Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit will
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Freckles wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit
will work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Is there an "override" switch on the thermostat? Set it.

"Freckles" wrote in message
...
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit will
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles



I am not sure what your question is. A heat pump drews heat out of the
outside air and pumps it inside to warm your home. The electric heater is
there when either a defrost cycle kicks in or the outside temperature is too
low to suck out enough heat to be practical.

It really depends on the average outside winter temperature and the cost of
electricity. If you live in a mild climate and only have a few really cold
days it is not worth worrying about the cost of the electric heat.

If however you live in a really cold climate and electricity is expensive
then adding some sort of fossil fuel furnace option makes a lot of sense, or
perhaps a geothermal heat pump would be a better match.

Where do you live and how are the electric rates?

--
Roger Shoaf
If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent.

Freckles wrote:

Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit will
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

If the heat pump is equipped with electric backup as most are it's easy,
but it will at least triple your heating cost.

"Bob F" wrote in -
september.org:

Freckles wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit
will work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Is there an "override" switch on the thermostat? Set it.



Sometimes labled as "Emergency".

On Fri, 8 Jan 2010 22:47:02 -0600, "Freckles"
wrote:

Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit will
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Free. Check the thermostat for an emergency heat setting. If the
thermostat is the old mechanical type, you may need to turn the
temperature higher when you use the emergency heat setting.



Thanks,

Freckles


---
A computer is] like an Old Testament god, with a lot of rules and no mercy. -- Joseph Campbell

On Jan 8, 11:47*pm, "Freckles" wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit will
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has setting
labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric back up. It
runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep the house warm
when temps gets into the 20's.

David

hibb wrote in
:

On Jan 8, 11:47*pm, "Freckles" wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit
wil
l
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has setting
labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric back up. It
runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep the house warm
when temps gets into the 20's.

David


Damn. Sounds odd. I remember a couple of places I had a heat pump. When I
flipped it to Em the air coming out of the vent was like 120. That should
be more than adequate unless the unit is severely inadequate, no
insulation, disco'd ducts, etc. Don't know if the "heat strips" are
multiple independent in which case one might be out.

Red Green wrote:
hibb wrote in
:

On Jan 8, 11:47 pm, "Freckles" wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the
unit wil
l
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has
setting labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric
back up. It runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep
the house warm when temps gets into the 20's.

David


Damn. Sounds odd. I remember a couple of places I had a heat pump.
When I flipped it to Em the air coming out of the vent was like 120.
That should be more than adequate unless the unit is severely
inadequate, no insulation, disco'd ducts, etc. Don't know if the
"heat strips" are multiple independent in which case one might be out.

I had to replace 2 out of 3 heat strips once. Parts were maybe $40 at an
appliance parts store.

"Bob F" wrote in
:

Red Green wrote:
hibb wrote in

:

On Jan 8, 11:47 pm, "Freckles" wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the
unit wil
l
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has
setting labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric
back up. It runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep
the house warm when temps gets into the 20's.

David


Damn. Sounds odd. I remember a couple of places I had a heat pump.
When I flipped it to Em the air coming out of the vent was like 120.
That should be more than adequate unless the unit is severely
inadequate, no insulation, disco'd ducts, etc. Don't know if the
"heat strips" are multiple independent in which case one might be
out.

I had to replace 2 out of 3 heat strips once. Parts were maybe $40 at
an appliance parts store.




Was the EM totally cold (series) or just not very hot (parallel) aka
independent?

The others are correct-- that is what the "Emeer Heat" mode does. It
also switches the heat strips from second stageto first stage. Did you
try the Emer and the unit not work, or what? More details will get you
more info/advice. Larry

On Jan 9, 12:04*pm, Red Green wrote:
hibb wrote :



On Jan 8, 11:47*pm, "Freckles" wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the unit
wil
l
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has setting
labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric back up. It
runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep the house warm
when temps gets into the 20's.

David

Damn. Sounds odd. I remember a couple of places I had a heat pump. When I
flipped it to Em the air coming out of the vent was like 120. That should
be more than adequate unless the unit is severely inadequate, no
insulation, disco'd ducts, etc. Don't know if the "heat strips" are
multiple independent in which case one might be out.

It sure could be that the dip**** that was married to my niece that
talked me into letting him install that thing didn't do a good job.
Didn't know what a dip**** he was until he started slapping his wife
around. I'm doing alright with the pellet stove and a couple of space
heaters this year but I am thinking of getting a good furnace
installer out here to access the whole setup and make the necessary
changes.

