It's common to add heat strips,no reason to think about replacing furnace. You may or may not need to upgrade electric service,depends on what's there now. Very well may have been only resistance heat before heat pump was installed. That would mean more electric capacity in place than is being used presently.

Thank you for the input. When I add more heat strips is there a way to set them up so they come in one at a time as needed? Let's say I had three 10k strips. Will one come on then if the second is needed it would come on then the 3rd etc. Or are these all or nothing?

Also is there a guide as far as how many heat strips one should have per each 1000 square feet of living space? Again I am heating over 3000 square feet 2 stories.

Electric strip heat while a necessary component of a heat pump system it shouldn't be the only thing looked at.

While you could take away the heat pump operation of the system the cost for running an all electric strip heat furnace can be substantial depending on your climate as well as utility rate.

If the heat pump can be repaired to operate properly it should be repaired. The savings it will pay you in reduced electric bills during the winter will be quite obvious if you run 'emergency heat' only for any amount of time.

Strips can be set up to come on sequentially. As far as how many you need would be dictated by heating load of the structure. This will vary due to climate.

To put this into perspective... the cost of running the heat pump only is typically less than what it would cost you to run 1 strip heat. (5kw).

I am having the heat pump repaired. But I also still feel the heat strips need to be upgraded. I never run my system only in emergency heat (except for now). However here in Indiana it is not uncommon to get stretches of below zero temps. When it's that cold my system struggles to keep the house warm. The outside heat pump and only one 10k heat strip isn't enough.

for example if it is below zero out my system will have the outside pump running and my emergency strips. The will both run 24/7 for days without shutting off one time, and that is with my thermostats set at 65 degrees in the house.

flyin_lowe: "The will both run 24/7 for days without shutting off one time, and that is with my thermostats set at 65 degrees in the house."

What is the room temperature in the house? If it's holding at 65°F then you're doing fine.

As Austin said,the unit can be set up to bring in various number of strips according to outdoor temperature but imo it's unnecessary. What you really need to stage is when the pump is disabled and unit go's 100% to strip heat. How many and what size strips you need is determined by the technician based on several considerations. If you are asking about staging strips as a means of saving energy,it won't help. We can't tell you exactly how to set your unit up without seeing it and doing some calculations. If code will allow it,you might save money with a sub-panel near furnace supplying heat pump. If there's need for more electric amps to run additional strips,ask the tech if a sub will save money. That's about as far from shore as we need to wade out before getting someone looking at the unit. Not to jump more rabbits before catching this one,you need to add the strips and repair the pump. 3500 sq ft and a single unit might make your situation candidate for one or more Mini-splits as an energy saving strategy. M-splits have pros and cons so I recommend researching multiple sources before making a decision.

The upstairs of the house would not make it to 65 degrees, it would stay several degrees cooler. The down stairs would stay at 65, but the unit would run continuously to keep it there.

I have read, and have learned first hand that with my current configuration (that might change) that the heat pump should not shut off unless it is malfunctioning. 2 winters ago I was told to shut it down when we were experiencing -15 degree temps with wind chills at -45. I was running only in emergency heat and had the stat set at 65 degrees. When I woke up the next morning it was in the high 50's in the house. I called a friend thinking something was wrong. Once he found out I had the pump shut off he told me to turn in back on. Once I did the inside temp started climbing back up. He said that even below zero the heat pump can generate some BTU's and help out. Now if my emergency heat was up to snuff it would have kept it warm I assume. The little research I have done online says that with modern heat pumps you should never shut them off unless they are physically broken or having mechanical issues.

You are talking about an air to air heat pump are you not? If you have geothermal,you should mention it if you expect accurate information. BTW,why are you asking strangers when you have a trusted friend that know's hvac?

I tried to respond once and it did not show up so hopefully this does not duplicate.

Yes my unit is air to air and NOT geo thermal.

As far as "asking strangers" I just like to hear others opinions and try to learn what I can so I have some idea what is going on when someone is here working on it. As for my friend I mentioned earlier he no longer lives in town and the person doing the work now is someone I have never met and was recommended to me from a friend.

65 degrees would not be acceptable for most people, only in emergency conditions like power outage. Normal house temp is between 68 and 72 depending on the user.

IMO

You and my wife both feel the same about the temps. Typically we set it around 68-70 when we are at home then drop it down to 65 at night, since we are both gone all day it will stay on 65 from around 10PM until the following afternoon around 3:00 PM then back up some when she gets home from work. Yesterday it was about 10 degrees outside and we set it at 68 and it never got over 65. Bad news is what we thought was the issue with the heat pump (contactor) ended up not being the problem. Looks like its the main circuit board, so now I am trying to find one of those. It's supposed to be warming up this week but I don't want to be running this stupid thing in emergency heat when it 40-50 degrees outside.

So here is a little bit of an update.

