Ok, I just put the thermometer in the vent.

heat pump = electric?

9/5/2008 2:03:00 PM

not really you can have electric heat on a DX unit too.

9/5/2008 2:05:24 PM

It was built in 2007 if that helps any. Never heard of dx before.

9/5/2008 2:09:30 PM

weather.com says it is 80 today and it is 70 inside my home. I cranked the ac down to 50 and then threw in the thermometer. Will that be an ok test?

9/5/2008 2:11:02 PM

Your house is already pretty cool. I think you might get better results letting the house warm up a bit then getting your measurements (I could be wrong here).

Simply do this: Record the temperature when the air comes out of the vent in your room. Record the air temperature as the air goes into the return (the box with the filter). Tell us your results.

You can do this in 5 minutes.

[Edited on September 5, 2008 at 2:22 PM. Reason : .]

9/5/2008 2:22:45 PM

The air coming out of the vent is 49 and air going into the return is 66.

9/5/2008 3:25:42 PM

Well, your thermastat is obviously off a few degrees, but you are getting more than 15 degrees split. I think that is reasonable. Looks like the unit is doing its job to transfer heat out of the air.

More questions...

Is the downstairs and upstairs stat set at the same temp? How many returns do you have in your house? When the house has cooling problems, does it have a harder time holding the upstairs setpoint that the downstairs set point?

Does the airflow coming out of the vents seem sufficient?

9/5/2008 3:44:05 PM

I usually set the upstairs a few degree cooler.
I have two returns, one upstairs, one downstairs.
The upstairs has a harder time but I assume that is b/c heat rises.
The airflow seems sufficient but I don't have anything to compare it against.

9/5/2008 3:50:41 PM

The one upstairs has a harder time because if it does make the space 2 degrees cooler all the air drains downstairs and it has to start all over again..

9/5/2008 4:03:52 PM

yeah, that is why I keep the upstairs cooler, that is what I was told to do

9/5/2008 4:07:50 PM

if you did it the other way around... the air would stay where it is put...

the upstairs is going to be slightly hotter no matter how you have the t-stat set. so if you set the t-stat slightly hotter... the air stays where it was meant to go.

9/5/2008 4:11:01 PM

But isn't it a waste to keep it lower downstairs when I am upstairs on day?

9/5/2008 4:33:54 PM

^ Only if you over do it. Remember, buoyancy dictates that it the air upstairs is colder (more dense) it's going to sink downstairs and the warmer air downstairs (less dense) is going to float it's way upstairs. Don't try to fight thermodynamics too much. You'll just be wasting money.

9/5/2008 4:38:04 PM