When the temperature drops below freezing there s not enough heat in the air to sufficiently heat the home with the pump alone so the backup electric or gas furnace kicks in to provide warmth.
Heat pump with gas furnace backup wiring.
A heat pump condenses heat present in the outside air usually down to about 30 degrees fahrenheit depending on the region and the amount of moisture in the air and pumps it into the home.
This diagram illustrates the wiring connections for a heat pump system with auxiliary heating.
Electric backup heat standard heat pump thermostat standard air handler heat pump condenser 24 volt fan only operation common air conditioning heat pump reversing valve 1st stage heat gas electric backup heat low voltage connection some ac systems will have a blue wire with a pink stripe in place of the yellow or y wire.
Most heat pumps share the same set of heat strips for aux and em heat.
As long as outdoor temperatures remain above the balance point the heat.
Ecobee3 manages auxiliary heating through the w1 w2 if there is more than 1 stage of aux heat terminals outputs.
Whether it is electric heat strips or a gas furnace dual fuel the w terminal controls this.
The best of both worlds a dual fuel heat pump system will provide you with the most energy efficient home heating and cooling system by pairing an electric heat pump with a traditional gas furnace.
To find out whether a dual fuel system is an option for your home and how you may benefit talk to your professional licensed hvac dealer.
Consult heat pump wiring guide.
W2 aux and or e emergency wiring connections will normally connect to the ecobee3 w1 terminal.
In a heat pump this is for the backup heat source.
The gas furnace would be the secondary heat source instead of using the heat pump s electric heat strip when the temperatures drop.
A dual fuel furnace takes on the problem with a hybrid approach that combines a heat pump and a backup gas fired heater.
If lockout of aux heat on high outdoor temperature is required wire c7089u1006 to the two s terminals.
The defrost control board in the condenser will automatically defrost the system.