Interesting, I have not heard of this, but I wil check with the gent who installed it. On Mar 3, 2009, at 7:42 AM, Michael Baldwin wrote:
> Not even sure why your heat pump is turning on when it is that cold. > Unless > things have changed with them, they are about useless under 30 > degrees F or > so. > Some have a way of setting the temperature at which it doesn't run. > It is > usually located on the heat pump unit itself, some it is a switch, and > others it is a jumper type thing. You might need to contact a HVAC > contractor in your area that is familiar with your brand, and see > what they > would charge to adjust it. > My guess is at 14 degrees F, it is running in defrost mode more then > it is > in heat mode, so your wasting juice by having it run. > Michael > > _____ > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected] > ] > On Behalf Of Scott Howell > Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 4:19 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [BlindHandyMan] running the compressor or emergency heat, > that is > the question > > Folks, as it is 14 degrees outside this morning, I have been wondering > about something. I am stuck with a heatpump at least for a while, so > getting rid of the unit of course would solve my problem but since > that is not an option, let me ask a question. > When it gets this cold outside, the compressor outside will still run > and one of the emergency or backup heat strips generally will come on > to supplement the heat that doesn't exist. These heater strips are > typically 5Kw and 10Kw. The system will use first the 5Kw and the 10Kw > as necessary, which means a total of 15Kw if you kick on the emergency > heat. THe only advantage of the emergency heat is the compressor is > not running and you get heat that is around 120 degrees or maybe a > little less. So, I am wondering on days when the temperature is so > cold that the heatpump can't really extract warmth from the outside > air, would it make sense to switch to the emergency heat? Would this > save me any money? I imagine it will come down to how much electricity > is being used and that may be the simple answer, but I am curious if > anyone has explored this question and has any thoughts? > > Thanks, > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
