When do you switch to Emergency Heat?

flyingdog

Member
Our heat was not getting to the desired temperature. Would get about 1-2 degrees below and start blowing colder air, and never reach the desired temp. We had the tech guy come out (home waranty) to take a look. Said tech guy informed me that the best thing to do when it gets really cold out (somewhere between 30-40 degrees) is to switch to emergency heat. The explanation was that the compressor itself was not able to generate the right heat, and when set normally, the heat panel will kick on but only until it is within a few degrees of the desired temp then will look for the compressor to do the trick. Which never works b/c it can't draw in the warmer air. :popcorn:

What is your opinion?

Thanks much...
 
W

Wenchy

Guest
Our heat was not getting to the desired temperature. Would get about 1-2 degrees below and start blowing colder air, and never reach the desired temp. We had the tech guy come out (home waranty) to take a look. Said tech guy informed me that the best thing to do when it gets really cold out (somewhere between 30-40 degrees) is to switch to emergency heat. The explanation was that the compressor itself was not able to generate the right heat, and when set normally, the heat panel will kick on but only until it is within a few degrees of the desired temp then will look for the compressor to do the trick. Which never works b/c it can't draw in the warmer air. :popcorn:

What is your opinion?

Thanks much...

Emergency heat is going to cost you big time money wise, but you will be warm.

My opinion: You're screwed. :evil:
 

Purplefox

I AM an enigma
I LOVE my pellet stove! It will heat my entire house. No more chopping wood, lugging wood, stacking wood, etc. Just dump in a bag of pellets and be done with it. We got it to replace our wood stove and as a back up heat source but is now our primary. Now don't get me wrong, I love me some wood... :hot: But sometimes it just isn't worth all the effort. :killingme

We had our oil tank filled this year and the guy looked really confused when he was filling out the ticket and commented that we have not gotten oil since 2004!!
 

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
I LOVE my pellet stove! It will heat my entire house. No more chopping wood, lugging wood, stacking wood, etc. Just dump in a bag of pellets and be done with it. We got it to replace our wood stove and as a back up heat source but is now our primary. Now don't get me wrong, I love me some wood... :hot: But sometimes it just isn't worth all the effort. :killingme

We had our oil tank filled this year and the guy looked really confused when he was filling out the ticket and commented that we have not gotten oil since 2004!!

:yeahthat::high5:
 

SEABREEZE 1957

My 401K is now a 201K
Do you have a heat pump?

Emergency heat is like warming your house with the oven on 450 & the door open; we had a heat pump that would kick in the 'emergency heat' if we turned the thermostat above 68 degrees...it's very expensive to run it......I would recommend not doing it (unless in emergencies:lmao:)
 
M

Mousebaby

Guest
I love my Trane propane furnace! :snugglinguptoherkittyalltoastywarm: :howdy:
 

Dougstermd

ORGASM DONOR
Our heat was not getting to the desired temperature. Would get about 1-2 degrees below and start blowing colder air, and never reach the desired temp. We had the tech guy come out (home waranty) to take a look. Said tech guy informed me that the best thing to do when it gets really cold out (somewhere between 30-40 degrees) is to switch to emergency heat. The explanation was that the compressor itself was not able to generate the right heat, and when set normally, the heat panel will kick on but only until it is within a few degrees of the desired temp then will look for the compressor to do the trick. Which never works b/c it can't draw in the warmer air. :popcorn:

What is your opinion?

Thanks much...

warmth cost money.

just gota fillup on oil 85 gallons $277 and it was just filled the beginning of Nov:tantrum
 

The_Twisted_Ear

A proud Conservative!
Our heat was not getting to the desired temperature. Would get about 1-2 degrees below and start blowing colder air, and never reach the desired temp. We had the tech guy come out (home waranty) to take a look. Said tech guy informed me that the best thing to do when it gets really cold out (somewhere between 30-40 degrees) is to switch to emergency heat. The explanation was that the compressor itself was not able to generate the right heat, and when set normally, the heat panel will kick on but only until it is within a few degrees of the desired temp then will look for the compressor to do the trick. Which never works b/c it can't draw in the warmer air. :popcorn:

What is your opinion?

Thanks much...

Sounds like you have a heat pump. Unfortunately, a heat pump’s compressor can’t produce enough heat when the outdoor temperature drops into the 30s. During these cold periods, the heat pump needs the help of electric resistance heat. This resistance heat is called auxiliary heat and should kick in automatically. Sounds like your tech is saying emergency heat instead of auxiliary heat. Anyway - it should kick up by itself so have your tech check your system again. Right now - it is 24 degree's outside and my auxiliary heat has kicked in. Also, heat pumps just don't generate real hot air (like a Oil or Gas furnace) - so get use to it. We have a "pellet stove" in the living room. When we kick it on it warms up the house. I just don't like leaving it running overnight.
 

