This summer we had a Payne PH330 Heat Pump installed. We had no previous AC so this was a new install to our existing (propane) Armstrong Ultra SX90 furnace. From the beginning, there have been problems. The AC wouldn’t cycle properly. After a couple checks the installer had to get the Payne rep out to look at everything and discovered the he made a mistake in the installation that restricted airflow. AC worked fine following the necessary changes.
Then winter hits and the heat kicks on – at least it’s supposed to. Periodically, the heat pump would kick on but the furnace wouldn’t light. The electric ignition would repeatedly fire and the burner would flame for a second or two and turn off. The installer came out and looked things over and, of course, he couldn’t get the furnace to repeat the problem. He claimed the filter was dirty and left. With the problem persisting, I had the installer back out. He then claimed it was a dirty sensor. As an attempt to help offset the cost of all his trips out I told him to go ahead and do a full maintainance check. $129 later, he had a clean, pilot, burners and sensor. Good to go, right?
Wrong. The problem persisted. (I have video of the furnace & HP in action but they are on my phone and I don’t know how to transfer them here) This morning I awoke at 3:45 to the heat pump running. Nothing out of the ordinary except 45 minutes later it’s still running. Now I really can’t sleep. I get up to listen to it run til 4:45. At that point I kicked up thermostat to 65. A full cycle ran (including furnace) and shut off at 5:08. 5:15 the heat pump kicks on and runs for another hour – no furnace. It’s now 8:30 and this pattern continues.
I know this is a lengthy tale with multiple issues, but before I call the installer again, I need to know if anyone has seen this sort of thing before? Or could it be a faulty unit? Should I skip the installer and go straight to Payne? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Replies
The startup problem should be relatively easy for a compent service guy to diagnose. The furnace should store a code indicating why it failed to start up, and that would point to the flame sensor, pressure sensor, etc. (And you should have the book that tells how to read out the codes.)
For your part, double check the furnace exhaust and make sure there isn't, eg, a wasp nest blocking the airflow.
(BTW, how are the two units "staged"? Presumably the gas furnace is controlled by the HP, and comes on if it's too cold outside for the HP to handle or if you turn the thermostat up several degrees. Otherwise the HP runs in preference to the furnace because the HP is cheaper to operate. The behavior you described overnight may be "normal")
What are the temps outside that we are talking about here? Do you know what the system is designed to do when it operates right? My heat pump has a gas back-up but its up to the user to switch between the heat pump and the back-up when desired (which for me is in the upper teens). If your system is the same then it sounds like they wired the thermostat wrong because the furnace shouldn't be trying to fire when the heat pump is on. It should only fire if you manually switch to gas.
Secondly, what gyrations are you going through with the thermostat? A heat pump to a new owner will seemingly run forever if you are trying to get from 60 to 70. Its just the way they operate. If they put in a smart thermostat and you are setting the thing back to 50 something and then want it back to 65 in the morning, its going to take a week for the hing to learn how long it takes to get to the desired temp and adjust its turn on time.
I don't think the guys who sold youthe system did a very good job. You haven't been told what to expect and what is normal. Heat pumps aren't gas and they aren't going to warm up a house quickly nor will the give you that nice warm blast of air you have come to expect all of your life. That doesn't make them bad just different.
BTW, what sqft are we talking about and what is the size of the pump? Whats the insulation situation? a heat pump in a leaky house in heat mode is a self defeating issue. Because they don't get hot and they run longer they suck in nearly as much cold air as they produce hot air to offset. Depending on ouside temps it may never shut off.