We have a Jotul wood insert which is outstanding. Its been cold, under freezing for a few days for the most part. I heat with my minisplits and the wood insert, but the large 3 zone split stopped working earlier this week. This meant we were running with one 12k split on one end of the house and the wood stove. Still managed to keep the living room in the low 70s. It would fall into the 60s overnight after the insert started to burn low.
The failure of the Fujitsu was interesting... I self installed, so assumed no warranty. Initially the failure showed on the indoor units as no communication to the outdoor. The outdoor unit showed no power to the main board, but was supplying power to the indoor units. I found a blown fuse on one power supply board, soldered on. I ordered a new fuse from McMaster, checked the obvious places I could for a short, then soldered it in when it arrived. The unit powered up then, but wouldn't heat and gave a code for the outdoor unit fan after a while, which wasn't spinning. More testing showed 400V DC (!) to the fan connector and open circuit on the fan motor. I ordered up a new fan and installed it yesterday and all is good now. Cost me about $300 to fix. If I did it by the service manual, I would have had to replace the power supply board, the main control board, and the fan. Probably would have been a $2000 repair if I called someone. But its a nice reminder how powerful the Jotul insert is. Worst case, I can run the oil fired steam heat still, but it generally costs a fortune. On Thu, Feb 11, 2021 at 6:52 PM Kaleb Striplin via Mercedes < mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > Actually it does have an insert, with a blower etc and it will throw out a > lot of heat. I just hate messing with it. > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Feb 11, 2021, at 5:46 PM, Curt Raymond <curtlud...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > > > A fireplace is about the least efficient device imaginable, most of the > heat of the fire shoots up the chimney. A small insert stove would > dramatically increase the heat output. It'd be cleaner too since it would > have a door that would be closed. > > > > Wood is still a messy way to heat. I've had our wood stove lit pretty > much every day this year. We've gone through probably twice as much wood as > normal but its just because I've been home. At the same time we've burned > maybe half as much oil as normal. > > > > It gives me something to do and makes the basement a nice place to sit > with a wobble pop and read. > > > > -Curt > > > > On Thursday, February 11, 2021, 6:20:07 PM EST, Kaleb Striplin via > Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > > > > I like heat pumps. If it comes down to it we also have a wood burning > fireplace. I never use it though as I hate the hassle of messing with it. > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > > On Feb 11, 2021, at 5:12 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes < > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > > > > The heat strips are fine, it’s more an issue of a heat pump not > producing the “hot” air people are often accustomed to with gas forced air. > They’re not terribly efficient, either, but that’s the drawback of having a > heat pump. > > > > > > I found it sort of weird with our Indiana house as it has a > conventional gas furnace, so the air that comes out the vents is HOT! > That’s after living in houses with heat pumps for years. > > > > > > -D > > > > > >> On Feb 11, 2021, at 6:07 PM, Floyd Thursby via Mercedes < > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > >> > > >> You should look into some propane backup heaters or something to tie > into your heat pump system. A friend has a heat pump and some sort of > propane system in her house, she is always complaining about having to run > the propane heater but I told her it was better than the electric heat > strips. > > >> > > >> --FT > > >> > > >>> On 2/11/21 5:56 PM, Kaleb Striplin via Mercedes wrote: > > >>> And it’s tripped again. Basically if the aux heat runs for any > amount of time it trips. I will shut down the system and swap a couple of > breakers around and see what happens. > > >>> > > >>> Sent from my iPhone > > >>> > > >>>> On Feb 11, 2021, at 4:54 PM, Kaleb Striplin via Mercedes < > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > >>>> > > >>>> I guess I could go swap a couple of breakers around in there and > see if the problem follows the breaker. I do not have a clamp on meter. > > >>>> > > >>>> I could also see if I can get into the air handler. > > >>>> > > >>>>> On 2/11/2021 4:50 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes wrote: > > >>>>> I would suspect the breaker before I would suspect the heat > strips. Heat strips don’t short typically, they fail open. Got a clamp on > ammeter you can use to check the current draw when they’re on? Then you > would know for sure. > > >>>>> > > >>>>> Might want to give the air handler a look to make sure there’s > nothing amiss, like something across the heat strips. > > >>>>> > > >>>>> -D > > >>>>> > > >>>>>>> On Feb 11, 2021, at 5:47 PM, Kaleb Striplin via Mercedes < > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > >>>>>> It is in the 20's today and will be into the single digits this > week. One thing I have noticed for quite a while is every now and then the > breaker for the aux heat will be tripped. I usually just reset it and its > fine but the aux heat does not have to run much as it has not been that > cold. When we got back I had it set for 65 and the breaker was tripped > again. I set the temp back to 68 and checked later and the breaker was > tripped again. I reset it and just now checked it and temp is now up to 68 > and the breaker tripped a 3rd time. In other words, I need to get this > addressed. What could be the cause? Thought about swapping out the > breaker in case it was getting weak but what else could be the cause? Is > it likely something is shorting in the heat strips itself? Not sure if I > should investigate and resolve or just turn in a service request to the > home warranty company. > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> _______________________________________ > > >>>>>> http://www.okiebenz.com > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > >>>>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > >>>>>> > > >>>>> _______________________________________ > > >>>>> http://www.okiebenz.com > > >>>>> > > >>>>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > >>>>> > > >>>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > >>>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > >>>>> > > >>>> _______________________________________ > > >>>> http://www.okiebenz.com > > >>>> > > >>>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > >>>> > > >>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > >>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > >>>> > > >>> > > >>> _______________________________________ > > >>> http://www.okiebenz.com > > >>> > > >>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > >>> > > >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > >>> > > >> -- > > >> --FT > > >> > > >> _______________________________________ > > >> http://www.okiebenz.com > > >> > > >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > >> > > >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > >> > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > -- Jaime Kopchinski http://www.jaimekop.com/ _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
