most bacteria. Q. I have a Comfortmaker central air conditioner and every once in a while the outside fan does not come on. It does, however, start up when I nudge the fan blade a little bit... A. The motor and/or associated capacitor probably needs to be replaced.

Q. We have a Robert Shaw thermostat that we are changing to Honeywell CT3611. My husband didn't mark the
wires. Can you help us with the wiring? Out unit is Trane heat pump A. Because we cannot assume that the wiring color code was used exactly, I would recommend having a service tech. finish the wiring. A heat pump is a little more complex and incorrect wiring may result in a more serious problem. Q. I have an attic fan that sometimes makes noise like a grinding and then it's fine. I don't have a way to shut it off manually. If I go on vacation, is there a threat of the attic fan causing a fire? A. You should have the motor replaced as soon as possible. The motor should have thermal protection, however, it can still get very hot and yes, pose a fire danger. Q. What causes the air to smell heavily chlorinated when running the electronic air cleaner during the cooling season? All is fine during the heating season. Maintenance is performed regularly and the humidifier is shut-off. Entire HVAC. system is Carrier is 6 yrs. old and has done this since day 1. Contractor says I'm smelling ionized air. Guests think we've installed an indoor pool. A. Most likely you are smelling the production of ozone, which is caused by some electronic air cleaners. Humidity differences may be the reason for the odor to be more profound in the summer. Q. Do you recommend have your air ducts professionally cleaned out? Many new companies are offering it.

A. Many people find a lot of benefit in having their ducts cleaned and sanitized. Check consumer groups such as
the BBB and Angie's list to help you select a reputable contractor. Q. Baman, I have a 1996 Carrier which was only blowing hot air. The service man said there is a leak in the accumulator and it would need to be replaced for $820.00(total parts & labor). The unit could last another 5-10 yrs. but no way to know for sure. A new unit would be $2,610.00 installed. What would you do? A. $850.00 seems like a lot to put into an old unit. I would recommend getting a second opinion. Our company offers free second opinions.

Q. I just got a new EVCON heat pump. The installer told me that in the Summer, set the temp and run the unit
on the "fan" setting. In the Winter run it on the "automatic" setting. Does this sound correct? Why not just leave the thermostat on "automatic" all year round? A. Depending on the application, I will sometimes recommend doing the same thing. This is mostly do to the sun and trying to keep the temperature even throughout the home. Q. I too have a common problem, two level home with one thermostat. Cool down stairs and less upstairs. One of the solutions according to your answers is to install a zone system. Sounds good and affordable, but the restriction caused by the dampers, would that not shorted the life of the fan? Is that not the same as manually closing all your registers down stairs to force the air upstairs and vice versa? I always thought it to be a no no. Thanks, Jay.. A. A properly designed zoning system with bypass dampers and temp limits should not have any adverse effect on the life of a system. Q. The coil has a lot of condensation and now seems to be leaking outside the pan due to the buildup on the coil. Should I take the coil off or is there something I can do to clean it before I take it off? Now I have to replace the floor. Please help. A. I would recommend having a service technician clean the coil and adjacent pan. It can be a very delicate item to clean without creating additional problems. Q. I have a Rheem multi-stage heat pump. I recently purchased a new thermostat to replace the previous one which was malfunctioning. After installing I found out that the 24 VAC supply to the thermostat was not working (measured with voltmeter). I then checked the transformer in the Rheem unit and found that the input to it was 220VAC but the output was zero! Any ideas where I can get a replacement transformer? A. I would recommend a Rheem dealer in your area.

Q. My new furnace is set for natural gas how do you convert it over for propane? A. You need a kit that can only be provided by the manufacturer for that exact furnace. Q. I have a Trane XE 1000 unit outdoors. I came home today, a hot day, and the unit is not running and it's
about 90 degrees in the house, the same as outdoors. The fan in my HVAC unit run but the outdoor unit does not? The breakers are all on and there is power. I don't even know where to start looking for a problem like this. A. There is a switch located in the outdoor unit that is called a contactor. See if this switch is "pulled" in. Be very careful, as high voltage is present on exposed terminals. If it is pulled in then your problem is probably high voltage or lack there-of. Q. My mother-in-law has 2 Comfortmaker 10's (don't know the model #).One of the units is operating fine (downstairs). The other unit is not turning on...I looked inside the top of the unit and saw that the pipes (maybe to the compressor) are frozen. The units are only about 1 1/2 yrs old. Is there anything I could do or check for before calling out a pro...like resetting something...With the unit not running, the ice melts slowly...but as of yet, the unit has not kicked back on. Any help from you would put me in the good graces of "mother-in-law". Thank You! Please send e-mail to robert.jacobs@delta.com or to bnljacobs@aol.com. A. I would suggest turning the unit off for 24 hours. Then check your filters and replace if needed. Have the system serviced if the problem persists. Q. I have a new 2 story house with separate zones for the 1st and 2nd floor. I have the thermostat set for 74 degrees. When it gets above 90 degrees outside, the A/C can't keep up and the temperature in the house rises past 74. My builder (Pulte) says this is usual and the temperature difference between outside and inside is "within industry standards". What standards might he be talking about, and does this explanation make sense. A. The standard acceptable range varies depending on where you live. If the HVAC contractor that installed the system ran a load calculation, then that should tell you what the system is designed to do. Q. Carrier Split System: Run Capacitor bad....old one round had 3 prongs, new one oval 2 prongs.....no instructions for which wires go where and no identifying marks on new one.....any ideas where to put the terminals?... A. You have the wrong capacitor. You need a dual capacitor that matches exactly with the original.

