Heat pump and pellet stove

[userloser]

Is there a way I can set my Trane heat pump to come on only with auxillary or emergency heat? I run a pellet stove and when it gets really cold outside it keeps the thermastat just high enough to run the condenser but not the aux. Thus, the air out the vents is pretty cool and it runs for long periods. If its that cold outside that the pellet stove cant keep the house up to temp, I would rather the aux. heat kick in and then shut back off when it reaches it.

[fortressofcomfort]

Why not just switch the thermostat to Em Heat ? That will keep the HP from running; only the supplemental heat will run.

[dw1]

Before you switch to EM heat, which will solve your problem, but you're operating on strickly electric heat. If you're out of the house let the hp do its job. You should be able to get more heat per dollar with a hp than your pellet stove.

[userloser]

When I swtich to EM mode the aux light comes partially on at first and it appears that just the fan runs and the air out of the vents comes out at about 73*. However if I turn the heat up more the aux light comes fully on and very warm air comes out of the vents. I guess this is normal?

[dor]

Heat pump air always feels cool to the hand, but if you let it do its job it'll heat your house nicely at low cost. That warm air you like to feel is very expensive. Your heat pump is most efficient when it's running extensively.

[amickracing]

Originally posted by userloser
When I swtich to EM mode the aux light comes partially on at first and it appears that just the fan runs and the air out of the vents comes out at about 73*. However if I turn the heat up more the aux light comes fully on and very warm air comes out of the vents. I guess this is normal?

Sounds like you have a 3 stage heating stat. Stage 1 is the HP, stage 2 is one bank of heat strips and stage 3 is the other bank of strips.

The reason why it only blows warm air (when in Em heat and barely above set point) is it's only bringing on one bank of strips... once you crank it up 3 or so degree's above the set point, the stat figures out it'd better get some more heating going because it thinks it's falling behind... and kicks on the 2nd stage of strips, making it feel warmer.

[userloser]

Sounds good to me, Thanks to all who replied!