Central AC breakers contributing to Always On

It’s likely a sump heater that’s drawing that power. These are small resistive heaters that keep the compressor warm to prevent liquid refrigerant from pooling there when the unit is off. In my Trane unit, there’s a switch that cuts the heater off when the refrigerant discharge temp is above 80F.

If this is a straight-cool system (not a heat pump) then you should turn those breakers off at the end of the season so the heater isn’t drawing power all winter. Just be sure to turn the breaker on 24 hours before starting the system up in the spring, so the system has time to vaporize that refrigerant before the compressor starts up.

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