Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Amana Heat Pump + Forced Air + Cooling / Honeywell TSAT

Programming Help Required

Hi,

I have an old Amana Heat Pump w/ AC and a backup Forced Hot Air System (Electric Furnace).

I have installed a Honeywell RTH7500D TSAT and programmed it for Multistage Conventional Heating and Cooling (2H – 1C).

Now, I’m not familiar with heating terminology but in my words I have a Thermopump with air conditioning and an electric furnace as a backup system. When I tried to program the thermostat to do so, it asks me for a changeover valve setting depending on my wires. I was confused because instead of having a O/B wire, I have a W. The wire itself was not identified but it was located on the W slot on my old thermostat (Mercury, 3 bubbles, one of cooling and 2 for heating)

Wires:
I have the following wires: R, W, W2, Y, G (24V)

Weather:
In winter it’s always below freezing point

Issue:
My Amana Heat Pump will start every 15 minutes or so and may run many minutes before some heat come through the ducts. In some rare cases, my backup heat system will start but not before many many minutes after the Heat Pump. In some cases, it might even take 30 minutes to gain 0.5 or 1 degree C in my regular bungalow.

Questions:

1) In expert terms, do I have a Multistage Conventional Heating and Cooling (2H – 1C) or I have (like I’m suppose to have) a Thermopump w/ AC and a backup Electrical Furnace?

2) If I have a Thermopump w/ AC and a backup Electrical Furnace, how do I find out if my changeover valve is in Cooling or Heating since I have no idea if my wire W is an O or a B?

3) If I have a Multistage Conventional Heating and Cooling (2H – 1C), what could cause my issue?

Other Questions:

4) Let’s say I have a Thermopump w/ AC and a backup Electrical Furnace (enabling me to program only the Electrical Furnace and shut down the Thermopump who’s running for ages without producing heat) when should I turn on the EM without busting my electrical bill?

I know this is a lot but even Honeywell is unable to help me and recommended calling an expert…. I’m now calling many experts to my rescue….

Thanks for your help

The reversing valve may be switched from the air handler in your case. I believe Amana has always used a cooling activated reversing valve which would mean the O terminal would reverse it for cooling. There is no way to tell without knowing the terminals at the heat pump and air handler. If you could get those we may be able to help.

OK, how do I locate this terminal on my unit?

Take the cover off and follow the tstat wires to where they terminate.