Q. Baman, I have a Trane XE1000 unit.... In the past I never ever serviced my unit.. and they lasted forever. now
I service this one and something is wrong.. the inside unit is not blowing cold air. We are burning up..I cannot really afford to have someone come out... The blower unit outside is hot but the fan is not working. I do hear a click occasionally on the unit..... Can you list the most common thing it could be. please A. If the fan unit is hot, then it is probably trying to run but cannot. I would suggest turning the thermostat off for 8 hours and allow everything to cool down. Once you have done that, turn the thermostat back to cooling and see if the unit tries to come on. The problem could be a capacitor or contactor. Q. I have a 1-year old Comfortmaker 1400+ ac system and one day last week I found the compressor running and the condenser fan stopped. A technician came over and we both watched the unit running normally and right before our eyes the fan slowed and stopped completely. He said the bearings were tight and changed the $80.00 fan motor for $568.00. Wow. The problem is still there. The other day the house got warm and I went outside and the fan was running but the compressor was not. I have a feeling it went out on thermal overload because it

started later on. And again as I was out there watching the new fan motor slowed and stopped. It started turning again after prompting with a stick. The only two things running to the motors are a speed control for the fan and the capacitor for the fan and compressor. Could you tell me if the capacitor is start only or also a run capacitor. I can't think of anything else that would slow down and stop the fan. A. The capacitor is a run capacitor. I would suggest looking at or bypassing the speed control temporarily to see if that may be the problem Q. HI, I have house built in 1984. My air-condition went down this weekend when my hubby shut electric switches to fix a light switch in my sons room. Now my condenser is not sending in cold air. The fan works fine. But no cold air. A utility worker came out and looked outside at the condenser and flipped a switch and says that might be the problem? It is hot and we need help. A. If your outdoor unit is not running then the problem is probably the power or lack of. Check and reset all circuit breakers associated with the AC unit. Q. I have a TRANE heat pump. I noticed lately that it will run for about 10 to 15 minutes then shut off, but will only be off for 3 to 4 minutes and kick back on and run another 10 or 12 minutes. The outside temp is about 85 degrees. The inside temp is keeping up with what it is set at. In the past it didn't seem to be staying off for such a short period of time . Is this normal? A. It does sound as if it short cycling. You may replace that thermostat with an electronic model that has built in features to prevent short cycling. Q. I own a 1 1/2 story home. The downstairs cools wonderfully, but the upstairs is unbearably hot. I only have 1 rectangular floor vent in the back up there, and I have installed a thermostat controlled attic fan. What else can I do? A. I guess that you have one thermostat and it is located on the 1st floor. If that is the case then your thermostat has no idea what the temperature is upstairs. You may think about adding a zoning system to your existing system. Q. I have a 6 Yr. old TRANE Heat pump and Air handler. I noticed that the catch pan was filling with water. I unplugged the line and found that the plenum was filled with water. I vacuumed it out and the AC Repair man told me I needed to replace the coils because water is dripping through the coils. He suggested replacing the plenum as well due to rust build up in the bottom. Total cost is $1500 to replace the entire unit. Is this excessive? Also, there seems to be a lot of issues with the units in my neighborhood- is there a place I can check for any recalls before I shell out big bucks? A. It sounds unusual that the coils would be bad and create a water leak. I would suggest getting a second opinion before proceeding. Q. Recently I bought home , the A/C didn't work but furnace was working fine (Lennox G8D2-82-3). Yesterday I got the A/C working, I have found bad wire replaced and everything was fine. Yesterday, I came down to basement to check out the furnace and I found pool of water , so I have shut down the furnace and A/C, found that the hose was blocked and water couldn't escape so flooded furnace, after cleaning both the A/C coil and furnace, try to start through thermostat ,and nothing worked, I could only manually turn on the furnace but no A/C, so looks like nothing is responsive through thermostat, I have check there is a transformer box and another voltage regulator, and I know that transformer was wet, I clean and dry both, but still not working.. I check fuses, all fine.. A. The transformer is probably shorted out and needs to be replaced.

Q. I recently purchased a home with a Rheem 12. After turning on my central air, the system appears to be on.
However after a period of time the house is still not cool . Also the out side unit doesnt seems to be on I.e. the fan is not spinning. A. The outdoor unit is not operating. This could be a tripped breaker or the high pressure switch may have tripped. The reset button is red and is located on the rear bottom of the unit. If that is the problem, I would only reset it once. If the problem persists, call a Rheem dealer for service. Q. My ac unit (Rudd) comes on however has no cool air. the air is room temp or actually warmer. We have figured out it is the transformer in the attic. Where do we get the part. Its model is, (-)ama- and can we get a schematic or wiring diagram and if so where. if on the web send me a link please. A. I would recommend looking in the YP for your area, and find a RUDD distributor or a dealer.

