Heating problem

[meadows]

Hi all

First of all sorry if this is in the wrong area I'm only new, please feel free to move me :)


We have a Airwell (http://www.airwell.com.au/) reverse ducted system in our house and have recently encounted a heating problem.

As of late it has been quite cold where we live (1 degree or even down to -2 degrees) (remember we are in Australia...) and when we have the heater on it isn't heating anywhere near as what it was a month ago.

Also the unit runs for 20 mins approx and then turns off for some reason and then turns on again. We only turn the heating on in one room but this still doesn't seem to help.

Is it because its so cold outside the unit can't heat up the air as fast or is there a problem with our unit or do settings need to be changed.

We think the unit is under a year old as well which was installed by the previous owners of our house.

Hope some one can help as its getting very chilly now ;)

[NoNickName]

The unit is probably trying to defrost the remote evaporator, as such it stops ventilating for few minutes. When defrost ends, it starts over heating cycle once again.

For the heating, it all depends on the actual capacity of the heater, and the colder the air the less effective the electric heater

[Toosh]

Hi Meadows If you have a heat pump heating your house the lower the ambient temp ie (the oustside air temp) a heat pump loses its capaicity to heat your home to over come this it is wise to add heaters to your system

Regards Toosh

[frank]

It may also be short of gas, a common cause of poor heating capacity and stopping after a short period of operation then resetting (klixon)

[meadows]

Cheers for the replies, it does sound like it is defrosting the evaporator so I'm thinking the ambient air is too cold for it. Other than building a tent around the unit is their any other way to get the unit heating better in colder temps.

By the way love the avatar frank!!!

[NoNickName]

Cheers for the replies, it does sound like it is defrosting the evaporator so I'm thinking the ambient air is too cold for it. Other than building a tent around the unit is their any other way to get the unit heating better in colder temps.

By the way love the avatar frank!!!


Move it our of the shadow in full sun, to get as much heat as possible. Other than optimising the refrigerant charge, as somebody else suggested, no there's nothing else you can do.

[Tiger 05]

SEems like a pretty new fandangle unit which probably cycles your indoor and out door fans to regulate pressures and thus keeping the supply temp pretty constant.

Your defrost cycle could also be set to cycle to soon

Quick question are your filters clean ?

Dosen't sound like to big a porblem but without real temps and pressures and seeing it operate it is difficult.

[nick_nst@aapt.n]

After the unit has been running for 20 minutes in these cold temps go outside and check the condenser coil and see if there is any ice on it.
Also when the unit goes onto de-ice the indoor fan should turn off by rights while the system is on de-ice.
If there is ice on the coil it should remove it and turn back to normal operation.
It also might be a good idea to check the unit on heating when the ambient temp has risen to about 10 degrees + if it still dos'nt operate there is definately a problem with the unit.Without knowing temps and pressures it's a bit dificult to establish fault.
The unit should still be under warrantyif it's only 1 year old and is being used in a house.Find the contact people who sell the unit and give them the model and serial number of the unit and it should be covered under warranty.

NICK