Why a Winter Electric Bill Spikes

Space heat is one of the largest loads in a Clark County house, and electricity gets expensive when the house is heating with resistance instead of with a heat pump or gas. The thermostat mode is the first place that shows up.

Heat-pump houses

A heat pump should run the outdoor unit in heating. Auxiliary strips may click on for a short time during a cold start or a defrost. They should not carry the house all evening. Emergency heat locks the strips on and locks the heat pump off. People set it during a cold night and leave it for a month. The air feels warmer at the register, because strips run hotter, and the bill follows.

• Look at the thermostat. If it says Emergency, Em, or Aux as the mode rather than a brief indicator during a call, put it back to Heat and see whether the outdoor unit runs.
• If the outdoor unit never runs, is buried, or is a block of ice that never clears, the strips may be the only heat you have. That is a repair, not a setting.
• A new thermostat wired so the strips come on with every call will do this from the day it was installed.

Every system

A packed filter, a collapsed return, or ducts leaking into an attic make the equipment run longer for the same rooms. Space heaters plugged into bedrooms add a second electric bill the thermostat does not know about. A well-pump, a shop heater, or an EV charger can dwarf the furnace. Before blaming the heat pump, see which of those is new.

We can say whether the strips are doing work the heat pump should be doing. We cannot see your rate schedule from the sidewalk, so we will not quote a savings number. If the outdoor unit is not carrying the heat, start with heat pump repair or a diagnosis if you are not sure what you have.

Common questions