In this month’s troubleshooting situation your customer is requesting a second opinion on a proposed repair to their air-source heat pump. The homeowner originally called for service when they noticed that the house wasn’t cooling down as they would like.
Bob and Tim were at a no cooling call, the first of the year. They turned the thermostat to cooling and put it on a low setting so the heat pump would come on and stay on. They went to the outdoor unit and felt the leaving air and the piping and Tim said, “The unit is running in the heating mode. I wonder what is going on?”
Bob and Tim were on their way to a service call at a store that has a frozen heat pump outdoor unit. It is late in the season and the customer called and said, “Our outdoor unit is frozen solid with ice.” After they arrived and talked to the owner, Bob said, “Let’s put the unit through a forced defrost.”
Bob and Tim were on their way to a service call on a heat pump. The homeowners are complaining about noise at the outdoor unit. When Bob and Tim arrived, the homeowners explained that the heat pump for upstairs is beside the house in a wooded area. It is under their upstairs bedroom window and it became loud last night.
Bob and Tim were on their way to a service call where the customer is complaining about a high power bill. She said the heat pump that they use for their heat is running all the time and their power bill is really high.
Bob and Tim were on their way to a no cooling call; in fact, it sounded like a heating call. The customer has a bonus room on the third floor that used to be attic space. When Bob and Tim arrived, the customer told them, “The bonus room upstairs seems much too hot and the air coming out of the registers is hot to the touch.”
This month’s troubleshooting situation involves an air-to-air package unit heat pump that is approximately six years old, and the customer’s complaint is that, rather than providing cooling, it’s just blowing warm air.
Bob and Tim have gotten together for another informational session. Tim requested some extra after-hours training about heat pumps. In their last session, they talked about heat pump mechanical problems. This time they discuss electrical problems.
In this month’s troubleshooting problem, we have a customer who can only tell us that the equipment that serves their small office “isn’t working.” When you arrive, you confirm that the building temperature is far from the thermostat set point even though the indoor fan motor is operating normally and the return air filter is clean.
