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When it is 0 - 20 degrees outside, you are better off running it on Emergency heat. The heat pump is not getting much heat out of the outside air at those temps.
Thanks for all the replies everyone. I have been away for the Christmas holiday or I would have replied sooner. Well, I had someone come out and said everything looked ok. He said the t stat appears to be hooked up correctly. He did do some tinkering outside on the unit (not sure just what) but now the fan is blowing slower. It took the house 3 hours to gain a degree and it was only about 40 degrees or so. Thankfully I have a maintenance agreement (and the unit is under warranty) and a specialist is coming on Monday to look at it. Just a few things to consider from some of the postings:
My home has new double or tripled pane E glass windows so heat loss from there is not an issue.
I just added more insulation in the attic to a value of R12 (I believe it is).
The AC/Heating unit is less than a year old. Someone mentioned maybe only one of the heat strips may not be working but after coming home to a cold house I can attest to that not being so. When the heat strips kick in and the air is all but hot to the touch. VERY warm.
My new T stat (which is for heat pumps with aux heat) does not have a emergency setting or light although when I turn it over 2 degrees warmer it clicks again signaling the heat strips will come on.
Soo, hope to find out more in a couple of days. Thanks again for your replies.
Last edited by citydweller; 12-27-2008 at 11:52 PM..
Reason: add comment
Can you not deal with 68*F? Maybe more clothes? I only ask because it will probably save you money.
1 watt of power with resistive heating will create 3.412 btu's per.
1 watt of power with a heat pump which is using electrical energy to move heat mechanically is anywhere from 1.5 to 3.5 times more efficient than the heat strips. So for 1 watt using the heat pump at say 60*F outside could transfer as much as 12 btu's. The same heat pump at -10*F outside for 1 watt would only transfer 5.12 btu's.
So you can see although your moving the same amount of air @ 60*F and -10*F disregarding density increases for colder temps. you are only transferring 42.7% of the amount you would be @ 60*F. Either way though you are still moving more than the 3.412 btu's you get from having the heat strips on. In trying to figure out the efficiency for the system stated you could draw a linear line between the 5.12 and 12 and just cross refrence it with outdoor temp. Heat pumps use a term called COP or coefficient of performance which is basically the formula I keep using.
Depending on what brand you have and if you can get the model numbers I could tell you the exact performance you should be getting at whatever the outdoor temp is.
Unfortunately my allergies are bad esp when trying to sleep. It seems 68 degrees is too cool for me to breathe comfortably. Very uncomfortable for me. The t stat is a rite temp 6030 (http://www.ritetemp-thermostats.com/6030.html - broken link).
Last edited by citydweller; 12-28-2008 at 10:29 AM..
Reason: add comment
yes I have. It really doesn't seem to matter too much at least that I can tell.
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