Q. I replaced the fan motor on my a/c. The motor is now running, the outside unit is running, and I replaced the
thermostat. I am not getting any forced air coming through. I can't figure it out. A. Sounds like your indoor blower motor is not working. This could be a relay, or the motor itself.

Q. A condenser motor is stopped. When you spin it. It runs for a while and stops. The run capacitor is a 5
microfarad. It reads 3.3 mf on the meter. Is it a bad capacitor? How much of a percentage off can a capacitor be without being defective? JB A. Typically + or - 10% is acceptable.

Q. I've a 1,300 square feet mobile home under A/C. What's the minimum tons that the A/C unit should have for
this mobile home.

A. You need to consult a local contractor to run a load calculation for that mobile home and take the geographic
area (Pembroke Pines, Fl) into consideration. Q. Hi Baman, I just purchased a house that has an unfinished rather large garage. The water heater and furnace are in the garage in a small closet. the house already has 2 zones 1st floor & 2nd floor, but I would like to add a zone in the garage, and I'd like to do it myself. Any suggestions, specifically the parts I might need. I think it might be easy since the furnace will be in the garage already, in advance for your reply A. If you intend to add a zone off of the furnace that feeds the main house, I would say that you need to refer to the local mechanical code book. Most States do not allow you to do that since carbon monoxide can easily be sucked into the house via the ductwork. Q. Trane XE 1000 causing breaker to trip. I would love to remedy situation, but we cannot locate the main cause for it tripping. My question was do I assume that it is the unit or something else? In running the furnace with the thermostat set to cool, I go out and hear the unit buzzing. Maybe a capacitor or something else. I have not found it yet. But with 100 degree + temps here in Oregon, it is hard to work outside. :) A. The buzzing sound that you hear, I would say that the contactor is pulled in but since the breaker is tripped, it is not passing power through it. Q. Baman, Need your advice if I'm doing the right thing. Going to replace existing system Rheem to Lennox R410 Puron Variable speed 4 Ton 14 SEER system. A Carrier rep. told me to be careful because Lennox has been using Puron for a short time and may not have all the bugs worked out. Is this true? Also, is this a good price, about 5k dollars for a complete change out with above equipment? A. I am sure that the Lennox corp. has their act together with regards to R410A refrigerant. As for the cost, Every application is different. I would suggest that you get at least three estimates and go with the one that seems to make the most sense for your home. Q. On the Trane XE 1000, we are experiencing circuit breaker tripping for both the main home and the a/c breaker. We replaced the breaker thinking this was it, but not the case. There are no apparent cuts or shorts in the wires as we have traced them fully to the unit. Do you suppose the unit is sending a short to the home? A. If the unit is causing a breaker to trip, then I would remedy that situation, and you may find that the other problem is repaired as well. Q. We are building a new ranch style home in Atlanta, GA Crawlspace, exterior walls will be 2 x 6 with vinyl siding. Approx 2460sq feet of living space. My builder is telling me that a 3.5 ton unit is sufficient. I find this hard to believe. Is this unit large enough? A. Whoever the mechanical contractor is should run a detailed load calculation on the house. This will determine what size it requires. Ask to see this calculation if you have doubt. Q. I've recently started having trouble with my outside a/c unit not turning on when the inside fan does. After opening the panel on the outside unit, I noticed the contactor was "open", so I gently nudged it with a screwdriver and it immediately "sucked" closed and turned on the compressor! This seems like the opposite of what might be expected with a stuck contactor...usually it would stick closed and not turn off. Should I replace the contactor, or might there be some other problem? A. That certainly sounds odd. It sounds as if you have a low voltage issue. I would strongly recommend getting a good service mechanic to look at it before proceeding. Q. We are interested in a 13 seer (2.5 ton)York and the dealer is trying to encourage us to buy the 12 seer. He says the upkeep on a 13 seer with the coils stacked on top each other is lots of work to maintain. How hard is it to keep the outside coils clean and maintain ? The 12 seer has one row of coils and is easier to clean. The must be some maintenance manual on what to do to keep your central air performing at a high efficiency level? A. I would seek another option from a reputable contractor in your area.

Q. I have a Trane 10 seer heat pump...In the winter when the outside temp goes below 32 deg F, the outside
unit gets ice on the coils and the sides of the unit and I never see it go thru a defrost cycle. The air conditioning part works fine....the unit is about 5yrs old...wiring between the outside unit and the air handler was not replaced when the unit was installed...is this a problem with the wiring or something in the outside unit ? A. The problem is with the outdoor unit. This may be with the defrost cycle itself, associated wiring, or the refrigerant charge. Q. I have a Trane model twr060d100a0 XE1000 3 zone unit. We had a power surge the unit was tripped and now that its back on we cant change our thermostat to the different zones to control our air. Is it our thermostat? Or could it be something else. A. The problem is probably with the circuit board that controls the zoning. I would recommend having it checked by a qualified service tech. Q. I have a Colemen Evcon heat pump. The original compressor had a 5 year warrantee. It failed after 3 years and was replaced at no charge. Recently the second compressor failed. This time there was a several hundred dollar labor charge; I was even charged for the shipping of the compressor. Questions: Is there a known defect in this particular compressor. Should I have had to pay shipping and labor for the third compressor? A. I would call the manufacturer for an answer to those questions. Try the internet to find a number.

