O/T: Bryant Air Handler keeps running

Sorry for the O/T, but I know one of you experts will know the answer. We have a new home, <2yrs, with a Bryant heat pump/ac and air handler. When the system is "off", I noticed that the airhandler seems to run constantly, but at a much lower speed than when it's operating the outside unit. Is this a normal feature to circulate air or might I have a problem? The guy whom installed it won't call me back, must be under warranty still!Any help will be appreciated.

JBM

Don't think those air makeups are suppose to run till you set the switch for them to run.

The one I just hooked up in my daughters new house only runs when they turn it on to remove humidity from the bathrooms and when the heat pump turns on.

Do you have switches in the bathroom for yours?

One of them may be bad.

Gary

Check the thermostat it may be set in the fan on position instesd of auto. If so set to auto and it should only run when the stat is calling for heat or ac. At least the older ones were like that.

If you have a programable thermostat make sure the fan is not set on circulate, run or whatever that particular t-stat says. Should be an auto setting.

Easy for someone too come along and fudge up the settings.

My brother just had a new system installed and one of the features is that the fan constantly runs but has a slow speed when just circulating but kicks in higher when heating or cooling. I wouldn't like that style myself. Forget what brand it is.

I am NO expert but my conventional system has a fan manual/automatic switch on the stat and down in the furnace.

Well, without knowing anything except it is less than two years old, it may be a variable speed fan in the air handler.

If it is a variable speed, there will be a board in the air handler that has either dip switches or pins with jumpers. Without the manual it is impossible to set anything on the board with these devices.

Let's just say it is probably variable speed and the board has been set to run the indoor fan at a slow speed during the heat or cool off cycle. This is not uncommon and contributes to the destratification of the temperature in the house.

More comfort.

Your mileage may vary.

I have a 1 year old Hydro_Temp geo thermal heat pump. The thermostat has settings on the fan for auto, clean (intermittent blower), and run. there is programming in the heat pump that controls the blower speed, allowing it to be set for a low speed when t'stat is in fan on position, and different speeds when it moves to heat or cool. My programming is accomplished via a Palm Pilot, but some companies use dip switches or jumpers.verify that the t'stat fan swithc is in auto rather than on. One thing to think about, is that running real slow it keeps air form stratifying when the unit only operates occasionally, and also keeps air moving through the filter all the time to keep air cleaner. The new variable speed blowers operate for very few cents per day.

That's a pretty normal feature of modern heat pumps and thermostats. It is made possible/practical/economical by ECM blowers (electronically commutated motors). The electrical draw in the lowest speed mode is maybe 25 watts or so.

The idea is that the operation of the blower provides air filtering and "de-stratification". By moving the air around the house, even though there's no call for heat, isolated cold and warm spots are reduced.

The feature should be optional, and controllable by the thermostat. If the circulating mode bugs you, you can set it up to run only when there's a call for heat by changing the programming of the thermostat.

The thermostat I installed in my own house has an additional option -- in the "circ" mode the blower can be programmed to turn on and off randomly (it is on about 1/3 of the time when there is no call for heat). This garners most of the benefit of the circ mode while reducing fan-related energy use by 2/3 -- down to about the same as that of an electric clock.

Add this to three stages of heat and two stages of cooling, with blower speeds appropriate for each mode, and it has proved a quiet, efficient, effective setup.

Adding to my reply from yesterday, talked to my brother and his new system has the options that David and John expressed below, His is a Westinghouse, 2 weeks old.