On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 01:37:15 -0500, "Michael Baugh"
wrote:


The thermostat was a General Electric unit, and I'm generally not
impressed with GE stuff anyway. But my awareness of heat pump stuff is
extremely slim, and I need a better overview of how that works. I realize
that temperature setback is not seen as a good idea at night, because of
it being a heat pump, but it would be damned agravating to have a cold
breeze blowing past at night, too. Is this a typical problem encountered,
especially since there are units that sense outside temperature and cause
the
thermostat to bypass the attempt to drag heat from outside when it's below
30 degrees or so? Is the GE thermostat the bottom of the line? Is there a
reasonably priced unit that incorporates outdoor sensing and doesn't cause
the unit to be blowing cold air?
Educate me, please. Or give me some favorite URL's. Thanks ahead of time.


You didn't mention what brand and model heat pump you have and
replacing an indoor thermostat most likely won't do a thing for you.

Many systems like the older Carriers have an adjustable thermostat in
the condensor unit itself. I do know there was a large batch that got
out that had the degree decals installed ass backwards. Setting the
dial to 40 degrees was actually on the other side of the scale closer
to 0 degrees. Once set correctly those thermostats are very reliable.
Also if the indoor tstat is bumped up past a certain point the gas
furnace (used in my area) will kick in for rapid heat up until the
indoor temperature gets within a few degrees of setpoint.

Other units (newer) have remote sensors that go to control boards or
thermostats. Sensors can be tested by checking resistance at a
certain temperature. The indoor thermostats will usually let you see
the outdoor temp. by pressing a certain combination of buttons.
One other point is that if the sun is directly hitting the remote
sensor it may register 20 degrees or higher than the real outdoor air
temperature.

Heat pump set ups can get a little complicated and in all honesty you
could make things much worse than they already are...you will probably
save yourself a lot of grief by telling your friend to call an HVAC
service tech.

George