Hi All, I’ve been a lurker here for a few months and just this week got a Waterfurnace 5 Series 4 ton unit installed. The installers got me up on my loops late Friday afternoon in the day and will return next week to complete the installation (buffer tank, humidifier, air cleaner etc). I’ve been reading all I can across the forums about how geo systems are meant to maintain a constant temperature and not to use drastic setbacks etc. I opted to get the AXB board and the color TPCC32U01 communicating thermostat (Waterfurnace special) and have turned off the schedule and set the unit for a constant 70 degrees. I have noticed that about 30 seconds after the unit kicks on for heat in stage 1, the second stage kicks on almost immediately. This seems like a bad thing after all the reading I have done (and a waste of money). Knowing that this is almost certainly a function of the thermostat I got the book out and started checking settings. I looked at the installer pages and found that the Differential is set to .5 at stage 1, 2 and AUX heat (the default). This seems like a bad thing. I left stage 1 set at .5, moved stage 2 to 2 degrees and AUX Heat to 4 degrees. This seems to have solved the stage 2 issue. I also set the Smart Heat Staging to a 60-minute delay. The unit seems to be operating fine in 1st stage mode and keeps the house nice and toasty. It still goes to stage 2 if I up the temp 2 degrees. Are there any other tweaks that need to be done to make me more energy efficient? Thanks in advance! J

As you have surmised, there are many ways to set up a thermostat. 1/2 degree intervals are what we would call comfort vs economy settings. Generally speaking the more "droop" (difference between set point and actual temp.) you permit the less it will cost to run your system.

I would bump up the stage 1 differential to at least 1 deg F to reduce cycling of the unit and save more $ in energy costs.

Posted By arkie6 on 20 Jan 2013 12:33 PM
I would bump up the stage 1 differential to at least 1 deg F to reduce cycling of the unit and save more $ in energy costs.

Done.1st stage now at 1 degree, 2nd stage at 2 degrees and Aux heat at 4 degrees. I've also set the fan to intermittent with a run time of 15 minutes and an off time of 40 minutes to try and circulate the air when the unit doesn't run for an hour. It's 52 degrees now in south central PA, but a cold front is expected shortly and we are expecting lows in the low teens the next few days. Can't wait to see how the unit performs.

We do not recommend the "circulate" fan setting. The added starts and stops of the blower motor will shorten it's life. Just leave it in the auto mode, or if you want the circulation, leave it on.

Bergy