I have a Goodman/Janitrol A36-10 heatpump/AC unit with a mechanical thermostat. It has 2 mercury switches. When heating the house the two switches both engage if I set the thermostat high enough. The problem I see is when the lower mercury switch goes back to the off position it appears to shut off some heater elements because the air coming out of the vents is cool (60 deg F). So since it's now flowing cool air from the vents the other mercury switch never goes back to the off position. That makes the unit switch from warm air (both engaged) to cool air (bottom not engaged) constantly. So the blower never shuts off. Don't know anything about HVAC but this seems bad for energy efficiency. The thermostat has 7 wires now: Yellow/Green/Red/Orange/Brown. The other 2 connections are W2 (white wire) and C (blue wire).
Question is will a digital thermostat work better and is there one that will work with this A36-10 ?

Question is will a digital thermostat work better ( depends upon what you want it to do)


Is there one that will work with this A36-10 (yes Honeywell makes one)

Question is will a digital thermostat work better ( depends upon what you want it to do)


I want one to work better than what is happening now. Does the description of my problem sound like normal operation to you?


is there one that will work with this A36-10 (yes Honeywell makes one)

Thank you for your answer. Can you recommend one for me to take a look at (model #)?

It all depends upon how much $$$ you want to spend.

Have a look around

Catalog (http://customer.honeywell.com/honeywell/UI/Pages/Catalog/ApplicationCategory.aspx?Catalog=Homes&Category=Thermostats_102&ChannelID=%7b2EB2F178-20ED-44E0-97FB-CCFB4218DD64%7d)

If the supply air temperature is really 60 degrees when stage 1 heat is active you have a problem with your heat pump, by the way what is the outdoor temperature. Is the outdoor unit running? What kind of temperatures are your refrigerant lines when the heat pump is running.

If the supply air temperature is really 60 degrees when stage 1 heat is active you have a problem with your heat pump, by the way what is the outdoor temperature. Is the outdoor unit running? What kind of temperatures are your refrigerant lines when the heat pump is running.

Thanks for the advice. I was suspicious that something may be wrong with the heat pump. The outside air is typically 40F to 60F when the heater is running (Florida). I was not sure what the air temp should be when the single stage was active. I think I will call an expert.

Thanks again.