Q. I just bought this house 1 year ago and nothing but problems since, my heat pump/ac is not cooling my down
stairs, I have 2 units. The filters are clean, the Freon is ok, the unit has been checked out several times. A company told me that the coils were sitting underwater from the condensation under the house where the unit sits. I was also told the hose that runs the condensation out maybe clogged so we found the end and unclogged it so the condensation/water can flow out freely. The relay switch has been replaced also. The a/c will work a few days then it will stop cooling again. What else could cause the heat pump to stop cooling? This house was built in 1987 and from what we can tell these are the original units for both upstairs and down stairs. What else can be the problem? I just want to be aware of other issues that could be the cause before this company comes and takes advantage of me. A. Your problem sounds unusual. Give us a call for a free second opinion to analyze your situation.

Q. I have a 2 story home with dual heating and cooling units. The upstairs of course tends to be warmer in the
summer time, and the upstairs unit seems to be working harder to maintain a comfortable temperature. Would a powered attic fan help to reduce the effort of that unit? Also since there are ridge vents in the attic, would a powered attic fan cause any issues with regard to the current ventilation of the attic? A. In most applications a powered fan will help the keep the attic cool. This will cost $ to operate, however it should make the AC run a little less. Q. My upstairs Comfortmaker air handler (age- Old) was hit by lightning last week. I isolated the injury to the circuit board (Bym series air handler w/ blower Relay timer module) where I found a diode blown and possibly the relay. I am not having much success finding a replacement part. As this is an old unit, is it best to bite the bullet and replace the air handler? I have already replaced the exterior condenser approximately 2 or 3 years ago (not sure if 2 0r 3 tons). If I look replace the unit what can I expect to pay for the new air handler not taking into consideration cost of labor? Thank you for your help. A. I would recommend replacing the entire air handler. Prices do vary however from market to market.

Q. I have a Trane XL 80 Furnace and an old White-Rogers thermostat with Mercury. The odd thing is it has a
total of six wires connected to five terminals. The odd-ball is one white and one yellow wire connected to the Y terminal. I would like a current digital thermostat. Can I use a Honeywell CT3500 series (and wire it the same way) or do I need a special thermostat. Thank you in advance. A. I am not familiar with that model, however it should wire the same as your old one. Be sure to turn the power off to the furnace prior to the replacement. Q. I have an air conditioner that sometimes ices at the compressor suction line. The evaporator coil does not ice. The filter is not dirty and air flow is not a problem and air flows even when the unit ices, although cooling inside the home stops. The unit has been checked and the entire unit evacuated and recharged. The evaporator unit is in an attic that naturally gets pretty warm. The condenser coils have been cleaned. I was told they did not need to see the unit in failure when they came out. (the un-named service company that has been to my home 3 times and charges each time.) They went around my ducts retaping to prevent air leaks... could the metering device be sticking open causing refrigerant to flood the unit and cause freezing starting at the compressor suction line? Any other suggestions?? A. The TXV could be sticking open... or you may have a restricted suction line filter.

Q. Hello, can you use an oil based lubricant such as wd-40 to lubricate a stiff fan motor inside of an air
conditioner, or even use it in an air conditioner period? A. I would not recommend using that lubricant for a fan motor bearing.

Q. We have a two-story 2,500 sq ft home with one large outside unit (AC and furnace). We'd like to see about
installing a zone system. Is there a typical cost or ballpark figure for a zone system? A. It varies from application to application. Please give me a call and I will come out and give you a free estimate. Q. I have a Trane heat pump. When I flip the switch to turn on the ac nothing happens. no air gets pushed out of the vents the outside motor runs but the inside one is not working A. It sounds as if the indoor motor is not operating. This could be a defective motor or relay.

Q. I attempted to replace my old thermostat with a Hunter 44760 programmable unit. I followed the directions
carefully...turning off the power, etc. When I was finished, and the power was back on, the display read "no ac power". I checked the connections numerous times and they were OK. I gave up and re-installed the old thermostat, once again, carefully checking the connections. Now, it doesn't work. I've checked the breakers and they were OK. Any ideas of what could be the problem and what caused it? My system is an old RUUD (1984)Model UPNA 0385 015 heat pump. Thank you in advance! A. It sounds as if you may have crossed a wire and shorted the main transformer out. This is common because some of the wires and colors may not have been going to what they have appeared to. Q. Replacing old furnace, trying to decided which brand is best for my home. The brand, I was thinking of is Keeprite (two stage) or Rudd (two stage) A. I am not familiar with Keeprite, however Rudd (Rheem) is a reputable manufacturer.

