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Geothermal Heat Pump Start-Up Checklist for Fall

By Nordic

November 17, 2014

Home Ownership

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With cold weather fast approaching, you’ll soon be switching your geothermal heat pump into heating mode for the first time in several months. But don’t go flipping the switch just yet, there are several steps you should take to ensure your machine is ready to run and won’t experience any operational problems. To make sure this process goes smoothly, ask yourself the following questions:

Is Your Air Filter Dirty?

If you have a water-to-air heat pump, you’ll need to change the air filter regularly. Heat pump air filters clean the incoming air of dust and particulates so they don’t get sucked into the heat pump. If your heat pump air filter is dirty, your heat pump is going to have to work harder, and it’s going to be harder on your compressor. While this won’t cause a problem at start-up, it could eventually cause the heat pump to malfunction and could result in expensive repairs. To avoid this, mark your calendar to remind yourself to change your filter every spring and fall.

Are Your Room Registers Closed?

If you haven’t been running your heat pump all summer, your home’s registers may have been closed. Sometimes homeowners do this to eliminate drafts, or they may do it unintentionally while moving furniture or cleaning. At any rate, if you start up your heat pump and one room seems to be colder than the rest, check to make sure the registers are open. If they aren’t, airflow to the room will be restricted and the heat pump won’t be able to heat the room sufficiently.

Are Your Circuit Breakers On?

 Over the summer, it’s possible that someone in your household turned off the circuit breaker to the heat pump itself, the plenum heater, the air handler, or the zone circulators (if you have them). If they aren’t on, your heat pump isn’t going to start up correctly, so make sure to double check before switching your heat pump into heating mode. If all circuit breakers are on, and starting up the heat pump causes one of them to trip, that’s a sure sign that something is wrong and you should find a dealer to service your heat pump.

Is Your Thermostat Working Properly?

If your heat pump doesn’t start up correctly, the problem might be the thermostat. Verify your thermostat is working correctly by taking off the cover and checking that the wires are attached firmly to each mounting screw. Making sure your circuit breakers are on, set the thermostat to “heat” and set the temperature to at least five degrees above the current temperature. If you have a programmable thermostat, you’ll have to use the override setting to accomplish this. If this causes the circuit breakers to trip, you know that the thermostat is communicating with your heat pump, and that the problem lies with the heat pump system itself.

Are Your Valves Open? 

If your system was serviced recently, or has been shut down for a while, check that all hand-operated valves are open before attempting to start it up. This is especially important if the heat pump hasn’t been in operation since it was serviced, because it’s possible the service technician forgot this important step.

If your heat pump was working properly last winter, odds are you won’t have any problems with it this fall. That said, it’s still a good idea to follow these simple steps to make sure it’s in tip-top working order every year.

Comments

  1. Reply

    Jeff

    February 16, 2015

    Question: with colder Ontario temps, should my geo be running continuously? It hasn’t gone into stage II tho… 1800 sq.ft. w/ 3 ton (2 stage)

    • Jordann Brown

      February 16, 2015

      Absolutely Jeff, a geothermal heat pump is usually sized so that its capacity matches the heat load on the coldest day of the year, so an ideally sized heat pump will run 24 hrs a day on the coldest day while still maintaining the house temperature.

  2. Reply

    Robin Harvey

    February 27, 2015

    Recently, I have been having an issue with my ground source heat pump. Yesterday, it would not come up to the programmed temp and ran constantly. Have had a tech in and now it comes up to temp but still runs constantly (not shutting off once it reached it’s temp). It has never done this before. It was extremely cold 3 days ago, cold this have affected it?

    • Jordann Brown

      February 27, 2015

      Hi Robin,

      A geothermal heat pump is usually sized so that its capacity matches the heat load on the coldest day of the year, so an ideally sized heat pump will run 24 hours a day on the coldest day while still maintaining the house temperature. It’s totally normal for a heat pump to run continuously during very cold weather. As long as the heat pump isn’t overshooting the set temperature, we don’t see anything wrong with the operation you are describing. Also keep in mind that with some thermostats the room temperature might need to go one degree over the thermostat’s set temperature to shut off, and before that happens the heat pump might continue to run at the set temperature if its capacity exactly matches the heat load.

