Maytag M120 - HELP

[MaytagM120]

I have a three year old Maytag M120 60,000 BTU 92.1 AFUE gas furnace and M120 2 ton, 13 SEER Heat Pump. It is used to heat roughly 1100 sf of my home. My total house sf is about 3900sf. I actually have two of these systems on the main floor, but only one is giving me issues.

My issue is with balance points and when my system is running in Heat Pump(electric) mode. When the outside temperature is 45 degrees or above (based on an outside remote temp sensor), the system runs on the heat pump. Is this a good setting, 45 * When this occurs, the air is barely warm, and for the first several minutes, at least for 3 minutes, the forced air is ice cold. After that period, the forced air temp is barely warm and runs for a very long time, if ever, just to achieve a set temp of 67 or 68 degrees. One Saturday morning, the system ran in Heat Pump mode for 4 hours, I left it running to see if it could ever reach 67 degrees, it never did.

I live in a mountain area, and typically the temperatures in December and January are below 45 degrees night and day, and the house is warm in gas furnace mode, although it uses a TON of propane IMHO. Do you have any direction on how much propane usage is normal based on the outside temp, sf, and the system specs that I have given.

However, in the fall and spring, the system runs in Heat Pump mode and the electric bills are out of control. I did not mention, there are no heat strips since I have the gas furnace, that may be obvious, but thought I should mention it.

I am under the Maytag warranty period for parts only, no labor. I'm not happy about the labor charges, so want to make sure my dealer is not just guessing at what needs to be fixed under the mantra, "well the parts are free".

Thank you in advance, I'm sure I did not provide enough detail, so let me know what else I can supply.

[nomadpeo]

sounds like the performance needs to be checked. could be a freon issue.

[MaytagM120]

I just had the installer come out to check the system, they wanted $75 for the trip, but I insisted this issue has been around since the system was installed, this was their 4th trip out.

You are correct as far as the possible issue freon. The changeover or switchover value on the outside unit is malfunctioning. They are saying it will take 3-4 hours to replace, does that sound *

I'm running in furnace mode only until the part comes in next week. Not too happy about that since the outside temp is 45+ degrees.

Can you shed any light on my other questions in my original *

Thanks.

[nomadpeo]

if the reversing valve is malfunctioning, nothing is going to work right. ( anything more than 4 to 6 degrees difference between the valve's entering and leaving suction temperature indicates it is leaking internally. ) if that diagnosis is correct, and standard service procedures are followed ( replace bi-flow filter/drier, evacuate using a micron gauge, charge according to manufacturer''s specs ), you may not have more problems. you may want to talk to the service manager of a reputable company and ask for their best hp tech for a second opinion to verify the diagnosis. i'm not saying the reversing valve is not the problem....can't really make that determination on here....but sometimes if techs get stumped, they start replacing parts. if they have been there numerous times and are now condemning the rv, it raises a flag. we hear this story time and time again. good luck.

[cjqlee]

I purchased the Maytag M120 13Seer heat pump the first of February. Within 4 days it had froze up and I had to call in a work order. This has now happened FOUR times in a five week period. They have replaced the board, the defrost switch, sealed a leak in the line to the compressor and now the bearings in the motor are bad and so they are ordering a new motor. They said until they replace the motor they can't check to see why it will not kick into defrost mode.

Any suggestions other then I got a lemon and need a new *