# infinity heat pump always on aux heat below 40 degree



## hirrlinger (Dec 11, 2009)

I have an carrier infinity heat pump. In advanced setup it has "electric lockout" set to 40 degrees. Does this mean that electric will not come on above 40, or electric will always come on below 40? 

Last night and today it has been about 30 outside. Heat has been set to 69 all day, not trying to raise temp, just keep it steady. Display always says "aux heat active". Is that correct functioning? The heat pump is big enough for the space (maybe a little oversized) and room was in sun today and normally insulated.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

Lock out. Just means it can't come on unless the temp is below that.

Do you have it set for comfort, or efficiency. If comfort, try setting it to efficiency.


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## hirrlinger (Dec 11, 2009)

It's on comfort. Efficiency wakes me up at night. But I understand, efficiency would make the room heat faster when the heat comes on because hot air blows faster, so the room would heat back to desired temp before aux heat had to kick in. I'll consider that if my electric bill is too high. What do you think about setting the lock out a little lower, like 30? Thanks.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

Go ahead. That way if it can't keep up at 35, you can just set it to 35 then. Or if it can keep up at 30, you save more money.

If your hearing the air blow in economy. Then your ducts are under sized.


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## autoxtl (Jul 18, 2010)

*Lockout would better be called switchover temperature!*



hirrlinger said:


> In advanced setup it has "electric lockout" set to 40 degrees. Does this mean that electric will not come on above 40, or electric will always come on below 40?


I realize this question was already answered (sort of). This temperature is simply the switchover temperature (outdoor air, as measured near the compressor), as most heat pumps (i.e. not the Acadia) do not operate (well) when the temperature gets near freezing, so most installers will set it to 40, setting it lower will use the compressor more, but may not bring in much heat, due to the inefficiency of extracting heat from the outside air. I gave up on this electric backup approach here in New England (way too expensive) and went with a gas furnace backup. So, it's electric A/C in the summer, heat pump whenever it's cool, but not freezing, and nice, hot (not simply warm) heat when it's really frigid out. In fact, with the gas furnace as the heat pump backup, I moved the temperature up to 45, as gas is relatively inexpensive (at least for now). So far, this has proven to be a much less expensive approach to seasonal heating and cooling and our two zone Carrier Infinity system works extremely well.


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