Well I called the contractor to complain about my geothermal system yesterday. I mentioned before that the Low Pressure light was on when I was down in the basement earlier this week. Well I noticed that when the system was on, the GPM flow indicator didn't move, thus no water running thru the system. The guy come out this afternoon, (not the same guy that did the installation) and after 90 minutes of trying to puzzle out why the system doesn't work, he determines that they never ran power to the Compressor. They did run power to the blower / Aux heat, but they were suppose to run another circuit for the Compressor. Needless to say I question the expertize of the contractor now. And it wasn't one guy either, there was four guys that worked on the install (well one was a helper and was fairly worthless).

Another screw up was they used the original thermostat, but because I have AUX heat now, will not work with the new unit. The sales guy tried to sell me a thermostat when he gave me the qoute, but I thought $300 was excessive, I told him so long as my existing thermostat was ok, I'd just keep that one. You would have thought someone would have mentioned that it wasn't going to work. 

I'm suppose to call him tommorrow so they can set up an appointment to fix there error. He said they toss in a free thermostat to make me happy ($250) value. I looked up the T8011R 1006 thermostat the repair guy used to troubleshoot the system, and it lists for $85. That's some markup, if that's my free thermostat he's talking about.

   

 

This has probably been gone over before, but what is the brand of heat pump?

Water Furance, Premier model.

If these guys don't get their act together, I think your $300 is probably much better spent on some sweaters because you'll need them.
I kid now, but I might be in a worse boat if the appearance of a county truck on my property this morning as I left for work means anything.

TG,
Sorry to hear about your trouble.
Ask for the owner of the company, next time you call and suggest that you expect your system to work correctly and your next call will be to the better business bureau.
Out of curiousity, how did their bid compare to other's and what was the reaction you recieved from their refrences?
J

(by the way, county truck at Seneca's was for pressure test)

Overall, there bid was the Highest i recieved, the only reason I used them instead of someone else was because they were the only contractor Energy Star Certifed in my area. I used the NJ Energy Star Program to Finance my project, otherwise I would have had to tap my 401k Program to come up with the cash. The only reference I went by, was the fact they they were certifed by the state to perform Energy Star Certified installs.

I'll be on travel for Work next week, but they are suppose to come next friday to resolve there mistake. The Sales guy said that there were several different ways to wire different geothermal units and something was overlooked in this installation. Normally they push Carrier systems, Not Water Furnace systems. I've looked over the wiring schematics myself, and I can see where it specifies a Unit Power 208-230/60/1 for the compressor and an Auxilary Electirc Heat Power 208-230/60/1, What does 208-230/60/1 mean anyway? I know that 208-230 is voltage, but is the 60 hertz? and the 1? 1 Phase? Doesn't exactly say what the amp Draw is, i guess it's different for different size units? Seems strange to me to call 208-230 1 phase, isn't two 120v phases combined to make 230v? Shouldn't then be considered 2 phases and not a single Phase?



  

Wiring difference between Carrier (Climate Master) and WF in typical residential job should be negligible. 208-230 / 60 / 1 does in fact refer to the 240 nominal service you have in your home split into two 120 Vac legs. The "several different ways" to wire up a geo system in a house can be further subdivided into a single right way and multiple wrong ways.

One circuit for compressor and another for blower / aux heat is quite typical of most split systems with aux heat, including the much more common air source systems. If this mystifies your installing contractor, good luck!

TechGromit,
I'll take a shot at explaining the '60hz' term:
Picture a regular 110v duplex wall outlet. For each individual outlet in the plate, you have a round hole (ground), a long slot (neutral), and a short slot (hot). The only hole that has any electricity in it is the short slot. The long slot provides a return path for the electricity after it passes through a load (whatever is plugged into the outlet), and the ground is a safety feature.
The electricity in the short slot is what is called, "alternating current"(A/C), meaning that the short slot alternates between being negative with respect to neutral slot, and being positive with respect to the neutral slot. This switching back and forth and back again happens 60 times per second--thus, 60hz, or "60 cycles per second".

Hope that helps.
paulm

P.S. No wonder your guy is "Energy Star Certified". I bet the heat pumps he installs don't use hardly any energy at all (with the compressor disconnected)...:)

Thank you, but Actually i used to be an Electricains helper for 2 years, I understand what a Hertz is, I just wasn't familiar with 208-240/60/1 meant, I was thinking AMPS, since any equipment manufactured for the United States is 60 hertz implied. I believe europe uses 50 hertz.

Actually one thing you can enlighten me with is why Some equipment is listed as 240V, some at 220V and others at 208V.  My somewhat limited understanding of electricity (no formal schooling) says that All residential houses are supplied with two 120v single phases that can combined into a single 240v phase for heavy duty applications. Commerical power supplies two 120v phases and one 240v phase that can be combined into one 120V phase and one 240V phase for three phase applications for heavy duty commerical equipment. Some commerical Distrubution equipment is even listed at 480v, but I'm not aware of any applications that require that kind of voltage. Three phase equipment is cheaper to operate and last longer than 1 or 2 phase equipment, but I'm not sure of the exact reasons. 

So the basic question is why list things at three different voltages when in reality, the only voltage you can produce is 240v in residental applications?


 

On single phase each 120 volt line is 180 degrees out of phase and you get 240 volts , Even though you have two legs of power , it is the same phase.....
It is done with a transformer and a center tap

On three phase 120 volt , you have three distinct legs of power 120 degrees out of phase with each other . When you combine any of the two phases you get 208 volts...

If you look out on the pole at your house you will see one transformer for single phase , 120/240 volt......
If you see three tansformers out on the pole . That building will have three phase......... , 120/208 volt .......

Dave in NH

208-240/60/1 = designed to operate on a range of 208v to 240v, 60Hz, single phase..

A/C motors don't change speed with voltage like D/C motors do.

The only way to change the speed of an A/C motor is to internaly change the number of poles (some motors have a switch) or change the frequency supplied by your friendly neighborhood electric company.

So at a lower voltage they will draw more amps to run at the same speed. Going below 208v would draw too many amps. (power = volts * amps, amps = heat). the voltage rating is for mimium supply voltage or a range for supply voltages

Look for a FLA rating on the tag for Full Load Amps.

Back to your original comments, a 100ish dollar thermostat installed is a 2 or 250 dollar value with warranty.
Equipment is rated 208-230 to give us output values based on supplied electricity (which varies). We actually run closer to 240 around here.
If your guys forgot to do something, fix it and throw you a freebie for your trouble, I can't hang them for that.
J