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[jb1978]

Anyone ever wired a thermostat to a zone system heat pump? I have a four zone heat pump system (Carrier Infinity) with dampers in the duct work that open and close as each zone calls for heat. I would like to keep the zone system working for the OWB if possible. Not sure if I can use a second thermostat or if I should go another route. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Bull]

First, Welcome to the site. You should be able to wire a second thermostat to the "ON" fan switch on your existing heat pump thermostat and just let your OWB pump run all the time.

[jb1978]

Thanks Bull, for the welcome and the response.

Will this allow me to use my existing heat pump for backup? My concern is if I set my original thermostat at a lower temp than the OWB thermostat the dampers will not open because the room temp will always be higher.

[Scott7m]

Welcome, I'd go around and check the zone valves to see if there working properly now.  That is one of the most common things I see broken when doing installs.  Often times customers aren't aware of it if there stuck open or partially

[yoderheating]

 I assume you are speaking of a 4 zone system with 4 separate thermostats. If this is the case the best option would be to use a aquastat on the hot pipe from the outdoor furnace. So long as the water was hot it would block the low voltage to your outdoor heat pump unit. This way your existing system works the way it currently does and if the furnace ever goes out the heat pump would automatically take over.

[jb1978]

How would I wire the aquastat? I was told if I break the connection to the heat pump it would trigger a fault that would have to be manually reset.

[yoderheating]

Use a 24v aquastat and just break the 24v wire going from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit ( y terminal). When ever the water is hot the relay on the aquastat would be open and when it cools off the relay would close.

[yoderheating]

 Thats the way I normally do it, however with some communicating systems you can not do it that way. If your system is that high tech you will have to have a dealer in that brand come and install your thermostat system. I ran into one like this and while there is a way to do it I'm not going to be able to explain it on here. It involved programing the unit ect.

[jb1978]

Thanks yoderheating. I think I will have to have a dealer do my install. I was told that the system was ''too smart'' and breaking the connection would cause a fault. I was just wanting a second opinion from someone with more OWB experience. Maybe someone else will have an idea on here but it seems you are the go too person on here. Thanks again!

[jb1978]

Still have this issue. I have been running my heat manually by just turning the fan off and on at the thermostat. Any more suggestions?

[yoderheating]

 Have you had the dealer look at it? When you get into a complicated system it is usually best to have someone come out and check out exactly what you have. Any good dealer should be able to either set up a way to make it work or have a good HVAC guy who can make it happen. What happens if you simply turned off the breaker to the outside heat pump unit? Seems that would be better than running the system manually.

[jb1978]

Yoderheating, I am not very happy with my local carrier dealer and am trying to find someone who is familiar with my system. I just thought I would throw this back out there in case someone else had similar issues. If I turn off the breaker to the outside unit it sends a fault to the main system which shuts everything down. If this would work would there not be danger of something freezing in the outside unit. The reason I ask is for a friend who is considering doing this for his newly installed unit.

[yoderheating]

 A lot of your HVAC guys out there can be very unhelpful because they do not want the competition from outdoor furnaces. Sounds like you have a fairly complicated system that will require someone on site to make it all work. I have found that often large companies are very unhelpful but the local HVAC guy who has one van and a couple helpers will go out of his way to help you out. If you can find a small time guy who has many years experience you may be able to get straightened out. I have yet to have a system that could not be made to work.

[lasor1]

I know this does answer your questions. But I know a hvac company that has an owb in there shop. They claim it doesnt work well. And they would rather try to sell you heat pump. But in fact they work better than there heat pump they have running it. The hvac companies need to jump on the band wagon and start installing the and servicing them for people because there's not many people has them in my area but you see them starting to pop up here and there and everyone asks about the one I have and I wished I would have got one yrs ago. Anyway I hope you will get  yours figured out and find a good h ac guy willing to help you good luck!

[JSuther69]

jb1978, I have a water source heat pump (geothermal) with a 4 zone damper system similar to as you described.  I am in the research stages of purchasing an outdoor wood furnace to add a heat exchanger in my duct.  I have been studying my wiring diagrams and the zone system to determine best way to achieve what we need.  As of right now, I do not have a clear answer.  Sorry.  but when I do, I will be glad to share it on this site for anyone.

Can you tell me the model of the zone control board (Carrier, I assume)?  Honeywell makes the boards and if I fry mine again, I will change out to one of them.  I've had lightening take mine out 4 times.  I'm getting pretty good at soldiering components on the board and it working.  This issue should not be a big deal.

Jim