I have a single 4 ton 20 SEER Bosch inverter heat pump and mine never uses the emergency heat strips. This system is designed to be that way. So far this system has been amazing. Maybe that’s just the way your system is. Not saying it’s bad or anything so don’t take it that way. I hear people bad mouth heat pumps and I don’t get it. I have one because I’m total electric other than my gas log set fireplace that runs off propane. It’s saved me money so far. It also has different stages so it knows exactly how much power to use to give what I need. My old system that wasn’t a heat pump and was a single stage was horrible. And it was far more expensive. So I’m very happy I chose to go with a heat pump.@Fredkrueger100 all three are two year old Carrier systems and they all function just fine. The problem lies with the second set of heat strips kicking in when it gets real stinkin’ cold (which btw is how it’s supposed to function) and we’ve lost power and are running off the generator. To reiterate, I slapped a Fluke clamp meter on the ATS and had the Mrs switch the largest unit to “emergency” which forced the system to run only on the two sets of heat strips which is exactly what happens when it’s 5° outside and the utility power is out. Turns out just that one unit draws around 82 amps which don’t leave much for the rest of the house.Thankfully I have a solution. Ty was kind enough to help me think through the wiring diagram and I was way over complicating things which I’ll blame on all the bad information I was getting from a couple HVAC techs. All I have to do is open CB2 and it will disconnect that pesky second set of heater strips which I’ll only need to do when our utility power is down. Easy Peasy. Thank you yo all for your help in finding a workable fix.