  3. Reply

    Keith Larter

    September 04, 2015

    I have a Nordic geothermal unit (2 wells) installed in 2007. AC worked all summer, but today I noticed aquastat at 67 and circ pump running heat pump not.
    I jacked on thermostat on warm air side and fan started but compressor did not. I also noticed that the water pressure on exhaust side remains at 8 or 9 psi whether or not heat pump is on. I re-powered the system a couple of times. Same symptoms.

    • Jordann Brown

      September 04, 2015

      Hi Keith,
      I’ve copied your info into an email to one of our technical support specialists. They should follow up with you shortly.
      Jordann

  4. Reply

    Gary

    April 24, 2016

    Hello there,

    We have a Nordic Geothermal Unit installed in Dec 2014,it consist of a main system and a floor warming subsystem. The main heating system works fine when working under standalone mode (with Floor warming system shutdown). However, the floor warming system is really troublesome – it keeps tripping or locking out no matter the floor warming system is in running standalone mode (with main system off) or in joint operation mode with the main system on. Last winter it would trip after 20-30 hours when it was in service, this winter it became worse – it would trip the system anywhere between 6 hours to 18 hours.

    Is this may be simply a temperature setpoint conflict issue which can be fixed via changing the controller stage setpoint or it would be a major design issue?

    Any help is appreciated.

    Gary

    • Jordann Brown

      April 25, 2016

      Hi Gary,
      Thanks for reaching out. For technical support, I would recommend emailing us at info@nordicghp.com. From there we can connect you with one of our technicians who can assist you over the phone. Make sure to include your heat pump’s serial number and model number.

  5. Reply

    Tj

    June 19, 2016

    I have a fairly old Nordic system (1997) Open system uses well water. When I turn it on heat the compressor runs but it’s very hot today and when I put it on cool the compressor does not come on. Water valve opens and fan starts but no compressor. I have checked the main power wires for the compressor and the contacts are not closing while in cool mode to engage compressor. Any ideas what I can do to get these contacts to close? What do I need to check to fire out what’s not powering the contacts closed. Thanks ps. They heat is very poor and unbelievably inefficient.

    • Jordann Brown

      June 22, 2016

      Hi TJ, can you please email info@nordicghp.com with your question? You’ll need to include your model number and serial number to help us figure out what the issue with your unit could be. Thanks!

  6. Reply

    Greg

    October 09, 2018

    Hi
    I have a water to water ground loop system
    Nordic
    4 years old
    Sometimes i need to reset the breaker to have it to start
    When the tank is getting low in temperature. It want start by it self

    Can you help

    • Jordann Brown

      October 10, 2018

      Hi Greg,
      Please contact our technical support team by filling out the contact form on our website: https://www.nordicghp.com/contact-us/
      Please include your serial number and model number, and our engineers will help you troubleshoot the problem.

  7. Reply

    Greg

    October 13, 2018

    Hi
    I have a water to water ground loop system
    Nordic
    4 years old
    Sometimes i need to reset the breaker to have it to start
    When the tank is getting low in temperature. It want start by it self
    When its satified it start up again two or three time
    No red light code on
    Wonder if it the aquastat ? (Ranco two stage)

    Can you help

    • Jordann Brown

      October 15, 2018

      Hi Greg,
      For technical support inquiries, please email info@nordicghp.com. You’ll be directed to one of our engineers who will help you troubleshoot the issue.

  8. Reply

    Richard White

    October 28, 2018

    I live in Montreal and have an old DX-55 -HACW .Now after 20 years of care free service it is in need of repairs. Seems the compressor is not working.
    Can you recommend a dealer in my area who could check this out for me.
    Richard White

    • Jordann Brown

      October 29, 2018

      Hi Richard,
      You should use our Find a Dealer tool on our website to find an installer close to you who can come and service your machine: https://www.nordicghp.com/find-a-dealer/

  9. Reply

    Robin Harvey

    December 16, 2020

    my R35 is having problems this morning. Not sure if it is normal. I have it set at 70 all year round. this morning it is only -9 out and the heat pump seems not to be able to handle it. it fell to 69 and stayed there constantly running. then it fell to 68. it appears to be back at 69 and trying to reach 70. it appears the auxiliary is also on.

    • Jordann Brown

      December 17, 2020

      Hi Robin, you should contact a technician to come out and evaluate the heat pump, it’s possible it needs to be serviced or repaired.

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