The interior fan should be checked and maintained by your furance maintenance man, whether it be oil, gas, or electric.A loose belt, worn bushing, dirty motor, dirty squirrel cage, all affect the quantity of air being pushed.The most common problem I come accross is a dirty cage or blower system, dirt on the vanes of the blower cage greatly reduce the ability of the blower system. Unless you understand or are very handy, the blower and motor should be serviced by a qualified technician.
As a homeowner there is one thing that should be done at least once every two months minimum, and that is the cleaning or replacement of your furnace air filter. About twenty percent of service complaints dealing with not enough heat or cooling are caused by dirty filters. Homeowners don't realize how much a dirty filter can affect their heating consumption! It is not pleasant for a service tech to be called out at night for nothing more than a clogged air filter, nor is it for the client who has been warned there will be a service charge even though he has a service contract and the cause was due to his/her neglect. Clients always say or seem skeptical when told to check their air filter about their lack of heat or cooling, to them it dosen't seem possible that such a minor thing as the filter is the cause of their problem and end up learning the hard way when presented with a bill!
After twenty-three years in the field it still amazes me how many times a clogged filter is all the is wrong! So remember the cleaning of your air filter can be compared to the oil change in your car. Do you neglect your car's motor, No! So don't neglect your furnace filter!
In my opinion there are four points which should be understood by any heat pump owner or potential buyer, which will greatly affect the satisfaction of their heat pump purchase.
The first is research, understand what a heat pump does, and understand it's limitations. A heat pump is not a furnace, a furnaces gives the same heat output all the time, a heat pump does not! A heat pump basically extracts heat from the outdoor air and pumps it into the house. Naturally as the outdoor air temperature gets colder, the heat the heat pump can recuperate is less and less, till we reach a point where it is no longer feasible to run the unit. The balance point for a heat pump is around 1C or 35F exterior temperature. This basically means above the balance point the heat pump can extract enough heat to be able to actually heat the indoor air. Obviously since the efficiency is relative to exterior air temperature, the heat pump will give more heat at 7C than 1C.
Anything below the balance point the heat pump no longer heats, but tries to maintain the asking temperature with help from your principal heating source whether it be oil, gas, or electric.Once we reach -12C/-15C the heat, the heat pump extracts is not enough to justify operating the unit and it should shut down transfering all heating demand to yuor main heat source.
Remember a heat pump is not a furnace nor a furnace substitute, it has limitations which should be understood by all heat pump owners.
The second and third points are and should be accessed by your installers at installation. Is the existing furnace and duct system capable of handling a heat pump system, are they undersized, dirty, not enough hot air vents, return air vents. Remember a good installer will point out anything not quite up to par and explain how the client can remedy the situation. He should also check the existing fan system to make sure it is clean and able to handle an add on heat pump system. The system should be installed to code, respecting all good refrigeration techniques, as keeping all copper tubing clean and dry and most importantly a proper vacuum on the system before startup.
The last point is the control system, which dictates how the heat pump will function. Electronic thermostats are more precise and efficient, the system should also be installed with outdoor sensors, as to not allow the furnace to come on if the outdoor temperature is above 1C and to allow the furnace permission below 1C and finally to cut out the heat pump below -12C.
Alot of times homeowners will see prices vary between 600 to 800 dollars for the same machine from different contractors. This is because the lower the price probably means no outdoor sensors or fuel fossil kit. For the lower price you basically get the heat pump and thermostat which means the system will not function as it should according to outdoor temperature.
Effectively when a client complains about being unsatisfied about his heat pump. It is usually not the heat pump, but more likely that one or more of the four points explained above were not respected! Think about it , how can one homeowner own the exact same heat pump as another, One be totally satisfied while the other totally unsatisfied. Do they both understand how a heat pump works, are both interior fans clean, or have undersized ducts, does one have proper controls while the other not!
After 23 years working in the field, I may of come across a lemon or two, but for the most part an unsatisfied owner of a heat pump, in one who hasn't met all four points for a good system install! If you have any questions about your heating or cooling system, please send me an email, I'd be glad to try and help! EMAIL: Ent.J.L.Inc@gmail.com
