Ben H Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 I tell you, I will never, ever, ever, buy a Goodman - anything. My little brick ranch has a Goodman HP. I bought the place when it was 13 months old, and have lived here for 7 years. So the unit is roughly 8 yrs old. I've replaced in the past 5 years the Outside Fan, Inside Fan, Fan relay...grrr. Now, my wife is asking when she turns the thermostat up a few degrees (i.e. 68---70) the thermo reads AUX heat ON. [:-censore I've not checked the to see if the coils are firing up or not, but the outside fan is coming on. Besides checking to see if the coils really are powering up, what else would cause this? Faulty Thermostat? [:-headach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Some of the systems are designed to have the aux kick in when the thermostat is turned up. It does it to help the system catch up. If you bump it up one degree at a time with a few minutes in between it might prevent the aux from being utilized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 . . . Now, my wife is asking when she turns the thermostat up a few degrees (i.e. 68---70) the thermo reads AUX heat ON. [:-censore I've not checked the to see if the coils are firing up or not, but the outside fan is coming on. Besides checking to see if the coils really are powering up, what else would cause this? Faulty Thermostat? [:-headach As John said, that's how it's supposed to work. Just turn it up one degree at a time if you don't want the aux heat to fire up. I don't much care for Goodman stuff either, but the aux heat is supposed to kick on when there's more than 2 degrees difference between the indoor temperature and the thermostat setting. Some thermostats will let you adjust this, by the way. What kind of stat is it? - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bain Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I replaced a system last year with a Goodman, 'cause it was inexpensive and came with a 10-year parts AND labor warranty. No problems to date, but when the condenser fires up, it sounds as if it's 20 years old rather than nearly new, and not just because of the spirals doing their things. Sorry about all the bad luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben H Posted February 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Well....the t-stat is not new, 3-4 yrs old. She's the one who always adjust the temp, and it's never shown that before. That made me think something may be wrong. The system as a whole really is sh!t. My house is never really comfortable. I'm 110% certain the install is crap, the unit is too small/crap, and I can't afford a new one right now. As is life.... [:-headach It's a Honeywell RTH7500...I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbinspect Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Yes indeed.. Richmond is Goodman country (not saying that's good or bad, but probably one out of every five heat pumps here is a Goodman). They seem to hang with the pack. But, as has been said here, there is usually only about a two to three degree offset between "heat pump" and "Aux heat". One thing that has changed over the years, which is kinda cool - it used to be that when the Aux heat came on, the condensing unit shut down. Nowadays, the condensing unit tends to keep running, so the electric resistance heat has truly become supplemental heat and not a separate backup heating system, unless the condensing unit craps out. At least that's how it appear to me. I'm sure if I'm wrong I'll hear about it momentarily. Heat pumps have come a long LONG way in the last twenty-five years or so. Funny thing regarding brands - if you ask ten HVAC guys which brand they hate, you'll get answers all over the place. I used to ask, and had to stop, no consistant answer came up. It was wierd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Kienitz Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Don't hesitate to call the Goodman corporate offices in Houston, TX. They have been most helpful when I've reached out to them. I might also have an e-mail address for one of their upper level folks if you like. I had my complete HVAC system replaced 1-1/2 years ago with their Amana line. I'm very pleased with their product and it's performance. Since they took the company back "private" they cranked up QC seriously and bend over backwards. As noted they have one of the best warranties in the group of HVAC companies these days. John B. - That condenser should not be quite that loud. About 5+ years ago thee was a series of units off the production line that was crazy loud on start-up. The debugged the problem, fixed it and were fixing units in the field, but the homeowner needed to call the local installer and it was incumbent on him (installer) to follow through. Some did and some did not. The local installer is key to any of the HVAC installations and maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Well....the t-stat is not new, 3-4 yrs old. She's the one who always adjust the temp, and it's never shown that before. That made me think something may be wrong. The system as a whole really is sh!t. My house is never really comfortable. I'm 110% certain the install is crap, the unit is too small/crap, and I can't afford a new one right now. As is life.... [:-headach It's a Honeywell RTH7500...I think. As much as I dislike Goodman, the problems you're describing are related to a crappy installation, not a crappy product. Part of the problem with Goodman is that the brand seems to attract the lowball bottom-feeder installers. You might be able to tweak the aux on setting in the installer set up menu for that thermostat. Check the instructions here: http://www.honeywellcentral.com/ssi/pdf ... Manual.pdf - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plummen Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Some of the systems are designed to have the aux kick in when the thermostat is turned up. It does it to help the system catch up. If you bump it up one degree at a time with a few minutes in between it might prevent the aux from being utilized. What kind of stat and who was it installed by?My auxilary heat does not come on till its 25 or below outside,unless i set stat to emerg heat. In my experiance most issues come down to how things are installed,no matter what trade it is. Goodman has come a long ways since the janijunk/junkitrol days,look inside any brand of furnace and chances are very good you will see most of the same brand names on parts. Youre paying for a name on a metal box and a heat exchanger,i spent many years in building trades thank god im retired now! [:-slaphap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bain Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Don't hesitate to call the Goodman corporate offices in Houston, TX. They have been most helpful when I've reached out to them. I might also have an e-mail address for one of their upper level folks if you like. I had my complete HVAC system replaced 1-1/2 years ago with their Amana line. I'm very pleased with their product and it's performance. Since they took the company back "private" they cranked up QC seriously and bend over backwards. As noted they have one of the best warranties in the group of HVAC companies these days. John B. - That condenser should not be quite that loud. About 5+ years ago thee was a series of units off the production line that was crazy loud on start-up. The debugged the problem, fixed it and were fixing units in the field, but the homeowner needed to call the local installer and it was incumbent on him (installer) to follow through. Some did and some did not. The local installer is key to any of the HVAC installations and maintenance. Thanks, Nolan. I'll look into it. I had my gal manipulate the thermostat while I stood outside near the condenser. The racket comes from the compressor and not the fan. The person who installed the system is a close friend. I'll ring him up and see what he says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben H Posted February 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I installed the t-stat years ago. I'm not saying I'm 100% certain it's correct, but I, or the wife, have ever noticed the Aux icon before. And with the tract record I've had with the unit, I automatically thought something else has gone wrong. I was thinking that aux heat kicked in past a 4 degree bump in the t-stat. While I can't be certain, I'd have put money on it. I'll do some testing today and post back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have a 5 year old Goodman system in my home and it works fine. The case on the condenser unit is what makes most of the racket with my unit. I replaced most of the screws on the outside cabinet and I bet that reduced the racket by 75%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plummen Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Try standing 10' away from a York condensing unit or heat pump sometime,sounds like an empty dumptruck running down a gravel road! [:-monkeyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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