Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - How Do I know if I have a Heat Pump?

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MyrtleDog
02-08-09, 12:44 PM
Hi,
Moved into a new house but not sure if I have a heat pump. Wanted to install programmable thermostats but I noticed some say they do not support heat pumps. Just want to be sure I buy the right thing.

Thanks!

ronnybuck
02-08-09, 03:54 PM
Does the outside unit run at times? The key is if the tstat you have or thinking about replacing have dual levers, one for heating and cooling. If single leaver do you see a switch that says Heat Off Cool and a one for Emergency Heat and Man Fan. If your Tstat doesn't have any of this just a On Off Fan then it is just Air conditioning but if conventional heat it will have a Heat Off Cool and a separate Manual Fan Switch.
MyrtleDog
02-08-09, 04:27 PM
The outside unit does run at times. I would be replacing a digital t-stat. Looks like the model # is TH5110D (Honeywell). The one that is there now has two buttons. One is for "System" which toggles between Off/Cool/Heat. The other button is for the fan. That one toggles between On/Auto.

Muggle
02-08-09, 05:17 PM
If you have electric heat strips or a gas furnace as backup, a programmable t-stat will do much more harm than good.

Heatpumps don't have the capacity to recover in cold weather - only to maintain. (Backup electric heat uses 2-3 times as much energy as a heatpump)