I am an HVAC tech and we ask customers to use the emergency heat mode when we find a problem with their system like a grounded compressor or a freon leaking part needs to be replaced. I ran into one of these thermostats and couldn’t figure out how to switch it to emergency heat. All heat pump thermostats give you the option to manually switch to emergency heat in case of an emergency. I used the star () for emergency and it even asked during setup if star () was used for emergency heat but I couldn’t figure out how to switch it on. The modes should be Off, Cool, Heat, and Emergency Heat like all heat pump thermostats. One day when someone’s compressor gives out on a Friday night and it’s 20° all weekend, they will really really wish they had the Emergency Heat option.
Others have tested and second stage kicks in at 30 minutes. So they would at least have adequate heat. It’s also smart to keep the old thermostat. You can adjust+ 5° To kick it into second stage right away.
Under advanced options in the thermostat there’s an “emergency heat” toggle. I think this is what you’re looking for though it seems to indicate it must be manually triggered.
Emergency heat is in there somewhere. I had it up. Make sure when you wire to * during setup you get a list of 4 or so items. I think humidifier is in there too. Select Emergency.
It make be deeper in their like under settings. I do know once I went into that mode the screen would only show emergency heat until I turned it off.
@bronsonmulligan - You can also rewire it in an emergency and have emergency heat properly set up in a pinch. But that’s completely silly. They really need to allow Aux to be overridden as E if you set it up that way.
Maybe this was mentioned already but I didn’t see it. Has anyone asked or tested whether this setting below effects stage 2 electric heating? Basically it would make sense that the Heat Pump would be used predominantly or solely under max savings at least until some point the heat pump can’t keep up due to very. cold outside temps. Then under max comfort, stage 2 is always called to get temps up faster. Maybe a hybrid in between?
I’m not sure that this does.
I have the same issue, not knowing if my white Aux/E wire should go to * or W1. I tried Aux/E (white wire) → * (told the app it was emergency heat) and regular heat seemed to not work. I now have it with Aux/E(white wire) → W1 as pictured below, but am scared I’m using my emergency heat for regular heat now (my bill is already really high)
The way I tested whether stage 1 and 2 was using the heat pump or electric coils (emergency) was going outside to see if the outside heat pump was active. So during the test of stage 1 I walked out and confirm the fan was spinning and the unit was engaged. That’s the heat pump. Then for stage 2 I walked out and saw it was not on. No noise and the fan was not on. That told me it was using the electric coils. Keep in mind you need to confirm in both cases hot air is coming out of the vents so you know heat is active. That way you’re not fooled into thinking the electric coils are heating but actually nothing is. I expect coils to blow hotter air that the heat pump.
There should be a significant difference in temperature also.my Heat pump would be 80-90 F when it’s 45 out and 110-115 when the aux/second stage/emergency is on.
Your bill is high because you have Aux and E tied together on your old thermostat, and it is probably resistive electric heat. If you attach that to *, it would be emergency heat, and would only come on when your compressor was not working. This would probably lower your bill quite a bit, but your house wont heat as quickly.
If it is tied to W1 it will be second stage heat, and would run at the same time as your heat pump when the differential is high enough. This will keep your electric bill the same or raise it a bit, depending on the algorithm,
So which is right? My old thermostat had the white in w1 and listed me as running AUX a lot, but Wyze said to use the * which “lost” stage 2 heating that I thought I had so I reverted to W1 again. I still have the emergency toggle in my advanced settings either way.
There is no right way, it depends on how cold it gets where you live, and your personal preference for more savings or a more comfortable living space.
Just just an update on this thread in general. I had opened a support ticket asking about the ability to adjust either the time or a temperature differential for when aux heat kicks in, and the response was that the ability to do that was hidden on the latest app version while they ironed out some bugs related to it. They said it should be unlocked in subsequent app updates.
Thanks for that info! Someone should inform ALL of their support of that. They asked me for screenshots and told me there were features in the settings that aren’t there for me. I was wondering if something like that was the problem.
Same here. My electric bill this month is going nuts. I really hope this can get fixed.
if your old system never used the heat strips, you could attach them to * instead of W1. That’s what wyze uses for emergency heat.
I have no advanced option setting for an “emergency heat” toggle
That option will only show up if you put your white wire in * and tell the Wyze app its emergency heat. I’m about to switch my setup (currently have white wire in W1) to this setup because one of my thermostat’s thermometers has been getting frozen and reading a lower temp than the room actually is, which is causing my emergency heat to run for too long. I take the face off of the thermostat, which reboots the unit and the thermometer finally updates and suddenly shows the temperature is much higher than it said prior to taking the face off.
I think my thermometer issue is a hardware issue since it’s not happening on my other thermostat which has the white wire in W1 too. Waiting on a reply from Wyze Support.
Here is a pic of my old thermostat. X2 is emergency heat. The app mapped it to (*). G and F from the old both mapped to G.
Initially, in settings under advanced, “swap heat to cool” was toggeled on by default, however the system was cooling for heat and vice versa. I unselected that and it had worked like a dream since. Also, there is a selection for Emergency heat under advanced in the app, and under the setting on the therm. It changes the display pink.! If i need to include mapping for the other wires i will, just let me know!
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Is the emergency heat toggle in the above screenshot, IOS or Android?
On my old thermostat I have both a black AND a white wire going to W2…are both supposed to go to (W1 or *) or should they be split up so one goes to each?