Thanks to all for your advise... I have been in Toronto for the past couple of days and as far as can tell from speaking to my wife, the gethermal unit has kept up to the 72F demand without the Aux heaters so I'm hoping that it will continue. We have been monitoring the unit and it turns on for 45 minutes until 72F is reached and turns off for about 30-40 minutes until the temp drops to 70F. That has been the consistent cycle.

Posted By ICFHybrid on 18 Jan 2011 11:37 PM

he stated that my particular model will call for Aux Heat when the temp drop 2 degrees F below the requested temp (for example if we are asking 72 F then the Aux Heaters will come on if the temp reaches 70 F)

Doesn't the main board have an Aux Heat Delay built in, or is the thermostat you have capable of overriding that?

Don't know but will look into it... thanks!

Posted By KimKong on 20 Jan 2011 04:06 PM
I have been in Toronto for the past couple of days and as far as can tell from speaking to my wife, the gethermal unit has kept up to the 72F demand without the Aux heaters so I'm hoping that it will continue. We have been monitoring the unit and it turns on for 45 minutes until 72F is reached and turns off for about 30-40 minutes until the temp drops to 70F. That has been the consistent cycle.

Was the thermostat replaced yet?

Not being able to look at the GSHP in the field due to distance and without reading all the posts it sound like your ground exchanger (loop field) is to small and possible pump sizing issues it sounds like you are not getting enough transfer between the ground exchanger and and the refridgerant circiut in the GSHP causing the high pressure in the compressor causing it to draw excessive amps and "go out" into a lock out for equipement saftey and then rolling over to 3rd stage heat which is your resitive electric heat causing excessive heat bills and also why it is not cooling in the summer (running all the time due improper loop design). A consumer can read what the Mfg. specs, but there is a lot more into the design of the system like ground conditions, pump sizing, and e-calc (energy calc. for the home). If your intial installer did it right they should be able to supply you with all this info.As for the T-stat it also needs to be set up for proper GSHP operation a consumer wants more than 3 degrees into when the unit starts and stops to keep the GSHP from short cycling (stopping and starting) of the system. You should get a 3rd party with out any bias to look into your system design. I recommend somebody that is IGSHPA (International Groud Source Heat Pump Association) certified. You should be able to go to your Electic company and they should be able to come out and isolate the unit with a meter for an extended period of time and be able to tell how much the system itself is drawing in electricity hence therefore insuring that the GSHP is the source of the high electricty bills without having to shut everything else off in the house.

Posted By geome on 20 Jan 2011 04:34 PM

Posted By KimKong on 20 Jan 2011 04:06 PM
I have been in Toronto for the past couple of days and as far as can tell from speaking to my wife, the gethermal unit has kept up to the 72F demand without the Aux heaters so I'm hoping that it will continue. We have been monitoring the unit and it turns on for 45 minutes until 72F is reached and turns off for about 30-40 minutes until the temp drops to 70F. That has been the consistent cycle.

Was the thermostat replaced yet?

Not yet... he had to order one so we are still using the old thermostat with the 2 degree swing. The system is working very good now and we are averaging a 4 to 7 KWh per hour for the whole house.

Promising news everyone... we have been averaging -20°C for the past day and the geothermal unit is keeping up to the 72F demand without using Aux Heaters (because they are still disconnected waiting for the new thermostat).

The compressor is running for 45 minutes then shutting down for about 30 minutes.

My electricity consumption has dropped considerable to 4-7 Kwh per hour for the entire house. My total daily electricity consumption should be around 96-140 Kwh which is much more reasonable.

Thank you for all of your help... I will continue to monitor the situation and provide a final report when the thermostat has been replaced, the AUX heaters have been reconnected and I am happy with the results.

When the new thermostat is installed, tell the installer you want to keep the installation manual as well as the operator/user manual. Let us know the make and complete model number so we can help you with the settings.

Posted By geome on 22 Jan 2011 02:50 PM
When the new thermostat is installed, tell the installer you want to keep the installation manual as well as the operator/user manual. Let us know the make and complete model number so we can help you with the settings.

I certainly will and thanks for your help!

Kim