The only time you would need them outside of extreme climates (which are probably not good fit for a heat pump anyways) is if the main heat pump failed. In many cases, the system would not be functioning even with the heat strips in that case (if the failure was caused by any of the electronics, for example). I think heat strips are mostly a holdover from the days of heat pumps that didn't work well in below-freezing temps. Some people are still running old school heat pumps like those.I am surprised that HPs are even sold without them.I think heat strips are quite inexpensive and worth it if the heat pump freezes up or stops working for some reason.
I can't imagine you'd need the heat strips in coastal California. I went without them in Texas, and it handled a cold snap into the teens without issue (colder than it would ever get in the California bay area).
Very expensive to run*, but when you need them, you need them.
* some parts of USA, people are paying 10 c/kwhr for electricity. Then they are not expensive to run by the standards of other consumers in other places (but your power bill will go up).
Statistics: Posted by alfaspider — Tue Aug 27, 2024 8:08 am