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With a programable T-stat there is a difference between aux heat and emerg heat. Emerg heat [manual set] is when only the heat strips are used [comp. is not used] Aux heat [heat strips] kicks in when the temp is low and the heat pump can't keep up or you turn the t-stat up 2 degrees [stage 2 also kicks in]or more than what is the temp of the room. When the temp difference is less than 2 degrees, the strips turn off. If the temp outside is below 35 and you want 72 inside, the strips may stay on. If these sequences aren't happening, your t-stat is not properly wired or you don't have a heat pump t-stat.
I have a Robert Shaw 9725i2 t-stat. It has 4 time of day/7 days of week programming. It comes pre-programmed with energy star settings but they weren't for me. [way too low]
Programmable t-stats without a lock out are not helpful in saving money unless you can set it to slowly come up. If you have it set back to 60* during the day while you are gone then @ 5 or so before you get home it kicks up to 75* when it does that for the whole time it most likely will use both heat pump and backup heat which is still more efficient than heat strips alone but not something you want. At all cost you want the heat pump doing that wark as the amount of energy you pay for is used for mechanical means to move heat instead of directly converting electricity into heat.
I think generally you can expect a new tighly built house with a new efficient heat pump system which was designed properly and sized correctly, to work better and more efficiently if kept at a constant temp.
If all the above is not the case, then you may go in the other direction if you have more factors that are 'not' in my above description. For example, if you have a very large system, too big for your house, you may lower the temp, as it will rise more quickly when called upon. Fwiw, this is not an ideal situation to be in, but lots of people have it. If you know where you stand, that may answer your question.
I've also heard that one needs to simply observe and calculate their electricity usage with the two methods to determine which option is best. There are too many other variables to give an exact answer to this question. It has been asked a lot, and this answer is always the one which comes out in the end. Unless, like I mentioned above, you know how the house was designed and built etc.. good luck.
I forgot to mention in my post that your heating costs with a heat pump is also based on the SEER of your heat pump. 8-10 is an inefficient number these days. Florida code now requires 12 and 14-15 is available.
Both systems still have SEER ratings but only heat pumps have the other rating.
The SEER rating is the Btu of cooling output during a typical cooling-season divided by the total electric energy input in watt-hours during the same period.
It's common as it's easier to give just one number. Even Seer is misused though as it is the average of a typical season over a long period of time using complex computing methods. The problem lies where it would only be true for a very few places and misleading for the majority of places. Most places don't have averaged or typical cooling seasons. What NY needs in cooling Texas does not. However without going into a book it's easier to just say yup it's 13 seer.
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