Heat strips are wired in parallel, usually at 5 KW per bank, although
not always. Often the strips are sized to keep the HP from blowing ice
cubes during defrost, and to supplement the HP, not to supply necesssary
heat by themselves in all temps. Often, strip heat size is limited by
the amount of current availabe, especially in retrofit/replacement
installations. Many people are convinced their HP isn't doing
anything when it gets very cold outside because the air output doesn't
even feel warm. much less hot. Last night was the coldest it's been here
since I cobbled up two old Trane takeout HP units in my house in 2000.
With the HPs only, I had them set on 71-- at 24 deg outside, it still
held 71. At 7 AM, it was 17 outside and 67 inside. Even though the air
didn't even feel warm coming ou of the vents, it was keeping the house
50 warmer than outside. Admittedly, they ran non-stop, but they were
probably drawing less than 10 amps each. I was curious to what the exact
amperage was at 17 outside, but not nearly enough to go outside and find
out. My neighbor has a fairly similar sized place with a Rheem package
unit with 15KW electric heat that draws about 62 amps. We both got our
electric bills Friday, and hers was $200 more than mine -- roughly $480
vs $280 , and I have an electric water heater, where hers is propane.
Larry

Red Green wrote:
"Bob F" wrote in
:

Red Green wrote:
hibb wrote in



On Jan 8, 11:47 pm, "Freckles" wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the
unit wil
l
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has
setting labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric
back up. It runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep
the house warm when temps gets into the 20's.

David


Damn. Sounds odd. I remember a couple of places I had a heat pump.
When I flipped it to Em the air coming out of the vent was like 120.
That should be more than adequate unless the unit is severely
inadequate, no insulation, disco'd ducts, etc. Don't know if the
"heat strips" are multiple independent in which case one might be
out.

I had to replace 2 out of 3 heat strips once. Parts were maybe $40 at
an appliance parts store.




Was the EM totally cold (series) or just not very hot (parallel) aka
independent?

The three strip heater operated in parallel, except I believe there was a slight
delay between switching on each bank.

Bob F wrote:

Red Green wrote:
"Bob F" wrote in
:

Red Green wrote:
hibb wrote in



On Jan 8, 11:47 pm, "Freckles" wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the
unit wil
l
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has
setting labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric
back up. It runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep
the house warm when temps gets into the 20's.

David


Damn. Sounds odd. I remember a couple of places I had a heat pump.
When I flipped it to Em the air coming out of the vent was like 120.
That should be more than adequate unless the unit is severely
inadequate, no insulation, disco'd ducts, etc. Don't know if the
"heat strips" are multiple independent in which case one might be
out.

I had to replace 2 out of 3 heat strips once. Parts were maybe $40 at
an appliance parts store.




Was the EM totally cold (series) or just not very hot (parallel) aka
independent?

The three strip heater operated in parallel, except I believe there was a slight
delay between switching on each bank.

The EM on the unit I just installed here has three strips, each strip
has a separate contactor, two are on one power feed and one is on a
separate power feed. The contactors coils are wired in parallel by
default, with a splice that can be removed to operate them in two
stages, one of two strips and the third strip separate.

"Bob F" wrote in
:

Red Green wrote:
"Bob F" wrote in
:

Red Green wrote:
hibb wrote in

om


On Jan 8, 11:47 pm, "Freckles" wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the
unit wil
l
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has
setting labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric
back up. It runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep
the house warm when temps gets into the 20's.

David


Damn. Sounds odd. I remember a couple of places I had a heat pump.
When I flipped it to Em the air coming out of the vent was like
120. That should be more than adequate unless the unit is severely
inadequate, no insulation, disco'd ducts, etc. Don't know if the
"heat strips" are multiple independent in which case one might be
out.

I had to replace 2 out of 3 heat strips once. Parts were maybe $40
at an appliance parts store.




Was the EM totally cold (series) or just not very hot (parallel) aka
independent?

The three strip heater operated in parallel, except I believe there
was a slight delay between switching on each bank.



Thanks Bob. Seems to be what LP1331 also said. Makes sense.

hibb wrote in
:

On Jan 9, 12:04*pm, Red Green wrote:
hibb wrote
innews:465ef1fd-3419-4dc9-81ee-f9dcf5d218d
:



On Jan 8, 11:47*pm, "Freckles" wrote:
Can a heat pump feature on an electric heater be disabled so the
unit wil
l
work like a regular heater.

If so, is it very expensive to get done?

Thanks,

Freckles

Yeah. What the other said. The Thermostat for my heat pump has
setting labeled "Em Heat" which sets the heat to just the electric
back up. It runs my electric bill up big time and still won't keep
the house warm when temps gets into the 20's.

David

Damn. Sounds odd. I remember a couple of places I had a heat pump.
When I flipped it to Em the air coming out of the vent was like 120.
That should be more than adequate unless the unit is severely
inadequate, no insulation, disco'd ducts, etc. Don't know if the
"heat strips" are multiple independent in which case one might be
out.

It sure could be that the dip**** that was married to my niece that
talked me into letting him install that thing didn't do a good job.
Didn't know what a dip**** he was until he started slapping his wife
around. I'm doing alright with the pellet stove and a couple of space
heaters this year but I am thinking of getting a good furnace
installer out here to access the whole setup and make the necessary
changes.


You would think during the annual service they would pick up on something
like low temp differential, low airflow at an isolated duct, strips that
are out, breakers for strips tripped.

With the HP's I've been associated with, the attic was used for the air
handler being split system. For the heat strips, IIRC there was a breaker
for them at the panel as well as a breaker up in the attic near the
strips.