Heat pump

[Freckles]

Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit will work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

[Bob F]

Is there an "override" switch on the thermostat? Set it.

[Roger Shoaf]

I am not sure what your question is. A heat pump drews heat out of the outside air and pumps it inside to warm your home. The electric heater is there when either a defrost cycle kicks in or the outside temperature is too low to suck out enough heat to be practical.

It really depends on the average outside winter temperature and the cost of electricity. If you live in a mild climate and only have a few really cold days it is not worth worrying about the cost of the electric heat.

If however you live in a really cold climate and electricity is expensive then adding some sort of fossil fuel furnace option makes a lot of sense, or perhaps a geothermal heat pump would be a better match.

Where do you live and how are the electric rates?

[Pete C.]

If the heat pump is equipped with electric backup as most are it's easy, but it will at least triple your heating cost.

[Red Green]

"Bob F" wrote in news:hi961c$o6n$ [e-mail]- september.org:

Sometimes labled as "Emergency".

[Chris Hill]

Free. Check the thermostat for an emergency heat setting. If the thermostat is the old mechanical type, you may need to turn the temperature higher when you use the emergency heat setting.

[hibb]

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has setting labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric back up. It runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep the house warm when temps gets into the 20's.

David

[Red Green]

hibb wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Damn. Sounds odd. I remember a couple of places I had a heat pump. When I flipped it to Em the air coming out of the vent was like 120. That should be more than adequate unless the unit is severely inadequate, no insulation, disco'd ducts, etc. Don't know if the "heat strips" are multiple independent in which case one might be out.

[Bob F]

I had to replace 2 out of 3 heat strips once. Parts were maybe $40 at an appliance parts store.

[Red Green]

"Bob F" wrote in news:hiaeu5$4lg$ [e-mail]:

Was the EM totally cold (series) or just not very hot (parallel) aka independent?

[Lp1331 1p1331]

The others are correct-- that is what the "Emeer Heat" mode does. It also switches the heat strips from second stageto first stage. Did you try the Emer and the unit not work, or what? More details will get you more info/advice. Larry

[hibb]

[e-mail]:

It sure could be that the dipshit that was married to my niece that talked me into letting him install that thing didn't do a good job. Didn't know what a dipshit he was until he started slapping his wife around. I'm doing alright with the pellet stove and a couple of space heaters this year but I am thinking of getting a good furnace installer out here to access the whole setup and make the necessary changes.

[Lp1331 1p1331]

Heat strips are wired in parallel, usually at 5 KW per bank, although not always. Often the strips are sized to keep the HP from blowing ice cubes during defrost, and to supplement the HP, not to supply necesssary heat by themselves in all temps. Often, strip heat size is limited by the amount of current availabe, especially in retrofit/replacement installations. Many people are convinced their HP isn't doing anything when it gets very cold outside because the air output doesn't even feel warm. much less hot. Last night was the coldest it's been here since I cobbled up two old Trane takeout HP units in my house in 2000. With the HPs only, I had them set on 71-- at 24 deg outside, it still held 71. At 7 AM, it was 17 outside and 67 inside. Even though the air didn't even feel warm coming ou of the vents, it was keeping the house

50 warmer than outside. Admittedly, they ran non-stop, but they were probably drawing less than 10 amps each. I was curious to what the exact amperage was at 17 outside, but not nearly enough to go outside and find out. My neighbor has a fairly similar sized place with a Rheem package unit with 15KW electric heat that draws about 62 amps. We both got our electric bills Friday, and hers was $200 more than mine -- roughly $480 vs $280 , and I have an electric water heater, where hers is propane. Larry

[Bob F]

The three strip heater operated in parallel, except I believe there was a slight delay between switching on each bank.

[Pete C.]

The EM on the unit I just installed here has three strips, each strip has a separate contactor, two are on one power feed and one is on a separate power feed. The contactors coils are wired in parallel by default, with a splice that can be removed to operate them in two stages, one of two strips and the third strip separate.

[Red Green]

"Bob F" wrote in news:hib1c1$qqo$ [e-mail]:

Thanks Bob. Seems to be what LP1331 also said. Makes sense.

[Red Green]

hibb wrote in news: [e-mail]:

You would think during the annual service they would pick up on something like low temp differential, low airflow at an isolated duct, strips that are out, breakers for strips tripped.

With the HP's I've been associated with, the attic was used for the air handler being split system. For the heat strips, IIRC there was a breaker for them at the panel as well as a breaker up in the attic near the strips.