Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Heat Pump auxiliary heat ?

use my HEAT PUMP very little, mostly 1-2 hours in the early AM, while the fireplace is heating up....

I notice that the AUX HEAT comes on AT ALL TIMES when the system calls for heat ?? outside temps are in the low 40 right now---but it does not matter. recent check out confirmed all was O.K. tech said it was the THERMOSTAT calling for AUX HEAT to get the desired temp up sooner ????

Thank you in advance for the help

Most standard t-stats will bring in the aux heat coils if the set temp of the t-stat is bumped up above the room temp by two degrees or more so that would be fairly normal. Now if you wish to lock out the aux coils or something like that a real easy way to do that is to utilize a t-stat like the Honeywell 8000 series IAQ with the outdoor temp sensor. It has a lot of options and one is to lock out the aux heat if the outdoor temp is above a certain temp.There are multiple adjustments and options and a lot of fun to play with so go ahead and GitUOne then you can customize your system to play by your own rules as you please, without having to compromise like the common folk. I think that the new President may actually include new t-stats for everyone in his bailout funds for the automotive industry so you may want to hold off until after Jan 20th 2009. I myself can hardly wait.

How far back are you setting your tstat at night, and how far are you increasing it in the morning?

Set back at night is from 5-6 degrees....get up in the AM and even if I keep the temp spread at 1 degree the AUX HEAT comes on ?? Is this function controlled by the thermostat ? I would think the Heat Pump would come on FIRST and then the AUX HEAT later ( if needed )

5-6 degrees is a bit much for the HP to catch up. I would expect your Aux to come on then.

Yes, the HP should run first and then the aux heat kick on when/if it cannot satisfy. But different tstats have different algorithms for when to bring on aux. Yours may just be very sensative. And changing the setpoint while the unit is trying to catch up might bring on the aux.

When you reach setpoint does the aux kick in and out? If the HP is capable of maintaining temp this might just be the way your system works, but if it not able to keep up I might suspect a problem such as low charge, bad tstat, bad controller board, etc.

Try not setting your tstat more than 2 degrees first. And watch to see if the HP can maintain temp.

Let us know what you find.

let me clarify.....System OFF at night ( we use a fireplace 90% of the time ) when I get up in the AM I turn the systen on....so if the house is 67---I call for 68--- the system comes on along with the AUX HEAT....I had the system looked at and all was reported as OK....I'll watch to see what happens when I leave the systen on after it reaches the setpoint---not sure if when it comes back on if AUX is on or not..

Thanks for the help !!