Q. I just moved into a brand new home. Its a great house. The downstairs gets really cool and is so comfortable,
but the upstairs is so hot. What can be the problem? A. If you have only one thermostat controlling both floors, then that is your problem. A zoning system may be the least expensive option for you to consider. Q I have a 2,500 sq.ft. home with just about an equal amount on both floors. We have one central air unit that runs much of the time with this hot weather. We are looking at adding a second unit to help cool off, What normally is needed in adding a second unit since the vents are already operating. How will this help our monthly electric bill. Our neighbor has a smaller house, two units and their electric bill has been much less. A. Cooling two floors with one unit and one thermostat is very costly. There are several options to consider like a second system or just zoning the one that you have. Give me a call and I can come by and have a look at your specific situation. Q. We are purchasing a new furnace and a/c for our home. It is a 100 yr. old home and did not previously have central a/c. The furnace is natural gas. We are trying to decide between a Lennox and a Trane system. Is there anything that makes one of these more reliable than the other besides the installer? My husband wants to know if heat exchanger thickness matters for reliability. Does one of these have a better track record or less problems? A. Both of the manufactures that you listed are widely considered as a leader in the industry. I would check their websites to find out the warranties offered for the products that you are interested in. Perhaps the most important factor will be the installing company. Q. I had 2 repairmen check out my central AC unit. One says it's to old to be repaired an has numerous problems. Second guys says it needs to be cleaned there is mud surrounding from outside and just added Freon(sp)to it. Now it's working properly. Question is should I not be concerned and assume it's working fine or did the 2nd guy just give me a quick fix? A. That is very difficult to answer. I would certainly get another opinion before replacing the system.

Q. Hi, I live in Central Florida and have a Trane XE 1000 unit outside. The problem is that sometime the air in
the house blows warm and when I go outside the unit is just making a buzzing sound and the fan is not on. What can be the cause and what can I do to fix it? A. You may have a contactor that is going bad, or have a bug or ants in it. In any case replacing the contactor and treating around the unit should remedy the problem. Q. When thermostat is in off position the blower fan still runs. I have no heat or A\c. Have to turn blower off at the furnace. LUXPRO500 thermostat. CAN YOU HELP ME. THANK YOU. A. Depending on the model of furnace that you have, It may be a bad transformer or circuit board.

Q. I have an central AC unit that is 20 years old. Is it worth repairing or should I be looking for a new one. It was
working fine but recently started leaking water from the A-coil? or something like that A. A water leak may be as minor as a clogged drain. I would recommend having a repairman have a look at the system. Q. I have an older 1 1/2 story home. The upstairs does not cool very well in the summer. I'm considering adding a separate system. Based on efficiency and cost is there an advantage to using a ductless system versus the traditional one with ducts? A. A ductless system is probably not the answer for that home. Typically, a mini-split is used for open rooms. Unless your upstairs is just one large open room I would recommend a standard system. Q. I recently bought a townhouse that has a 8 year old Rheem Seer 11 heat pump (scroll inside). My problem is that when the unit comes on, after 5-10 seconds a very high pitched squealing sound occurs. The sound goes on and off during the cooling cycle. I had one technician look at it and he indicated that the problem was the compressor and that the only option was to have a new compressor installed. He also said that although the sound is quite loud, that there was no damage being done to the compressor itself. Does this sound reasonable to you? A. It is possible that the sound though annoying, is harmless assuming that the diagnoses is correct. Unless the sound is creating a problem with neighbors, I would say it is otherwise OK. Q I have a 4-ton Coleman heat pump. The contactor needs to be replaced and I purchased a definite purpose contactor of the same size as a replacement, however, the connection poles are not in the same order as the present contactor. How do I know where to put the wires on the new contactor? A. Most contactor replacements are similar to yours. Care must be taken to get all of the wires on the correct terminals. A contactor is simply a bridge that passes power from one side to the other. If you look at the old contactor as a bridge you should be able to draw a wire diagram so that you can make the proper connections with the new one. Q. I purchased this house in December 2001, new. The heating/air conditioning has never worked steadily from summer to winter. I have heated the home with kerosene heated this past winter and I have used a small window air conditioner both last summer and this current summer. I am told that the builder no longer has a responsibility to fix (replace) the unit since he has sent someone to look at it a few times and they get it to work for a few more

months. But it goes out again the next season; it won't do anything at all (for the past year!) What could be wrong? What can I do? and can you help? A. I would recommend getting another HVAC contractor to look at the system to determine why it continues to fail. Q. I have a Carrier ac unit and lately it doesnt turn off. The fan runs continually. To cut it off I have to flip the breaker. What could cause this. A. The problem is probably a stuck contactor (relay).

Q. I live in South Florida and need new A/C. Currently have 5-ton heat pump. Trying to decide whether to go
with heat pump again or A/C with heat strips. We turn on the heat (at about 72 degrees) only about 15 days out of the year. The heat pump only costs about $500 more, but the extra electrical costs will run about $60-$70 more a year and it seems that will balance out the initial outlay over time. What do you think is better if the cost balances out to be the same? A. I believe that if the balanced cost is about the same, then you should go with the heat pump as it will consume less electricity. That approach should be better in the long term. Q. I have a Rudd Heat Pump and can not find the CFM rating on the unit tag. The model number for the unit is UPCA036JBS, serial number is 2327m10822691. Can you tell me what the cfm's are for this unit. A. The cfm can only be determined by the indoor unit model #. The number that you have given here appears to be an outdoor heat pump. Q. My chimney is releasing thick black smoke. I cleaned and vacuumed my furnace. And it still releases this smoke. A. You need to have a professional look at your furnace. This is not normal.

