Is your heat pump running on its electric backup system when it shouldn’t be?
Learn: why you should know, signs it might be & what to do.
What: Under normal circumstances, the backup heater should not be needed. Blatchford homes have an electric backup heater in place in case there’s an issue with the home’s heat pump or the renewable energy system.
Why you should know: If your heat pump is operating on its electric backup system rather than on Blatchford Renewable Energy’s district energy sharing system, this impacts your renewable energy consumption charges. Depending on the issue, your electricity charges may also be impacted.
Signs it may be running on electric backup:
Indications may include…
- Your EPCOR bill shows zero or very low renewable energy consumption.
- Your home isn’t getting as warm as it usually does.
What you can do:
Depending on the issue, you may wish to perform one or more of the following troubleshooting actions.
- Check the circuit breaker in your electrical panel to ensure that the heat pump(s) breaker(s) have not been switched out of the ON position. If the breaker has been switched off, reset the circuit breaker by switching the breaker out of the OFF position and back to the ON position.
- Check the heat pump for fault codes. Refer to your heat pump manufacturer’s manual for instructions that are specific to your heat pump model.
- Contact a qualified service technician if needed. Review the sticker attached to the heat pump to find the manufacturer, make and model of the heat pump and then search online to find service technicians with experience working with your equipment.
This kind of troubleshooting is similar to what you’d do if you had an issue with a furnace. Similarly, please note that homeowners are responsible for heat pumps and other utility-related equipment in their home.
Tip: After a power outage, check your heat pump and its breaker in the electrical panel
A power outage may cause your heat pump to automatically switch from using renewable energy to your heat pump’s built-in electric backup heater.
Therefore, after a power outage, you may want to verify that your heat pump is indeed working on renewable energy. Once you’ve confirmed that your heat pump is operating on its electric backup heater, you may want to reset your heat pump’s breaker (from the electrical panel). This may help in taking your heat pump out of the electric mode and back to renewable energy consumption.
A power outage may also cause the heat pump breaker to trip when it detects a problem, so resetting the breaker may help.
As always, for resolving issues specific to your home’s heat pump model, please consult your heat pump’s manual and/or contact a qualified service technician.
System Operations & Maintenance Manual
Read and store this manual with your heat pump.
You’ll find more information about the electric backup system — as well as general heat pump troubleshooting tips — in Blatchford Renewable Energy’s system operations and maintenance manual. This manual may also be useful to technicians who are maintaining or repairing your heat pump. Ask them to read it (and make sure you have too!).
We’re here to help
Once you’ve confirmed your heat pump was previously running on electric backup and has since been switched back to the renewable energy system, you are welcome to contact us to have our operations team confirm the issue has been fixed by taking a renewable energy meter reading. This can be done remotely and access to your in-home equipment is not needed.