Goodman 3 1/2 Heat Pump 78 Degrees Outside What Temp Should I Have At The Register?

So, your estrus pump switches to "AUX heat" when information technology'south in heating mode—and y'all're wondering if it's normal.

Kickoff off, AUX heat refers to your heat pump'south auxiliary (backup) oestrus source. Auxiliary estrus kicks on when your heat pump can't produce enough heat to warm your domicile by itself.

AUX oestrus style is normal when:

The temperature exterior is below freezing
Your thermostat is calling for a high temperature increase (2–4°F)
The rut pump is in defrost style

Earlier we get more into when your heat pump should run in AUX heat manner, let's go over how a heat pump heats your dwelling.

Is your rut pump in auxiliary mode when none of the iii situations above apply? That ordinarily indicates malfunction, which likely means your heat pump needs a repair .

Call u.s. at (512) 396-8183 or schedule an appointment online. We'll send a tech right over.

How a heat pump works

To heat your habitation, a heat pump works similar an air conditioner in reverse: it extracts heat from the air outside and sends it into your house.

Considering rut pumps merely transfer rut (non generate it similar a furnace), they're a highly efficient course of heating.

We encompass heat pump performance in more particular in our blog, "Heat Pump vs Conventional Air Conditioner in San Marcos, TX".

How does auxiliary heating differ from normal rut pump heating?

The answer depends on what kind of auxiliary heating your system uses. Almost San Marcos homes have i of 2 types of auxiliary heating:

Electrical resistance heating, which utilise heat strips (standard with every oestrus pump) installed in your ductwork. This blazon of heating is highly inefficient.
Gas furnace. Called a "dual-fuel system", the gas furnace kicks on when the heat pump can no longer efficiently pull heat from the cold air exterior. Dual-fuel systems are much more efficient and continue you more comfortable than electric resistance heating.

Annotation that auxiliary heating is not the aforementioned affair emergency heating (displayed as "EM Oestrus" or "EMER" on most thermostats). While auxiliary heating indicates that your heat pump automatically switched from normal to auxiliary heating, emergency heating is a setting that allows you lot to manually set your organization to auxiliary heating.

You should merely use your heat pump'due south emergency heating mode when it's truly an emergency (e.g., your heat pump isn't working in winter) because manually overriding your arrangement means it won't run every bit efficiently as it can—which will result in higher energy bills.

Auxiliary heat is needed when…

The temperature exterior is beneath freezing

Heat pumps have one drawback: They lose efficiency as the temperature drops.

Rut pumps are highly efficient to about 32°F. Below freezing, your heat pump simply can't describe enough heat from the common cold air outside and will kick on its auxiliary rut mode to generate rut for your home.

So, earlier you lot call a professional person to diagnose a trouble, bank check the outdoor temperature. If information technology's an unusually cold twenty-four hour period in San Marcos, don't be surprised to see "AUX oestrus" on the thermostat.

Your thermostat is calling for a loftier temperature increase

When the temperature within your dwelling house is more than ii–4°F above your thermostat's set temperature, the auxiliary heat volition turn on. (The actual temperature differential will depend on your rut pump model.)

This happens because your organisation is trying to generate a lot of heat to warm your home quicker than it would with normal heat pump heating. Once the inside temperature reaches the fix thermostat temperature, your arrangement should become back to using normal estrus pump heating.

To avert this trouble, we recommend limiting how often you heighten the temperature more than 2–iv°F.

The heat pump is in defrost fashion

Although we don't get a lot of sub-freezing temperatures in San Marcos, your heat pump could enter what's chosen "defrost mode", which prevents your outdoor unit from freezing over.

In defrost mode, your system will essentially run in cooling way for a few minutes to allow the coils in the outdoor unit to warm up.

Yous'll know your system is in defrost mode if the outdoor fan has stopped circulating and you see puffs of steam coming from the unit. Some models even have a blinking calorie-free on the outdoor unit that indicates your unit is in defrost manner.

During defrost mode, your system volition use auxiliary heating to rut your home in the meantime. The oestrus pump should kick back to normal heating mode after a few minutes.

Think your estrus pump isn't working properly? Call a San Marcos tech.

Nosotros'll come diagnose the problem and repair your heat pump. Learn more nearly what to wait when you lot hire us on our rut pump repair page.

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