Standing Column Help Needed

Some Waterfurnace Term.'s?

I have a two stage WaterFurnace (064), using thermostat TA32W01.

So I think this is what the following means.

When Heating: Stage 1 Heating normally using geo. loop.
Stage 2 Heating using using the second stage of the compressor?? also geo. loop.

Emer: Emergency, this is when the electric heating elements kick in????
This would happen if my loop temps were to low to pull heat from, like 20 degrees, or if the loop pump went out the furnace would continue with the electric heat.

It is a pain in the butt to understand what means what due to the fact the both the furnace and the thermostat determine wha the user sees.

Thanks,

Thackery

 

I have the TP32W02 thermostat and I see the following:
Stage1 on display = Stage 1 geo
Stage1+Stage2 on display = Stage 2 geo
Stage1+Stage2 (blinking) on display = Stage 2 + aux heat has engaged (or would if I had it plugged in).

I also have the zone control unit and it has additional idiot lights that also tell me what level of heat is being called for.

 

emergancy heat

Do yourself a favor and disconect your emergancy/supplemental heat and find out what the balance point for your system is based on outdoor temp.
When you have this info you can forecast when your electric heat will be killing you. Also many thermostats are set up to fire the supplemental heat strip to close a degree difference of "x". Again you spend money.

I have a balance point issue with my system, it is to high. I have started paying attention to the forecast and when it is going to be cold I preheat the house the evening before, so that it will not have to struggle the next morning to make temrature.
Eric

 

Good Stuff

Ok, some great info to know.

I was worried that when I saw stg1+2 come on I was already using the electric heat.

If you disconnect the electric heat coil, which I think I can find pretty easily, is there anything else you need to do?? I would think the system would see that the electric coil was not in service and a light would go into trouble code mode.

You also said that you watched the forecast for cold coming on. What is the point when your furnace calls for the electric coil??

It would be great if someone with some experience could compile a good chart with the most popular furnaces and thermostats, with there messages and an explanation. If that post could be saved as a permanent post at the top of the forum it would cut the questions in half.

Reading a users manual does not adequately explain many of the thermostat messages.

Thanks for all the info so far.

Thackery

 

This is great idea.

Thanks for the tip.

 

Shutting off the auxillary is easy. It is basically flipping one of the dip switches on the board. SW-2 number 5 I believe. Your manual has the exact location to confirm. You can't throw the breaker to the element as it will drop power to the entire unit.

The thermostat will flash stage +2 asking for electric element heat but it will not go into an error.

I have found that it is best to keep the thermostat on a comfortable number, maybe dropping it down 1-2 degrees at night, but any more and it will jump into stage 2 in the morning.

 

rw1995, are you saying that stg 2 is the electric coil??
I currently think that stg1 +2 is geo. not using the electric heater, is that correct???

I'm still trying to determine if my furnace has ever used the electric coil or not.

THanks,

Thackery

 

I think that the TP32W02 is made by White Rodgers. Do you happen to know the White Rodgers Model #?

 

thermostat White Rogers #

My thermostat #TA32W01, is a White Rogers Type No. 1F83-277 (on sticker inside or front cover)

Thackery

 

stage 2 is o k

If you cut off the dip switch for aux heat it will never go into electric heat stage two is just fine and your system should do that often if it doesn't you paid way to much for a larger system than you needed. in the summer mine will run stage 2, 5-10% of the time and in the winter 50-60% of the time I have very low bills. If you cut off the switch you can cut your heat down or even off while you are at work and when you have it set for your return it will run on stage 2. to get you back up to temp. Many people think that their system is not efficient in second stage because of how the systems are tested for efficiency by the gov. They test stage one with 41 degree incoming water and then use 32 degree water for stage 2 in the real world my water is about the same temperature and so is my efficiency.

 

I think that if +2 is blinking then you are on aux heat or 3rd stage.

 

The White Rodgers # is 1f95-1271 for the TP32W02.

 

I would expect that it will be very similar to mine which has the words "Stage1+Stage2" blinking when a call for the aux heat is made.

 

Thanks .

 

Stage 1 and Stage 2

We have had a geothermal water furnace (Envision) for going on 2 years. We have had a few problems. The installer replaced a pump yesterday. There are 2 pumps. Our thermastat indicated "Fault" about a week ago, and we have been told repeatedly, that the electricity is sensitive so shut off the electricity at the main panel and then turn it back on. This usually works. But last week it just kept going to "Fault". So I am guessing we were running entirely on electric heat for a week before the installer finally came out and replaced the pump. He said it was covered by warranty so that was good. After he replaced the pump, the thermastat indicated "Stage 1 + 2" for about 24 hours. Now it is just indicating "Stage 1". Can someone explain what Stage 1 and Stage 2 mean? Also, we noticed that the 50 gallow hot water tank is extremely hot right now (the cold water pipe going into the water tank is hot to touch and of course the the hot water pipe coming out of the furnace and into the water tank is hot to touch as well). The water tank is an A O Smith electric tank that is not plugged in since it is used just hold the hot water generated by geothermal? We also have a Rinnai tankless water heater with a 7 gallon recirculating pump. (The elelment in the recirculating pump went out about 6 months ago and we paid a plumber to come fix that. Not sure why that failed just a little over a year after installation. Another story). Also,the Envision indicator light for "DHW HI LIMIT" is flashing. The manual states that the temperature leaving the unit is above 130 degrees and that this is not a fault condition.

 

Your Envision is a two stage unit - stage 1 is 70% of full power and stage 1+stage2 means full power. It apparently took 24 hours to get your home back up to temperature after service work and now stage 1 is all that is needed to maintain comfort.

All that full power operation generated enough hot water via the desuperheater so that your preheat tank is now full of 130+ degree water, and for burn safety, the system won't continue heating domestic water above that temperature. It'll check every few minutes and restart desuperheating once the preheat tank temperature drops below 130.

Sounds like all is working well now - I hope that continues.

 

Stage 1 and Stage 2 ?

Thanks.

Does Stage 1 use geothermal?
Does Stage 2 use geothermal and electric?
I understand that "Fault" was entirely electric.

We are trying to understand how to best use our geothermal so as to reduce our electric bill.

 

Stage 1 uses the geothermal system running at about 70% of full capacity
Stage 2 uses the geothermal system running at 100% capacity
Stage 3 (Stage 1+2 and flashing) add electric resistance coils to get extra capacity in high demand situations.

To add to this:

The following numbers are for my system to give you a frame of reference.

Running in Stage 1 I consume 66/1000 kwh of energy per minute or 3.960 kw per hour (if it is running the entire hour).
Running in Stage 2 I consume 90/1000 kwh of energy per minute or 5.400 kw per hour (if it is running the entire hour).
Running in Stage 3 (adding electric coils). I don't allow my electric resistance coils to run (i.e. they are unplugged) so the numbers are the same as Stage 2.

 

If third stage included your aux heat, your consumption would increase to about 15 kw per hour assuming you have a 10 kw aux heater.

 

Which is why I leave my resistance coils unplugged. I will be connecting a switch to the line soon so I can easily enable/disable the coils if I need them. To bad the systems don't come with that switch already in place.