Q. I just had a Payne air handler installed. I can not find a date on it or how many tons it is. I have asked the
contractor, he just said its 2.5 tons and don't worry about it. But I am worried. It is almost always running. I am worried that he sold me the wrong size. Could you please help me. It's model #PF1MNB030. Can't find much information on the label. A. The air handler is a 2.5 ton according to the #'s that you have, however that does not tell me what the size of the outdoor unit. That is the most important info. If your contractor did not change the outdoor unit then the capacity should have changed very little or not at all. Q. My mom is the owner of a commercial attic fan which cools off the whole house when it gets hot. The problem is that when it rains (this has been going for a long time now) it comes down to my bedroom ceiling which has caused a great deal of water damage. It is getting to the point of my ceiling to collapse unless I can find someone to at least fix the attic fan. My mom and I have tried calling contractors and construction people about the problem but none has called back. If possible can you direct me in the right direction as to what to do? A. I would try a handyman service.

Q. My Carrier AC unit is blowing cool air but not cold. The fan outside in the unit is not working. Could you tell
me what could be wrong. Is the motor or compressor? A. The fan outside must operate for the system to cool correctly. The problem could be the fan motor, capacitor, or the relay/contactor that controls it. Q. I own a retail store and our air conditioner has become a point of controversy. Half of the staff says that the air temp. during shopping hours should only change a couple degrees once the store is closed (74* during the day and 76* at night). The other half maintain that the air conditioner should be set to 80* once the shop is closed to conserve as much energy as possible, and then set to 74* once we open our doors. I've always thought that too big a disparity between temperatures requires the a/c to work much harder then it has to. What do you think? A. A moderate set back will certainly save money, thus conserving energy. Consult a local contractor to find out the best setting for your region. Q. How should a consumer decide on central air conditioners among the top brands? Are there really any differences among the brands? Are there any energy rebates available if models are selected with certain seer ratings? A. Selecting a brand of air conditioner is much like selecting a car. Ask friends, family and neighbors of their experiences. The most important part of any system is the installation process, if not installed correctly even the best systems will under perform. Several manufactures offer rebates this time of year. Give me a call if you wish to find out more. Q. I have a Tempstar 7000 furnace. I have no power to my thermostat and the fan is stuck in the on position. Your response was that my transformer may be bad. My question is if my transformer is bad, would it cause loss of power to my thermostat? A. The transformer sends all low voltage to the thermostat.

Q. In response to my question you said that the transformer may be bad in my furnace (no power to thermostat).
I have a Tempstar 7000 super high efficiency model. Where would the transformer be located and what does it look like?

A. I am not familiar with that particular model, however it is most likely in the controls compartment of the
furnace. Q. Baman, We have a Trane XL-13i AC unit going into a Trane heating system inside and have just had a new blower put into the heating unit (it was squeaking bad). Both units are under 5 years old. The repairmen just left today after the blower install and now our AC unit doesn't fire up,(worked fine yesterday) although the thermostat is calling for it. I noticed that the two conductor cable coming from the AC unit only has the red wire wired into the " C" position in the heating unit. Should this have both (the other white one) going into the unit, or does the AC unit only need one conductor and maybe ground for control? A. The other wire should go to the Y (yellow) from the thermostat. The AC will not operate without this.

Q. I am in the process of building a house and I have gotten bids from both Trane and Rudd (Rheem)on the
three 5 ton units that have recommended. The Rudd representative has agreed to reduce his initial estimate to meet the bid by Trane. Are there additional concerns that I should have when evaluating the two units? Which manufacturer performs better with greater reliability? A. There are many things that you should consider. The equipment is very important, however, I believe that the first step is finding a reputable contractor that you can trust. This can be accomplished by asking friends, neighbors and family about their experiences. Once you find one or two contractors, there are many things you should consider about the equipment that you choose; brand, reliability, efficiency, etc.... The size of the systems should be determined by a load calculation provided by your contractor. Q. I have a Bryant central air conditioner. when we turn the system on, water runs out all over my basement floor. can you tell me how to fix this problem, or if I should call a repairman? A. The problem is probably with the drain tube that leads from the coil unit. This should probably be taken care of by a qualified service technician. Q. Greetings, Last month I purchased a Trane central AC (4TTX3030A1000AA) which was sold as being 13 SEER. When I applied for an energy rebate, I discovered that the coil (CCBA30A4ACD) was "not a rated match" according to the people at Trane. Should I be concerned that this is an improper installation?? Many A. The overall SEER rating is not known unless the system has been rated and listed by the manufacturer. I will say that if the coil is not rated for 13 + SEER, I would not think that a 13 SEER would be achieved. Q. I have no power to my thermostat. I replaced my thermostat with a digital one. No power. The fan is stuck in on position and runs continuously. No heat, no a/c, just fan. What is the cause and what is the solution. A. Depending on the furnace that you have, the transformer may be bad and in some cases (models) this will keep the fan in the "on" position. If this is the case, a reason for the transformers malfunction should be addressed. Q. Is possible to have a heat pump that is too small to heat its respective unit? My landlord installed a new heat pump in Nov. 2003, and since that time our bills have been at least $500 p/month, with our watts used ranging from 3000 to 3500 p/month. A. Yes it is possible; however I would begin by having a service technician check the system thoroughly to make sure it is operating in the manner in which it was designed. If it is, a detailed load calculation would determine if the system is correctly sized. Q. Payne 2 ton unit, with piston metering, should the liquid line be hot in the cooling mode. The head pressure is 250 psig and the low side pressure is 100 psig. This is a new unit. It delivers 60 degree air out of ceiling diffusers. I just want to know what the correct pressures should be, and what should the superheat be. The liquid line never gets hot to feel of hand. A. The liquid line should be very close to the OD temperature. The "low" side pressure appears to be abnormally high. Without knowing what the outdoor temperature is, I cannot tell what the superheat should be. I would consult a technician in your area. Q. I have a York a/c flat coil. it is eight years old. The drain is clear and the flat coil is clean. When the a/c runs water leaks from the furnace. It just started doing this? Someone told me a flat coil will do this if the unit is low on Freon. It still cools good? Have you heard of this? A. Even though the coil looks clean, I would recommend cleaning it so water will cling to the fins and not blow off of the downstream side. Q. I have two questions: 1) If I buy a programmable thermostat so that I can turn down the air/heat during the day when no one is home, and then back up around 30 min before we get home from work, will this help me save money on my energy bills? and 2) in an old house with no exterior wall insulation, would it help in energy bills to have the attic insulation brought up to R-38 without doing the walls? A. A programmable thermostat can save up to 20 % on your utility bills if programmed correctly for your climate. Most homes in your area insulate the attics to R-30. Bringing the insulation to that level will save you money on your utility bills. Q. During the summer months can I leave my furnace fan on manual while running the a/c unit. Without adding to my electric bill.