Between this and the other thread I have going..... My heat pump quit and finally found out yesterday it is the low pressure switch that shut the system down. My friend that found it does not do refrigeration so he can't check the pressures. I called a guy and he said 99% it is a leak and not a bad switch. My system has R22. He said with the cost filling it back up and a can of leak sealer he didn't think it was worth trying to nurse it. He said in his experience the leak sealer is a 50-50 weather it seals a leak or not. He said I could be looking at anywhere between $300-$600 or more to have someone come and fill the R22 back up. Plus I was considering upgrading the heat banks which would be several hundred dollars. If the leak continues I am going to be out again trying to get it filled so my AC will work. He recommended given he age of my system (about 10 years old) and the nature of the issues I have that I should just replace the entire system. He is a friend that lives out of town and not doing the work so it is not like he is some guy just trying to sell me a new system. I am waiting to get the pressure tested to see what it will actually cost to get a can of leak sealer in it and refill of R 22. My friend said if it is too much he would just run in emergency heart the rest of the winter and then this spring replace the entire system.

When was the last time heat pump was serviced?

My advice is to hire a competent HVAC company to do a thorough evaluation. If there is a leak it needs to be found and repaired before additional refrigerant is added. I recommend you not contaminate the system with a sealer. A 10 year old heat pump is not that old. It may make sense to repair once you get an estimate of what needs to be done.

I don't understand the advice of running in emergency heat mode all winter. That probably costs more money than doing a repair.

His thought was the amount of money it would cost to repair what I have and upgrade to make it adequate for the size of my house would likely be $1000.00 at the minimum and likely more. He didn't think it was worth putting that kind of money into my system that is undersized and not really heating adequately to begin with. He just said if it was him he would run it in emergency heat for now if I was going to replace the system in the spring. The extra cost of emergency heat would be cheaper then "fixing" it right now if I was going to replace it in the spring.

If I could get it completely fixed for a decent price then he thought I should fix it and not run emergency heat. He just doesn't think I will be able to get someone to find the leak, fix it, refill with R22 for a price that is worth it. I am getting some estimates just to see.

The refrigerant leak (if there is one) is a part of why it's performing inadequately.

I am don't see how someone could do an accurate diagnosis over the phone. How does he know someone can't find the leak. You have to look and and then make that decision.

It is true R22 is getting expensive but if the heat pump is is good condition and the leak can be fixed (assuming there is actually a leak) then it a repair may be an option.

In your first post you mentioned a furnace. How is this furnace configured in relationship to the heat pump? What fuel does it use? If you have a natural gas furnace then you may want to abandon the heat pump completely.

"I am don't see how someone could do an accurate diagnosis over the phone. "

Me either but I think Flyer is banking on multiple phone opinions,multiple internet opinions from multiple sites on multiple forums from multiple people. Throw them all in a bag,shake well and see what fall's out. Commonly know as "The Shotgun Approach". There might be a good answer in there some place,,,,,,,figuring out which one is the challenge.

Mike

The furnace is total electric and it is undersized at that. It only has one 10kw heat strip in it trying to heat a 3500 sq ft home. No access to gas where I am at.

10 years old for a heat pump isn't that old, the problem is it uses R22 Freon. With Freon leaks being the cause it may be best to cut your losses with this for the simple reason if you repair the leak and then spring another leak a little later, R22 prices will likely be much higher. It's not like this unit has any manufacturer warranty still > another reason to replace.

Do not put leak sealer in your system... it is a waste of money and is most beneficial at gumming up your refrigerant system. If you're going to repair the leak, repair it right do not let anyone put snake oil in your system.

So I had a HVAC tech come out to night a go through my entire house and my system. Due to the size of my house he was surprised that I was able to keep it heated. His recommendation is to start over with new system. He is working on a quote for me. He said the current system does not have enough return, the emergency heat is obviously way to small, and he said it would not be worth tracking down the leak, loading it back up with R22. He said I should have at least 20kw of emergency heat and currently have 10K. The current set up is not capable of handling that much plus the electric service to the unit won't handle it either. I am working on getting bids from a few places. I kicked around getting an LP tank and going that way but I think I am going to stick with the heat pump and electric supplement heat.

I think the heat pump with electric supplement heat is your best bet. When comparing bids, hire someone that you want to establish a relationship with. Because if there are problems with the system, this is who you will be dealing with. It will not pay you to hire an installer and then use someone else for service or repairs.

It will put you and them in a 'conflict of interest' position.

Choose your HVAC company carefully. Realize currently there is roughly a 60% chance a new installation will be done wrong or inadequately.

Thanks for the advice.

I haven't got bids back yet but one of the guys made a recommendation I thought made sense but what your guys thoughts.

He said he would put two 10 kw heat strips in. One of them would have an outside stat set at like 10 degrees. As long as temps were above 10 outside it would only run one of the heat strips. Once it drops below 10 then both would kick in. Is that a normal thing to do, it seemed to make sense to me.

Many quality air handlers/systems can handle staging of the backup heat without external sensors. I'm a "fix if at all possible" guy but given all the issues with your system, I think replacement is called for. Just be careful, as stated above, that you get an installer that knows what they are doing.

Oh, and I'm not a fan of propane................