From the Blog · College Grove, TN
Emergency Heat: What It Is and When to Use It
Emergency heat is a thermostat mode that switches your heat pump off and heats with the backup source alone, usually electric strips or a furnace. Use it when the heat pump itself has failed or is iced over and cannot run, and only until it is repaired. It is not a stronger setting for cold nights; your system already calls the backup automatically when it needs it.
Emergency heat is not auxiliary heat
Auxiliary heat is automatic: the heat pump keeps running and the backup tops it up on cold mornings or during defrost. Emergency heat is manual and total: you are telling the system the heat pump is out of service. Leaving a healthy system in emergency heat mode heats your whole Williamson County home with the most expensive source you own.
The right times to switch it on
Switch to emergency heat if the outdoor unit is damaged, frozen solid and not defrosting, making alarming noises, or has failed completely on a cold night. Then call for heat pump repair; the mode is a bridge to a repair visit, not a season-long setting. If you smell burning or see sparking, skip the thermostat, switch the system off at the breaker and use our emergency service.
If your bill just spiked, check this first
The most common emergency-heat story we hear in College Grove is not a failure at all: someone bumped the thermostat into emergency mode weeks ago. Check the display before you panic about the bill, and switch back to HEAT if the heat pump is healthy.