Air-treatment assemblies and methods for monitoring performance

A method for operating an air-treatment appliance comprising a fluid-motivating unit (FMU) and a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the FMU, the method comprising:

• directing the FMU to motivate a fluid through the air-treatment appliance based on a condition setpoint;
• receiving an ambient condition signal;
• measuring an ambient condition value according to the ambient condition signal;
• measuring a total active time of the FMU over a predetermined time period;
• estimating a power consumption based on the total active time of the FMU;
• determining a diagnostic state of the air-treatment appliance based on the ambient condition signal and the estimated power consumption, determining a diagnostic state including determining a variation in the power consumption from an expected power consumption for the predetermined time period;
• and
• transmitting a state signal to a user interface according to the determined diagnostic state.