Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - I need Heat Pump Lessons.

This is going to be my very first post. In your answers please don't use abbreviations because I may not know what they are (yet but I will learn). Let me tell you my story. I live in the central valley of California and will be moving to Tennessee in April. I have lived here all my life and don't have a clue about heat pumps. I worked in Building Maintenance for 30yrs so I am not a virgin when it comes to working on (STUFF).
We bought our house in Tenn in Oct of 2007 and it has been empty ever since. With the Stat set at 50 degrees. My unit is a Goodman at this time I have no way of seeing what model it is or taking any pictures. (however I will when we move). One of my electric bills was $125.00 for January and I about fell over. The bills had been running in the 40 to 50 dollar range. I understand that it was VERY cold there and that on Jan 20 I used 125 KWH at 8:00 am. (Yes I called the electric company). They told me that the heat pump more and likely kicked in and thats why it was so high.
What I would like from someone here is to explain the heat pump operations (I know it uses the heat from the air)and what I need to look for. Is the heat pump a separate unit that I can not see from the outside? Also the Stat is a manual one and I would like to install a digital one so as to have a little more control. Any recommendations? Also we don't like to sleep with the heater on and from what I have read on here is thats not a good idea as far as saving electricity.
Sorry this is so long but I needed to explain myself. :coffee:
Thank you for your time Lee

http://www.howstuffworks.com/how-to-troubleshoot-a-heat-pump.htm

http://www.goodmanmfg.com/Home/HeatingCooling101/HowaHeatPumpWorks/tabid/158/Default.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-cnkjjJUaQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD82e5RYfW8

happy reading...

Yes you can have all your questions answered at those sites but basically the heat pump is just reversing the refrigerant from the high temperature high pressure gas that usually goes outside to release heat to sending the hot gas inside to release heat, your increased electric bills are probably due to your electric auxiliary heat coming on and 125 a month in winter is not bad you should try buying gas or heating oil in the upper midwest, Global Warming is a Killer

Heh, 125 isn't even bad for a heat pump! :) You should be glad it's not just a straight electric heating unit!

Michael

You say you have worked on STUFF. You have to be there . But Id say start with a amprobe here. See if any of the elements are on or come on when the tstat calls for heat. When was the last time the filter was new??? When was the last time the charge was checked ???? If low can be the elements kick in all the time to get the home up to temp. You have so many IFS IFS here.
You can look at a heat pump as just a window AC unit is all.
After summer is over . Just take the window AC unit out of the window turn it around and put it back in. Now you have a heat pump;) ;)

You say you have worked on STUFF. You have to be there . But Id say start with a amprobe here. See if any of the elements are on or come on when the tstat calls for heat. When was the last time the filter was new??? When was the last time the charge was checked ???? If low can be the elements kick in all the time to get the home up to temp. You have so many IFS IFS here.
You can look at a heat pump as just a window AC unit is all.
After summer is over . Just take the window AC unit out of the window turn it around and put it back in. Now you have a heat pump;) ;)

I don't have a amprobe but I a digital Multimeter. I am 2500 miles away from there right now but I will do some checking as soon as I get there. I am thinking about buying a service contract for a couple years until I get a handle on this Heat Pump. I can see a problem we are going to have right off the top. My wife and I do not like to sleep with the heater on.:wall:

When you do get all moved in and settled, I would look into getting a Honeywell IAQ t-stat with an outdoor sensor.. That way you can lock out the Aux electric heat to only use the heat pump to recover.

I can see a problem we are going to have right off the top. My wife and I do not like to sleep with the heater on.:wall:

If you use a setback tstat with a heat pump it most likely won't run as efficiently, however that doesn't mean you cant do it. Also, since you probably only sleep in one room why not just close the heat register in that room? (If ALL your rooms also have heat return ducts you should cover that up as well.

Since your handy and if you also have some spare time I'd think twice about the service contract. Heat pumps are more complicated than a fossil fuel heat source, however once you figure out how all the parts work, diagnosing future problems with the system become fairly straightforward.

If you use a setback tstat with a heat pump it most likely won't run as efficiently, however that doesn't mean you cant do it. Also, since you probably only sleep in one room why not just close the heat register in that room? (If ALL your rooms also have heat return ducts you should cover that up as well.

Since your handy and if you also have some spare time I'd think twice about the service contract. Heat pumps are more complicated than a fossil fuel heat source, however once you figure out how all the parts work, diagnosing future problems with the system become fairly straightforward.

Thanks Doug I will take your advice. However I am going to get the service contract for the first year and I will take that year to learn about the heat pump ans ask the Tech questions... What I may also do is do like you said and close the bedroom doors and see if that is doable.. Thanks

I agree with Jay HW IAQ only needs 3 wires from ah to stat hold off your aux heat to 10 degrees outside i live in central Nebr thats were i keep mine at Most contractors don't want to spend a extra $100 to $ 150 for a good stat that will pay for itself in a year