Electric Bill shock, researching Honeywell thermostats

[Rudy81]

I have spent some time today researching heat pumps and my Honeywell Vision Pro 8000. I live in Texas and this month's electric bill was shocking. I figure we have been keeping the temperature (72 degrees) too high with this heat pump. In my research I learned that heat pumps will go into aux or emergency heat if you raise the temperature more than two degrees. I am trying to determine if this thermostat is smart enough to know that, and thus save money by programming lower temperatures at night. I do have intelligent recovery set to on.

My research has provided mixed opinions on whether or not it is best to lower the temperature at night vs. one constant setting day and night. Can anyone tell me the most efficient way to run a heat pump with electric aux heat?

Thank you.

[shogun8]

Keep the stat no higher then 68 *F or lower at bed time and no higher then 70*F during the day, ck all the weather stripping for infiltration and hopefully you have proper insulation in the house for your area. Electric aux heat should only come on if the room temperature falls below the set point of the stat by 4*F

[beenthere]

It will attempt to recover without using the aux more then needed.
But, it will still use the aux if your set back is 4 or more degrees.

A smaller set back will save more money since you have electric aux.

[Rudy81]

It will attempt to recover without using the aux more then needed.
But, it will still use the aux if your set back is 4 or more degrees.

A smaller set back will save more money since you have electric aux.

So if we set 69 degress during the day, you recommend 66 or higher at night?

[beenthere]

So if we set 69 degress during the day, you recommend 66 or higher at night?

Yea, what ever temp you like for the day, not more then 3° setback.

Homes that the HP has a low balance point can get away with 4°.

[Rudy81]

shogun8: Thank you for your response. My home is well insulated and well sealed. My research left me with some questions on how to most efficiently operate this new heat pump and this new Honeywell thermostat. I am guessing this thermostat understands the limitations of heat pumps and aux heat. My utility bill was $200 above last year with same price for KWh. We used about a third more electricity with no other changes.

Live and learn.

[Daltex]

shogun8: Thank you for your response. My home is well insulated and well sealed. My research left me with some questions on how to most efficiently operate this new heat pump and this new Honeywell thermostat. I am guessing this thermostat understands the limitations of heat pumps and aux heat. My utility bill was $200 above last year with same price for KWh. We used about a third more electricity with no other changes.

Live and learn.

Did you have a HP last year or was it a gas furnace?

If a HP, did it have electric backup heat?

Did you setback the stat the same?

One third more of $600 is $200 so is your elect. bill now $800.

[pecmsg]

To get a better comparison of operating costs you should be using the degree days from last year and this year. You’re local weather should have that information.

It’s possible that the stat is not set up properly or there’s a wiring problem. You might want to give the installing contractor a call and ask them.

[skwsproul]

I am sure these other guys will answer your questions about your equipment. The 8000 is a great stat and you will notice savings due to the 4 period settings as well as smart recovery and to top it off it will control your equipment better. Make sure you get it intalled by a reputable local company and get the outdoor air sensor as well it will work even better with it. Yes you could install it yourself but there are a lot of equipment specific settings that need to be set up propperly to take full advantage of its features.

I put one in my house 2 years ago and it has been great and saved me a ton. In fact I can log into my local utility company and you could see on a chart when it was installed due to the energy usage drop.

[skwsproul]

i apologise I see now that you already have one. Does it have the outdoor sensor. I would have the settings checked. Here it is around 2 -3 % for each deg f of setback but we start losing if we setback more than 6 deg f as the unit will run to long to catch back up. The adaptive feature helps with this but it is not a fix.

[Rudy81]

Did you have a HP last year or was it a gas furnace?

If a HP, did it have electric backup heat?

Did you setback the stat the same?

One third more of $600 is $200 so is your elect. bill now $800.

System was very similar, but no programmable thermostat and less efficient HP. Up 'till today, we have never used setback. That is why I am trying to determine what the optimum setback is for this thermostat with a HP.

[pstu]

I live in S.Texas and used to work for the electric utility in and around Houston. There *can* be sizable variations in the number of days in your billing cycle. Also it might be useful to look up what the weather did this year and last, Texas winters are irregular and you just may have had bad luck with cold weather this year. Last and least, once in awhile the utility makes an error reading the meter. These are possible reasons for a high bill in addition to the backup electric resistance heat being on. Honestly I think it more likely there is an overuse of backup heat, if you can control that your bill should go down.

Hope this helps -- Pstu

[pecmsg]

Where did you get this stat and when was it installed?

It would also help if we knew the equipment it’s hooked up to!

[Rudy81]

Where did you get this stat and when was it installed?

It would also help if we knew the equipment it’s hooked up to!

The heat pump, air handler and thermostat was installed by a local HVAC company. It replaced a previous unit which died. The heat pump is an Armstrong Air 16 SEER 5 ton unit. The air handler and heat pump was supposedly multy speed or something like that.

Bills for last four months were same as last year, but this past month was a killer. I figure I just don't know how to properly use this system most efficiently.

[jeepgrady]

Keep the stat no higher then 68 *F or lower at bed time and no higher then 70*F during the day, ck all the weather stripping for infiltration and hopefully you have proper insulation in the house for your area. Electric aux heat should only come on if the room temperature falls below the set point of the stat by 4*F

Your statement about the aux only coming on if room temp falls below the set point of the stat by more than 4 deg. is misleading. Mine cycles on and off when both the actual temp and the set temp are the same, but the HP alone cannot hold the set temp by itself. My neighbors systems also work the same as mine.

[pecmsg]

I do have intelligent recovery set to on.

Thank you.

For this feature to work it needs the outdoor temperature sensor. Something is not set up correctly.

[beenthere]

For this feature to work it needs the outdoor temperature sensor. Something is not set up correctly.

Are you sure about that?

[pecmsg]

Are you sure about that?

Intelligent recovery uses the OAT to know how much run time is needed to reach the set point by the set time.


But you’re going to make me look in the manual again.

[beenthere]

Intelligent recovery uses the OAT to know how much run time is needed to reach the set point by the set time.


But you’re going to make me look in the manual again.

Yea.

Cause I never seen that in the manual.

[pecmsg]

Yea.

Cause I never seen that in the manual.

If 0340 “Remote Sensor” is set to 0 then 0530 “Adaptive Intelligent Recovery” defaults to 0 and should not be displayed.