I turned on the heat this morning because it dropped down to the 30's last night and it was cold inside our house this morning. I accidently turned on the emergency heat and didn't realize it until just a minute ago when I went and checked the temp in the house. So what is this for? Thanks!
The second answer(Joe) most likely has it right. You probably turned on the electric heat in your furnace rather than using the Heat pump. Just make sure it gets turned back to normal.
to make the answer simple, the emergency heat is the backup heat to your heat pump. In the heat mode your heat pump will operate. In the emergency heat mode only the backup heat operates.
You probably have a heat pump. Under normal conditions, the heat pump transfers residual heat from the outside to the inside of the house, and is very efficient. Most heat pumps have an emergency heat setting, for use when the normal equipment fails, or when it is exceedingly cold outside. The emergency heat equipment is very simple, but low efficiency. It will cost you more money to use than the normal setting. That's really about it. Normal is complicated, but very energy efficient. Emergency is simple, but will use more electricity. No harm done. For a few hours use, you probably won't notice the difference on the electric bill.
I think you are looking for a simple answer and that is you turned on electrical heaters separate from the heat pump system but inside it. If the temperature drops to a set point lets say 30 degrees, the emergency heaters will come on automatically. These calrod heaters pull a lot of current and are very expensive when used.
