Don't touch that EM switch!

With all this cold (by Florida standards) weather we’ve been having, you might be tempted to switch on that “Em Heat” or “Aux Heat” setting on your thermostat, but read this first…

Short for Emergency or Auxiliary Heat, this secondary heat source (which can be electric, gas, oil, or hot water) is automatically triggered when the temperature is too cold for the heat pump to extract enough heat from the air outside. Using a secondary heat source (electric for most heat pumps) increases your energy consumption, so you shouldn’t go out of your way to use it (unless you want higher energy bills).

Your system will automatically switch over to “Em Heat” or “Aux Heat” when the outside temperature drops below 35°F or so. Manually switching over, will shut off the heat pump and turn on the secondary heat source which can cost twice as much to operate so you should only do this in case of an actual emergency, like when your heat pump breaks down.

The best way to keep your heat pump (and every other part of your system) from failing at the most inconvenient time is through regular preventive maintenance.

If you don’t already have a maintenance agreement with Sean McCutcheon’s Air Conditioning and Heating, call 941-921-7208 and get two 32+ point inspections/year, a 15% discount on any service need that arises, after-hours service calls billed at the non-emergency rate, and discounts on all system replacements!