A. yes you can run the fan continuously, however it will cost a little extra to do so. The amount will vary
depending on how large the blower is. Q. is there any improvement in heat pumps in the last 15 years as far as the heat pump producing better heat when temp. goes below 4o degrees in Florida A. Absolutely, one of the biggest improvement has been the variable speed air handler, which allows the system to have a warm-up period prior to going into full speed. Q. I have a house built in 99 (we have lived here for the last 2), with dual zone Trane A/C. beginning in Feb (I think) we began to notice the "dirty sock syndrome" mostly in the downstairs unit, 1-3 times per week. I had the techs come out and do some seasonal maintenance on the units today and was surprised to find that the indoor coils are not cleaned as part of this maintenance. in fact, these coils are not easily serviceable. they are enclosed in the box style ductwork and not by a metal enclosure such as the blower and ignition. they want to charge an additional $200-250/unit to clean/check the coils. I'm certain they will just cut out a panel and inspect/clean, just as I possibly could. is this something I can tackle initially? A. Yes you can if you have the tools to do so. Be very careful around the tubes in the box as the can be punctured and/or cut very easily. Q. I can set my thermostat at 74, 76, or 78, but the a/c keeps running to keep the house at about 70. I don't understand why it is off by so much. Do thermostats need to be calibrated like scales? If so, please let me know how I can do it. Thank you A. Yes mechanical thermostats do need to calibrated from time to time. I recommend having a local service person perform this task. Q. I bought a new town home almost two years ago. Last year my AC stopped working. The serviceman said that there were "dips" in the line causing it to freeze up. This year I'm having the same trouble. It will run for a couple of days, then blow out warm air. I will shut it down for two or three days and it's working again. My warranty has now run out, are they responsible to fix it for free (because it didn't get fixed right the first time) or is this problem something that I could fix at minimal cost? I live alone and money is an issue. A. I am not sure what "dips" they are referring to, however it is impossible to say what is causing your latest problem. With that said, if the company you are dealing with is reputable, they should be able to assess the problem and determine if it is related to the one that you had last year. Q. Please settle a family point of confusion. My daughter and her husband have recently built a story and a half home with zoned heating and air conditioning. They state that the HVAC "guys" set the thermostat at 70 degrees Fahrenheit and that is what it should stay at year round. I expressed surprise and stated I always thought it was supposed to be set at 68 in the winter and 76 in the summer. Are either of us in the ballpark? A. Your assessment is correct. A normal setting is 68 winters and 76 summer.

Q. We moved into a 2 story house built in 1938 and remodeled in the 60's. We had central air installed last
summer; the problem is that the cooling is great on the main floor, but almost 8-10 degrees warmer upstairs. Will roof vents help the upstairs cooling? What else would help? A. I can only assume that you had 1 AC system installed for both floors with only 1 thermostat. If this is the case, I suggest looking into a zoning system that will add a second thermostat to the second floor while operating motorized dampers in the 1 system. Ventilating your attic is always recommended, however, I am not sure it would solve your situation. Q. I just bought a new house and the problem I'm having is in some rooms I have great air flow and in others I can't feel air at all. When the service people came out they said because those room are the furthest from the unit they'll be hotter. Is this true? A. Yes this is very possible. In most forced air systems for homes, the air flows to the path of least resistance. This means you tend to get better airflow closer to the blower unit. The system however, can be balanced by adding dampers to the ductwork, forcing more air further downstream. Q. My question is actually 2 questions regarding cooling in the summer. My recently purchased home had a mild mold problem when I first moved in. It appears to have been fixed via Clorox and use. I have a new 5 ton, 14 seer unit that supplest my unfinished basement and the "living" level of the home. My crawl space sized attic receives neither heat nor AC. What problems/benefits would come from using a ventilation fan and airing the space out? The second part of my question involves the basement. Half of the basement is polished concrete flooring with cinder block walls. The other half is a crawl space, plain dirt...no floor. I would like to "finish" the basement. Do you suggest venting out this area or just sealing off the unfinished area since the AC unit does provide venting to the finished area? You answers and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Humid Spaces A. Certainly, ventilating attics is a good thing to do, whether it is with a mechanical fan, ridge vent or other forms of ventilation. As for your second question, I would recommend sealing off the unfinished area and let the foundation vents for that area naturally ventilate it. Q. What does my heat come on in the summer time when I have the heat pump thermostat set to auto and cool and the temp set on 70 degrees. When the temp outside drops down to around 65 degrees my heat will come on and stay on. sometimes I have awoken in a pool of sweat and go to turn off the unit and the reading on the thermostat will be around 98 degrees

