As of late September 2026, the thermostat in my Port St. Lucie house is still set to cool, and the heating side of the heat pump hasn’t done a thing since last winter. But I know exactly what happens on the first cold night, because I have done it: somebody walks over to the thermostat, sees EMERGENCY HEAT, and figures the word must mean faster.
I made that move more than once in my early years down from New Jersey, when I still thought about heat the way you think about a furnace. Here in Florida, where the heat side of my system runs only a handful of nights a year, it was the one setting I never bothered to read up on.
Have an HVAC pro fix the heat pump.You describe the heat pump that won’t heat in normal mode, and qualified local pros call you about it, free and no obligation.“My heat pump won’t heat without emergency heat.”→Free for homeowners · Your number stays private
What the Department of Energy says
The U.S. Department of Energy puts the difference plainly: “most homes that heat with electricity in the U.S. today use older, less-efficient electric resistance technology, which requires at least twice as much energy as a heat pump to keep a house warm.”…