I had a Trane heat pump system installed for my basement. But I don't think it
is working as well as it should be. I did a test last night while I working on
door headers ...the thermostat said 78, and I set it to 75, and I timed it to
see how long it took to cool. It ran constantly for nearly two hours, and was
only 76 by the time I went back upstairs.

The basement is not finished, ie it's like one big room since the walls are open
studs, but this still seems wrong. The system does cool, but it takes forever
to do so and constantly runs, which means my electric bill is sky high. I am
worried the system is undersized for the space (about 1000 sqft).

Is this normal operation without the walls being up?

In article ,
BillyBA wrote:

Is this normal operation without the walls being up?

You have two issues to deal with:

1) without walls, you do not have proper air flow. There
are not vents and returns distributed around the room, and
walls to force the air to flow from vent to return. As a
result, the air just circulating in a big circle, and not
cooling the area.

2) you may have heat soak. When you let an area get warm
for a while, the heat is soaked up by the mass of the structure.
Once you start cooling, the mass will radiate that stored heat
out into the air. It might take days to cool a large room that
has a lot of mass for the first time. Once you get it cool,
it only takes a little A/C to keep it cool, also long as it
remains cool and never lets the heat build back up in the
structure.

Excess moisture can cause problems. You may want to dehumidify if
you are over 45%. Small circulation fans also help.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 11:34:31 -0500, "John A. Weeks III"
wrote:

1) without walls, you do not have proper air flow. There
are not vents and returns distributed around the room, and
walls to force the air to flow from vent to return. As a
result, the air just circulating in a big circle, and not
cooling the area.

Thank you. Yes, I suspected this was probably the reason I was not getting
proper cooling, but it still *seems* like it should be able to do more. I don't
get nearly the airflow out of the vents from the new unit that I do from my 1st
floor.


2) you may have heat soak. When you let an area get warm
for a while, the heat is soaked up by the mass of the structure.
Once you start cooling, the mass will radiate that stored heat
out into the air. It might take days to cool a large room that
has a lot of mass for the first time. Once you get it cool,
it only takes a little A/C to keep it cool, also long as it
remains cool and never lets the heat build back up in the
structure.

I agree 100% here too. I suspected the concrete would be acting like a heat
source, since there has not been any active cooling down there.

It's probably a safe bet, then, that I won't have any idea how well it works
until the walls, ceiling and flooring are done?

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:02:48 -0400, BillyBA wrote:

I had a Trane heat pump system installed for my basement. But I don't think it
is working as well as it should be. I did a test last night while I working on
door headers ...the thermostat said 78, and I set it to 75, and I timed it to
see how long it took to cool. It ran constantly for nearly two hours, and was
only 76 by the time I went back upstairs.

The basement is not finished, ie it's like one big room since the walls are open
studs, but this still seems wrong. The system does cool, but it takes forever
to do so and constantly runs, which means my electric bill is sky high. I am
worried the system is undersized for the space (about 1000 sqft).

Is this normal operation without the walls being up?

You are right. It should only take 1-3/4 hr to cool off that space.
Not 2 hrs. If I were you, Id swap out your 1st fl system with your new
basement system. No way is your new system big enough for 1000 sq. ft.
Oops. No, wait a minute. You didnt tell us how big your new system
was. Shoot. I guess I was starring at my crystal ball again.
Forget what I said and come back when you have the walls up. Then we
can all sit around, drink beer, shoot the **** and worry about how
your measley system aint cooling worth a crap.
Bubba

Is this normal operation without the walls being up?

You are right. It should only take 1-3/4 hr to cool off that space.
Not 2 hrs. If I were you, Id swap out your 1st fl system with your new
basement system. No way is your new system big enough for 1000 sq. ft.
Oops. No, wait a minute. You didnt tell us how big your new system
was. Shoot. I guess I was starring at my crystal ball again.
Forget what I said and come back when you have the walls up. Then we
can all sit around, drink beer, shoot the **** and worry about how
your measley system aint cooling worth a crap.
Bubba

Wow, what a great reply. I'm sure this guy was looking for just this type
of ignorant post. Your information is worth what your IQ most likely
is.......zero.

BillyBA wrote:
I am worried the system is undersized
for the space (about 1000 sqft).

What did the heat gain calcuation say was required to cool the space in
BTU (given the windows, insulation, orientation, etc.), and how big is
the system you installed?

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 15:51:14 -0500, "Aimless in Charlotte"
wrote:

Is this normal operation without the walls being up?

You are right. It should only take 1-3/4 hr to cool off that space.
Not 2 hrs. If I were you, Id swap out your 1st fl system with your new
basement system. No way is your new system big enough for 1000 sq. ft.
Oops. No, wait a minute. You didnt tell us how big your new system
was. Shoot. I guess I was starring at my crystal ball again.
Forget what I said and come back when you have the walls up. Then we
can all sit around, drink beer, shoot the **** and worry about how
your measley system aint cooling worth a crap.
Bubba

Wow, what a great reply. I'm sure this guy was looking for just this type
of ignorant post. Your information is worth what your IQ most likely
is.......zero.

and you, my "biatch" have earned the right to blow me!
Bubba

and you, my "biatch" have earned the right to blow me!
Bubba

You spelled "bitch" wrong, ****tard.

"Aimless in Charlotte" wrote in message ...

and you, my "biatch" have earned the right to blow me!
Bubba

You spelled "bitch" wrong, ****tard.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=biatch

"zero" wrote in message
.. .

"Aimless in Charlotte" wrote in message ...

and you, my "biatch" have earned the right to blow me!
Bubba

You spelled "bitch" wrong, ****tard.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=biatch

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=****tard

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 17:08:23 -0500, "Aimless in Charlotte"
wrote:


and you, my "biatch" have earned the right to blow me!
Bubba

You spelled "bitch" wrong, ****tard.


Wow! Hard to believe that there are actually people as stupid as you
in this world.
Bubba

BillyBA wrote:

2) you may have heat soak. When you let an area get warm
for a while, the heat is soaked up by the mass of the structure.
Once you start cooling, the mass will radiate that stored heat
out into the air. It might take days to cool a large room that
has a lot of mass for the first time. Once you get it cool,
it only takes a little A/C to keep it cool, also long as it
remains cool and never lets the heat build back up in the
structure.

I agree 100% here too. I suspected the concrete would be acting like a heat
source, since there has not been any active cooling down there.

It's probably a safe bet, then, that I won't have any idea how well it works
until the walls, ceiling and flooring are done?

The "heat soak" makes perfect sense to me (not that that means much..
;))
In addition, here are some things I would consider:
1. Is the basement insulated on it's outside walls? If not, you
probably should insulate the basement walls well, since that concrete
will soak up lots of energy--heating or cooling. It may be temperate,
but it will be stubborn.
2. Is there a moisture barrier on the outside of the basement wall (and
floor)? If so, it should retard the transfer of moisture from the
dirt, through the wall, to your room. If it isn't, I have no ideas.