The heat pump is one of the most efficient ways of heating a house ever invented. It is unlike any other way of heating and needs to be understood so you can get the most out of it.

First of all a clean filter and clean indoor and outdoor unit is the most efficient heat pump. And like a car in that it needs yearly maintenance. In other words if you take care of the heat pump it will take care of you. Big setbacks in night time temperature will actually cost you money because the backup system will need to come on to help the heat pump raise the temperature in the house.

If the heats pump (outdoor unit) is running 24/7 on very cold days that’s good. The more it runs the more money it saves you. When it is cold outside the heat pump will run most of the time. This is by design. If you like a cold house at night we suggest that you close off the registers in your bedroom and close the doors and let the rest of the house remain warm.

You get $2.00 to $3.50 of heat for every dollar you spend on electricity to run the heat pump. You get $1.00 to 1.00 for the electric backup system. (Also called emergency heat)

The air handler has a back up heater that comes on when the heat pump has trouble bringing the house up to temperature or when heating up a cold house.

When it gets below 38 degrees outside the backup heat may need to come on to help heat the house. The heat pump has a defrost cycle that reverses the flow of refrigerant so that hot gas goes through the outdoor unit and defrosts the ice buildup. If you see a steam cloud, don’t to be alarmed.

Heat pumps work great at maintaining the temperature in your house but take a long time to heat up a cold house. We suggest that you maintain the temperature at one setting day and night. It’s the most efficient way to work a heat pump. If you want a night set back we suggest not more than a 5 degree setback.

The register temperature will seem low but will heat the house at whatever reasonable temperature needed.