Hey guys! I Recently did a video talking about the shutoff of heat pumps and why dual fuel systems do it when other heat pump type systems do not, especially if you have electric backup. In contrast, we went through why they lock out, why it's important, and why some systems don't lock out because they don't have those issues that those dual fuel systems have. However, I did have a comment recently on one of our videos where he was asking about this and I thought it was interesting I thought it was a good question and maybe we might be a little Antiquated with our thinking with this. Now let me just say this: if you don't have a dual fuel system, if you have a normal heat pump system regardless of the type stages or inverter or anything like that, in most cases, I Would say the majority of those types of systems with electric backup do not shut off based on what the outdoor temperature is.

Now some do, but the majority of them do not, so they will continue to run even with the auxiliary heat turning on. So that way they can still provide as much help as they can and to you know, heat that home and then eventually turn off. but I thought this uh, this question was quite interesting. So this comes from a gentleman named Tom Wiles that is his name on YouTube and his question was I have my thermostat set to shut down the outside unit below 27 degrees when the heat strips are producing the bulk of the heat.

Should I program the thermostat to quote always unquote: run the outside unit regardless of how low the outside temperature goes and so I commented back to him I Thought it was a good question, especially in today's day and age and I will go over why in just a second. But again, most of these systems historically did not turn off when the auxiliary heat turns on. I Think there is an argument to be made that if it gets so cold outside that the heat pump is basically rendered useless that it's just running and it's not actually providing any type of heat rise across that coil, then it could be argued that that system should turn off just based on efficiency that it's not doing anything anyway. Why would you want to pay for that extra energy? No.

I would say in most cases it's not as much energy as say the heat strips anyway. but you could make that argument that it's useless and why are we still running it here I Will say though there are certain products on the market that the manufacturers will come out and say that if it gets below a certain temperature that we have a lockout for one reason or another. I Sat through a Class A couple years ago where they said hey with our product. if the line sets are longer than this particular length and it's below this temperature outside, we want you to lock that unit out because of something to do with the oil or I can actually don't remember what the reason was and that was more because of the system itself.

You were protecting that system if it got below that temperature. I Did do a video recently where we talked about balance point in the home. If you haven't watched that video and you have a dual fuel system I Highly recommend watching that because we talk about. you know what's that exact perfect lockout temperature? no house is the same.

but I think it might even help even if you don't have a dual fuel system To at least watch that video and understand what balance point is, why it's different in every home and why it may matter to you even if your backup heat is electric. But the last thing I'll say that I touched on a second ago is why is this more important today than it used to be? And the main reason is is because we're seeing heat pumps be introduced to markets that were never even considering heat pumps. Years ago, they were basically useless. But now as time has gone on, we're seeing systems that can produce heat and run at much lower temperatures more than ever.

Before we're seeing markets and climates that these systems are being installed in and saving folks energy when in the past, they would never even considered to install a heat pump system. So I think ultimately the answer to this question: I think in most cases, I probably probably wouldn't worry about it at least where I live. but if you live in an area where you just feel like if that heat pump is basically useless below a certain temperature, well, then of course you know, find out. Whatever that point is, and you know, shut it off.

at least below that point. I Do think if things keep going like they are, you're going to see more and more systems on the market that don't have any backup heat at all that the heat pump is going to be able to produce so well in such low ambient temperatures. They don't have a backup heat. We're already seeing systems hit the market today with that in mind.

but I think you're going to see more of that as time goes on. Anyway, What are your thoughts if you are locking your heat pump out when it gets below a certain temperature outside, even with auxiliary heat? I'd love to hear about that I'd love to hear your thought process and why you picked that temperature. Tom Thank you for the comment I Think there's a couple of schools of thought on this, especially where you live in the country, and hopefully watching this video will help you and other homeowners figure this out. Unfortunately, there is no cookie cutter answer when we're talking about balance point and some of these other things.

Definitely comment down below. Thanks for watching Hit that subscribe button. We'll see you next time.