The info in this message is offered in the hopes that it might be
helpful to someone else with a problem similar to mine. My earlier
messages on this topic were posted on 5/21/04 (Heat Pump Performance
Questions), and 6/2/04 (More Heat Pump Questions). In summary, the
performance at that time had become very erratic and unpredictable
(refer to original post), and my daily power usage had climbed to an
average of 103 KWH per day for the four days in May when the erratic
performance was first noticed. The company that installed the system
in 1998 sent (at my request) a service technician who judged the
system to be "working normally". It was at this time that I began to
monitor my power usage on a daily basis and discovered the abnormally
high usage. Suspecting that the T-stat might be responsible for the
erratic performance, I decided to at least inspect its' wiring
connections. (The system is a Carrier Heat Pump, and the T-stat is
also a Carrier unit - digital, but non-programmable.) The T-stat is
mounted by a hinge to a base that is attached to the wall, where
swinging the T-stat away from the wall disengages several pins from a
mating socket and totally disconnects the stat from the system. After
going through this procedure one time (disengaging and re-engaging the
pins with the mating socket), the system performance abruptly became
normal and predictable. At the same time, our power usage dropped from
103 KWH/day average (during the erratic performance period) to less
than 40 KWH/day average for the months of June, July, and 1/3 of
August (in Central Florida). I may be wrong, but until something
better comes along, my theory is that a faulty contact between pin(s)
and socket may have resulted in inconsistent actuation of the
reversing valve in the system, and that the friction of momentarily
breaking and re-making this connection has at least for now resulted
in a 'good' contact. It seems to me that this could explain both the
warm air we experienced many times while in the cooling mode, and the
much higher than normal power usage observed during the erratic
performance period. Any different theories and/or comments will be
welcomed. Thank you.
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