A. Your reversing valve may be sticking in the heating position and the thermostat continues to call for AC since
the temperature continues to rise. Consult a local repair company to accurately diagnose this problem. Q. How do I find out what my furnace is rated for air conditioning? Can I connect a five ton Carrier air conditioner to my Bryant 383kav Series G furnace? Will the furnace push enough air through the unit to cool down my 2400sq foot home? A. To find the airflow rating for your gas furnace, you will need the entire model number. I recommend having a reputable HVAC contractor in your area run a load calculation to determine if a 5 ton is the correct size for your home. Q. What is the purpose of the green emergency or auxiliary light on a thermostat for? This was on the unit in my old house. I have a thermostat in my newly bought (10 years old) house where you can program the temperature up to four settings a day. Is this just as good? A. The purpose of the green light is to make the homeowner aware that the system is using the auxiliary heat. This is normal if the thermostat is turned up more than 2 degrees above room temperature or the temperature outside is persistently cold. A programmable thermostat should be as accurate as your old one. Consult a local contractor to get an opinion about how to program it for your region. Q. How would you compare 12 SEER split units for Trane and Rudd heat pumps? Internet search sent me to you, but I did not find info regarding this. A. Comparing different brands of heat pumps is much like comparing brands of cars. It is really a personal choice that should be based on your comfort level with warranties, manufacturers reputation, and reliability. According to a survey conducted by a popular national consumer magazine in 2001, Rudd (Rheem) and Trane (American Standard) were the top performers in reliability. Q. We recently purchased a home that was built in 1982. It is a 2 1/2 story home with two separate units. The main floor always seems to be really warm and we have to keep the thermostat set at 70-71 to keep it cool. I do not know whether or not the base unit is new. The upper floor unit is only 3 years old. How long do they typically last? A. In our area a heat pump unit has a life of 10 to 12 years on average and a straight AC unit has an average life of 10-15 years. I hope this answers your question. Q. Hello. Our home is 7 years old and we currently have a York 3 ton a/c with 36,000 BTU. This is the second time the unit is blowing cool air but not cold. We replaced a blown capacitor last year. We had a service tech come out Saturday and said the capacitor has blown and he tried to replace it with another and a super booster to turn over the compressor but it did not work. He said we could replace the compressor but suggested to buy a whole new unit and recommended a Payne unit. Looking for your opinion and if you think this sounds accurate / reasonable. (Price for unit installed $1400). Appreciate your opinion. Please call or email. A. Not knowing anything but what you described to me here, I would recommend that you get a second opinion. When you do decide to replace the AC system, make sure that the outdoor unit (AC) is compatible with the indoor unit (coil). With the information that you have given here, I am not sure that is the case. Give us a call, and we would be happy to come out for a FREE second opinion. Q. I just reviewed your answer for the standard thermostat setting for residential heat pumps for summertime use and if I set my thermostat for 76 to 78 degrees then my heat pump would never come on and the 3 level home that I have would be so hot that it would be unbearable. So should I have the thermostat checked? or for that matter the entire air conditioning system? A. Yes, I recommend having your situation analyzed by an air conditioner contractor in your area. A 3 level home using 1 thermostat is difficult to keep comfortable. Your contractor can give you options such as zoning. Q. I recently bought a six-year-old home which has a high-efficiency gas furnace and a Lux 500 thermostat. The thermostat is very complicated, and the previous owner left no manual for it. Questions: Is it possible to get a manual for the Lux; and who manufactures this thermostat? A. It does seem that some thermostats are not quite as user friendly as they should be. You can try the link below and it will take you to the Lux website, where a manual should be available. www.luxproducts.com/thermostat.htm Q. Our house was built in 1999 and is a Ranch style with a bonus room. Only problem is the bonus does not have a AC temperature controller type thing and stays very warm during the summer months. Is their a quick and not so expensive solution to fix this? A. This is a common complaint. Depending on the system that you have, a zoning kit may solve your problem with the fewest dollars spent. Simply put, a zoning system has a thermostat in each main area that you want to control. In your case the main house and the bonus room. These thermostats operate dampers that control the flow of air to those main areas. Feel free to give me a call with more specific information about your home. Q. Hi, My air conditioner is working properly, but not blowing cool air, the air is cool but not cool enough

A. I suggest that you have the system serviced by a qualified air conditioner mechanic. Many times a system
may appear to be operating correctly, when in reality, may be in desperate need of cleaning and service. Q. What is the standard thermostat setting for residential heat pumps for summertime use?

A. The standard thermostat setting for residential heat pumps and for that matter straight air conditioners, is
around 76 to 78 degrees. This is what most contractors use as a rule when calculating the heat gain load for residences.