Candleguy

ON FIRE
Sounds like you have a heat pump. Unfortunately, a heat pump’s compressor can’t produce enough heat when the outdoor temperature drops into the 30s. During these cold periods, the heat pump needs the help of electric resistance heat. This resistance heat is called auxiliary heat and should kick in automatically. Sounds like your tech is saying emergency heat instead of auxiliary heat. Anyway - it should kick up by itself so have your tech check your system again. Right now - it is 24 degree's outside and my auxiliary heat has kicked in. Also, heat pumps just don't generate real hot air (like a Oil or Gas furnace) - so get use to it. We have a "pellet stove" in the living room. When we kick it on it warms up the house. I just don't like leaving it running overnight.

Whats wrong with leaving it running all night? Gas and oil stay running all night? same theory just different fuel.

Hell I leave my candles burning all night and day:yay:
 

The_Twisted_Ear

A proud Conservative!
Whats wrong with leaving it running all night? Gas and oil stay running all night? same theory just different fuel.

Hell I leave my candles burning all night and day:yay:

I just have a hang-up with leaving something that is on fire running by itself all night.:lmao:
 

The_Twisted_Ear

A proud Conservative!
Unreal! We have two heat pumps in my burrow. I just noticed that the bedroom heat pump is running on Auxiliary and nothing is coming out of the vents! Looks like a call to the Furnace Company this morning...:bawl:
 
T

toppick08

Guest
Whats wrong with leaving it running all night? Gas and oil stay running all night? same theory just different fuel.

Hell I leave my candles burning all night and day:yay:

You leave open flame candles burning all day/night? Is'nt that a bit risky?.
:nono:
 
Our heat was not getting to the desired temperature. Would get about 1-2 degrees below and start blowing colder air, and never reach the desired temp. We had the tech guy come out (home waranty) to take a look. Said tech guy informed me that the best thing to do when it gets really cold out (somewhere between 30-40 degrees) is to switch to emergency heat. The explanation was that the compressor itself was not able to generate the right heat, and when set normally, the heat panel will kick on but only until it is within a few degrees of the desired temp then will look for the compressor to do the trick. Which never works b/c it can't draw in the warmer air. :popcorn:

What is your opinion?

Thanks much...

Turn your thermostat up two degrees higher than you actually want it.....TYIA

My "emergency" heat takes over below 38 degrees. The heat pump isn't efficient at lower temps. In my case the "emergency" heat is an oil furnace, so it doesn't hurt as bad as the electric heat a lot of heat pumps use. I can also choose to switch to it during a power outage, since my generator will power the furnace blower, but not the heat pump. As far as it not reaching the desired temp in the house, just turn it higher as has already been suggested.
 

OrneryPest

lower life form
Our heat was not getting to the desired temperature. Would get about 1-2 degrees below and start blowing colder air, and never reach the desired temp. We had the tech guy come out (home waranty) to take a look. Said tech guy informed me that the best thing to do when it gets really cold out (somewhere between 30-40 degrees) is to switch to emergency heat. The explanation was that the compressor itself was not able to generate the right heat, and when set normally, the heat panel will kick on but only until it is within a few degrees of the desired temp then will look for the compressor to do the trick. Which never works b/c it can't draw in the warmer air. :popcorn:

What is your opinion?

Thanks much...

My house has two heat pumps. The upstairs one I think has never switched to auxiliary. The downstairs one, which is slightly larger but has gotta cope with opening doors when we go in and out, switches to auxiliary when the outdoor temperature is below about 26 or 28 degrees.

A heat pump runs a very high volume of air at only a little above room temperature, so the air coming out feels cold because it's flowing rapidly even though it's really warm.
 

smilin

BOXER NATION
My house has two heat pumps. The upstairs one I think has never switched to auxiliary. The downstairs one, which is slightly larger but has gotta cope with opening doors when we go in and out, switches to auxiliary when the outdoor temperature is below about 26 or 28 degrees.

A heat pump runs a very high volume of air at only a little above room temperature, so the air coming out feels cold because it's flowing rapidly even though it's really warm.

Typically heat pumps can't absorb any heat from the outside air under 35 degrees so the axillary heat/emergency heat is used. Imagine a toaster, but larger running your electric bill up.
The temperature of the "heated" air is what got to me. The air blowing out of heat pump registers is about the same as your body temp. It never warmed me up.
Oil/gas heat is typically around 115 blowing out. When we moved to a house with oil it was like finally being warm after being borderline cold for years.
 
My pellet stove has kept the house heat from turning on at all, until last night. Ran out of pellets. House dropped to 55. MAN that's cold getting into the shower!!
 

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
I just have a hang-up with leaving something that is on fire running by itself all night.:lmao:

I'm getting over that fear myself. What really helped me was looking at the electric bill:yikes: with 2 heat pumps and a pretty good sized house w/ 18 ft ceilings, it was taking some doing to keep it warm. The other day I had my pellet stove going and some other small appliances and I looked at the electric meter to see just how slow it was moving...I think SMECO is not going to be happy with me.:lmao:
 
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