It is not recommended to disable it entirely. Without auxiliary heat, your heat pump may freeze up during defrost cycles or fail to reach your desired temperature on freezing days, potentially causing discomfort or system damage.
Homes with poor insulation might require auxiliary heat more often due to rapid heat loss, posing challenges for the heat pump. Local climate conditions. However, those with a cold climate heat pumps may not have the need for auxiliary heat.
But there are some things you can do to minimize the need for aux heat. Make sure your heat pump is correctly sized for your home. Use a programmable or smart thermostat. Keep the temperature around 68 degrees.
Can I leave aux heat on all the time? It's not recommended—aux heat is meant for temporary use and is less efficient than standard heat pump operation.
How often should auxiliary heat come on? Auxiliary heat should come on only occasionally, such as during extremely cold temperatures or when the system is trying to raise the temperature quickly.
It takes time for your home to warm up and cool down. If you're not sure how long it takes, try turning the heating on about 30 minutes before you need it. You should turn it off 30 minutes before you'll stop needing it.
Aux heat and the heat pump should run simultaneously if the aux heat is electric resistance (heat strips). If aux heat is a furnace, the aux and heat pump should NOT run simultaneously.
When temperatures drop below freezing, your heat pump may struggle to extract enough heat from the outdoor air. To compensate, the system turns on auxiliary heat to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature. This is expected and ensures your home remains warm on the coldest days of the year.
When the weather outside gets colder than your lockout temperature, your thermostat will start using AUX heat. If you have a heat pump with AUX heat, your Nest thermostat will use Heat Pump Balance to determine your lockout or breakpoint temperature automatically.
Heat pumps operate by exchanging heat with the outside air, and their efficiency decreases as the temperature falls. In extremely low temperatures, heat pumps have to work extra hard, which might make you feel as though your system is blowing cold air.
Does Auxiliary Heat Increase Energy Bills? Short answer: Yes, it can. Aux heat uses electric resistance heating, which consumes far more energy than your heat pump alone. If it's running too often, you'll notice the difference on your utility bill.
The reality is that it's usually not a good idea to simply keep a heat pump operating all through the night while you're asleep. Instead, you should make sure that you have a programmable thermostat and set it to have it lower the indoor temperatures by 8° to 10°F when people are asleep.
Colder Outdoor Temperatures Reduce Heat Pump Efficiency: A heat pump transfers warmth from outside air into your home. When outdoor temperatures fall below 35°F, there's simply less heat to extract. To make up the difference, the system automatically engages the auxiliary heat source to maintain your set temperature.
AUX heat activates when your heat pump can't meet heating demand alone. It uses backup electric resistance heating for extra warmth. AUX heat may turn on automatically in very cold weather. Monitor usage to avoid higher energy bills.
Think of the emergency heat setting as a backup plan for a malfunctioning heat pump—not something to use just because it's cold outside. Turning on your emergency heat unnecessarily can increase energy costs by two to three times, making it one of the most expensive heating mistakes homeowners make.
It's normal that a heat pump system will run in auxiliary mode if the current temperature in the house is more than a few degrees colder than what the thermostat is set to. In this situation, the thermostat should switch back to normal heating mode as soon as it detects your house has reached the right temperature.
It's not inherently bad if your auxiliary heat comes on. Auxiliary heat is a secondary heating source designed to provide extra warmth when needed. However, frequent or prolonged use can lead to higher energy bills since auxiliary heat is less efficient than your heat pump.
When working correctly, auxiliary heat should only activate during defrost cycles or when temperatures are extremely cold. If it's running constantly, you're wasting energy and money while putting extra strain on your system.
Temperature matters
Heat pumps are more efficient than most other systems, but they can still increase your bill if they aren't used properly. It might be tempting to drop the temperature down to 60 degrees on a hot summer day, but the heat pump will need a lot of electricity to drop in temperature that much.
🤔 Follow the 20-degree rule: keep your thermostat set no more than 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature during the summer and no more than 30 degrees warmer during the winter time!. This keeps your system from overworking, helps reduce energy waste, and maintains comfort more efficiently.
You should only manually switch to EMERGENCY HEAT mode if your heat pump is malfunctioning and you need to keep your house warm while waiting for repairs. In rare cases, such as during freezing rain, ice could build up on the compressor fan fins and potentially cause damage.
Heating and energy expert Stephen Hankinson said that one "big energy cost saver" is to make sure you have your heating off when you're not at home. For instance, if you typically arrive home from work at around 6pm on weekdays, you could set your heating to activate just as you walk through the door.
Here are the most significant home electricity users:
A detailed study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found residents preferred a wintertime heater setting between 67 °F and 70 °F (19 °C to 21 °C). The Department of Energy recommends a winter heat setting of 68 °F (20 °C), which matches up very well with the temperatures most of us are comfortable with.
In outdoor temperatures above 30 degrees, the heat pump should cycle off and on like a normal furnace. Somewhere between 20 and 30 degrees outdoor temperature, the heat pump will reach a “balance point” where the heat needed by the home is equal to the heat supplied by the heat pump. So now it will run all the time.