Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing - Advice, Discussion and Tips from ARS®/Rescue Rooter®. Welcome to the ARS/Rescue Rooter Home Connect, your online resource center for information, answers and interactive advice about air conditioning, heating, plumbing and drain maintenance. As part of our commitment to providing exceptional service, we created the ARS/Rescue Rooter Home Connect to be a useful tool with many helpful ways to find what you need.
My home has a gas furnace that heats the basement and main floor, and an electric heat pump for the upstairs (both installed by ARS when the home was built in 2005). I have two questions regarding heating during the winter: Is it normal for the upstairs heat pump to blow cool air sometimes? Is it better to leave the furnace thermostat on the main floor at room temperature, even if everyone is upstairs? I have been turning down the gas furnace on the main floor during the nights when everyone is upstairs. However, the heat pump upstairs does not seem to be able to keep the second floor warm enough by itself.
The air coming out of the vents may feel “cool” if it is below 98 degrees, since that is your normal body temperature. Also, the temperature coming out of the vents will feel “cooler” as the outside temperature falls. Sometimes your heat pump will struggle with cold weather, and it will be more challenging to tell if it is working properly. You can check your outside unit to make sure it does not have excessive ice on the lines. Even though your home has two heating systems, it was not designed for zoning. A load calculation was performed and most likely designed for both units to run at the same time. I suggest you invest in a couple of programmable thermostats and set the temperature on each at no lower than a five-degree temperature difference. Keeping the fan running all the time may also help keep the home at more of an even temperature. Please call the ARS/Rescue Rooter branch in Laurel, MD at (301) 927-7100 for further evaluation of your heating issues.
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