Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - it's cold in here!

I've got a Trane XE800 High efficiency heat pump. It was installed in 1991. Every year until now the heat in the house was OK. Now, with the temps outside in the teens and low 20's, the house only gets up to about 63 degrees. Auxilliary heat is kicked in whenever temps are below 25 degrees. Wife and kids complaining. Can anybody tell me a few things to check and if this is normal?

pecos

If you need extra heat, turn the t-stat to emg heat.

What does the coil like like outside??

do you have an outdoor sensor to turn off the heat pump when it gets too cold the temp it past the unit's balance point?

It sounds to me like you have lost a couple of your electric coil elements in your aux heat package, they are fairly inexpensive, you need a tech to check for bad coils and replace as needed to get your heat pump back to normal operation. Not that it really matters but the coil package is rated at kw you may have 5wk to 25 kw heat coil package, the tech can fix you up in just a few minutes. Now of course if you have some extra disposable income you might want to go ahead and install one of the nice new high efficiency heat pumps as they are light years ahead of what you have now (it was high efficiency 14 years ago but now considered a energy hog!) If no extra cash and unit otherwise functions well replace the burned out elements and enjoy. Good Luck

How do you set the Thermostate to ER Heat?
I can not find it on my Tstat?

what kind of tee stat do you have and are you sure they put a heat strip in unit because if they did there should be a ER on stat to turn on the strips . you might what to look into it and see if they did put a heat strip in it . you might want to call a tech out to check it out .

Must not be any heat strip, would this be on the unit outside then?
No ER mode on my Tstat. Mine is a digital push button

T stat says totaline ??

Heat, Air and Fan only.

Would a heat strip be covering the unit outside like a wrap?

What is used for Aux heat in your home??

Pecos,

Have you verified that compressor at outside unit is operating at these low temps? If so ,then I agree that you may have burned out heat strips. Is thermostat setpoint and inside room temp maintained when outside temp is at or above freezing?

I just think you should check compressor operation first and then go from there if that is ruled out.

You should be aware that your heat pump is close to the end of a unit's average life. I would not recommend any expensive repair-look at a new high eff HP system including var speed air handler.

My opinion.

Yes, the compressor is working. The blower is working and blowing lukewarm to cool air. I just flipped the switch to emergency heat this morning. Will that help if there are coils burned out? Also, if the coils are the problem, could anyone give me a ballpark figure on replacement costs of the coils? I'm a concrete contractor so money this time of year is scarce. Is it something I could do myself? Thanks!

Pecos

Sorry Peco I got in the middle of your post.
Same problem here with me.

I have no Aux heat. Heat pump is 3 1/2 years old and freezing up outside at unit. There is no ER tstat setting on mine. I found no sensor outside on the unit either. Unit was froze 80% this morning when I got up.
This unit is suppose to defrost on its own, correct?
With the temps at 12-15 last night, I do not see this thing defrosting for several days.

?

A guy is coming over this AM to look at it. Over the phone he said possibly a freon leak. Does this sound plausible? I did have a leak years ago, and haven't had it looked at since. Looking back, the A/C seemed a bit warmer this year, but not enough that I was concerned.

Pecos

OK, after looking at it this morning and testing wires with meter, the guy said he thinks it probably is burned out coils. He said he'd check on parts avaivilabiltiy and call me back. I told him I'd go get the parts if that would expedite things. He then suggested that if I got the parts, I could probably do it myself as it wasn't that hard. I told him I'd prefer that he did it because I don't know crap about this type of thing. However, if it's really simple I may try it. What do you think?

Pecos

Your best bet is probably to replace the entire aux heat package. It is simply a set of electric resistance heat coils mounted to a face panel that slides into the supply duct inside the unit, it is probably fastened with about 6 sheet metal screws. Take the old piece with you to make sure everything matches up (double check before leaving with the new piece). These are typically very easy to get in and out. I would match mark the wires so you can hook the new one back up exactly as the old one.

the guy said he thinks it probably is burned out coils.
Pecos

Pecos,

I don't mean to be skeptical but what kind of idiotic statement is that. I hope your tech is properly trained.

Good LucK!

Guy called back, can't get parts due to everyone here (suppliers and contractors) being swamped with calls. New guy (from a much bigger outfit) coming over now. I'll let you know what he says.

Pecos