Air Conditioning - Trane XV95 and XR13 3.5 Ton Short Cycling?

Hello everyone. I reside in Western NY and in August '07 had a new Trane XV95 Variable Speed 100,000 BTU unit installed, along with a 3.5 TON XR13 Trane Condensor, CleanEffects, TCONT 800 SEries T-Stat, and all the Bells and Whistles. My house is approx 1800 Square Feet, maybe a bit more including the finished 3rd floor attic, which we use for an office. It was built in 1926, and is mostly un-insulated except for approx 2/3 of the first floor which we've remodeled. When I had the install quoted last year, 2 of the 3 contractors sized the units at 100,000 BTU and 3.5 TON A/C. The other had 80,000 and 3 TON. The house heats well in the winter with no problems. My question is with regards to the A/C. We havn't had the oppertunity to use it much in the past year, however these last 3 days its been on around the clock. It seems the unit is cooling the house quite nicely, even during the past couple 91 dgeree days with the tstat set at 71, it gets the job done. The house feels cool and it feels like the humidity is being removed nicely. The second floor is a bit warmer / humid, but nothing major, and I'm sure this is to be expected from any system. Last night while watching TV, I kept hearing the T-Stat click and Condensor start-up, and started timing the cycles. The outdoor air temp was 79.8 degrees and the thermostat was set at 71. This was at dusk, no direct sunlight. The condensor cycled as follows: on for 12 minutes, off for 10, on for 12, off for 12, onn for 12, off for 12, etc.. Is this normal operation for such a unit under these conditions, or would this be considered "short-cycling" and is the unit perhaps oversized..:confused: Thanks!!

Sounds like an average cycling time considering the fact that it's an older house with not much of an R-Factor. I wouldn't worry. Just keep your filters clean and you'll be fine.

I agree with HVAC. What you really have is a Honeywell VisionPro 8000 sold by Trane as a Trane product.

For now let it go. If you wish you could change the allowed condenser cycles per hour in the stat program.

You have a very good stat there, very tight control.

I agree with HVAC. What you really have is a Honeywell VisionPro 8000 sold by Trane as a Trane product.

For now let it go. If you wish you could change the allowed condenser cycles per hour in the stat program.

You have a very good stat there, very tight control.


Thanks for the replies guys! This thermostat really wasnt all that much more than the standard one they quoted, so I went with it for the larger LCD display. It is an 802 Series, and the model # on the one they installed is TCONT802AS32DAA. This is equivalent to a Honeywell VisionPro 8000 series? As long as those condensor cyclesseem normal to everyone, I wont mess with the timing in the stat, I just didnt know what "short-cycling" was exactly, and thought I'd ask. With regards to the second floor not cooling well, and speaking of the tight control on the tstat, I was thinking about adding an indoor remote temp sensor upstairs, as I originally thought the thermostat would average the 2 temps, but then I discovered it will use the remote signal only, unless multiple remote sensors are used, which might not be very efficient. Any ideas?

Remodel the 2nd floor and add insulation.

Short cycling is on, off, on, off in 2 to 5 minutes.

If you add a remote upstairs the 1st floor may get too cold.