You are supposed to have a range where both are available to run in an electric heat application. I think oO(Don't quote me on this)Oo on modulating furnaces that have a low enough burn rate the stat will run both heat pump and furnace if the heat pump isn't raising temps fast enough just like all electric. I do not know on hybrids what is the best setup, running only one or the other or both through a temp range. I think if your gas rate is high and you have multiple furnace stages to run both through a range.
I would think you would want both available where the heat pump starts to have a hard time keeping up. On my system if there is no wind and no precipitation the heat pump can heat with no strips without much problem but if its windy and snowing or raining it runs one stage of strips every now and then.

I would give the guys in here more information about the system you have and what your rates are for elec and gas along with your location and they will give you a good idea how to set it up to start with.

Thanks for the reply. I understand the costs and stuff, and around here, electricity to run heat pump is cheaper than gas for sure. I just want to know technically what the system does when there is no lockout in effect for furnace or heat pump... does it always prioritize the heat pump and treat the gas furnace as a backup? If that were the case, what IF gas was cheaper... how do you tell it to prioritize the furnace?

I have a Bryant Evolution 315 80% gas furnace (variable speed) and the new 266A Preferred Series Heat Pump with the Evolution Control.

There is a way to prioritize furnace first it is the emergency mode. It isn't economical to have the furnace run first and at some colder temp start the heat pump. If for some reason the gas cost is cheaper than your electric rate when you have an 80% efficiency gas furnace and a 200-300% efficiency heat pump.

The heat pump gets first priority and most stats kick in the heat pump and then watch the temperature and if there is not enough temp increase over a certain time frame than it calls for the furnace for boost if you have overlap.

As the temp drops the heat pumps efficiency so at 40 degrees you will get a lot more btu's per kw than even at 30 degrees but most will still give more btu's per kw than strips well below 30 degrees. Also from checking my system with an amp meter as the temp drops the amperage draw of my heat pump drops but it is not huge.

To fully answer your question, the majority of t-stats do not have lockouts and only run the heat pump first and either by time or temp rise over time turn on the auxillary whatever it might be. Some are rather crude in the logistics or should I say lack of logistics. The better stats with outside sensing and memory capability to remember how the system performs at different temperatures can save a bunch of money and are a lot more comfortable. If you throw in the use of lockouts the savings can double if set up correctly.

I had a builders grade 13 seer HP all electric and a craptastic t-stat and just adding a good outdoor sensing stat with lockouts dropped my overall heating bill considerably. I think the money I paid for the stat was saved in less than three months which was over $100.00.

So would it be a valid statement to say that with ANY hybrid heat system, the priority is always given to the Heat Pump??

I guess that would make sense because even with my lockout settings, I cannot force a lockout of the Heat Pump at greater than a set temp. Only the Furnace can be locked out at greater than a set temp.

Yes. The HP is usually first. The idea of the lockouts is that below a certian temperature (depends on the unit efficiency) it makes no sense to run the HP. You use more energy running it than it makes in heat. Above certian temperatures (depends on what kind of heat -elec/gas) it makes no sense to run the auxilliary heat because it costs more to use the auxilliary than the HP.

Where the settings should be depends on the unit and your comfort. It may be that the HP can produce heat down to 25F, but the vent temperature may be 70F which will feel cold an drafty. Hence you may want the gas to turn on sooner or you may want the HP to not come on at all.

I have a Trane XL14i R-22 unit, three years old and XR90 natural gas furnace backup. I set my HP compressor lockout at 20 degrees and allow my furnace to kick on anywhere from 30 degrees and colder.

I have some of the lowest energy bills in my subdivision of 3,000 sq. ft custom homes. My neighbors generally pay $100-$225 a month more than I do in the winter simply because they refuse to set their lockouts below the T-stat manufacturer's 40 degree baseine. It's the same factory setup no matter whether you live in Florida or Alaska-- factory is 40 degrees. You need to custmize it for your area and energy prices.

We keep our home at the following settings:

SLEEP: 66

AWAKE AM: 69

LEAVE: 67

RETURN: 70

It's a three degree setback which works very well and much better than the recommended 5 degree setback, especially with heatpumps.

Last year I used a total of 73 therms of gas. I'll use more this year because of the very cold December we are having. Last December I used a total of 20.3 therms. Alreday this month I have used 21 therms because of this record low snap.

Gas prices dropped from my utility by 22 cents a therm but with our electric rates and the efficiency of the heat pump, it is still cheaper to run my HP unit to 20 degrees.

I do not see heat pump temperature lock setting on my thermostat. Please guide

Bryant Evolution 987MB42060C17

Bryant Heat Pump 288BNV024B00

Evolution Connex Thermostat SYSTXBBECC01-B

See Section 6.3.5:

https://ca-manufacturer-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/CarrierDocs/II-SYSTXBBECC-09.pdf

Thanks @sktn77a

Are you referring to 6.3.5 ?

If yes, I do not see anything like that in the thermostat?

Question: Is this even supported on my HVAC HP Thermostat? The installer was sounding fishy when I asked him and left saying I need to install mobile app first ( The mobile app is very outdated compared to ecobee ).

That's the Carrier version. Sometimes, there are subtle differences between the Bryant and Carrier models. If your thermostat doesn't look like this then you may be out of luck. Have you checked on the app to see if this functionality is on that?

You need to be in the service menu to change these type of settings. Press the service icon for 10 seconds to open the menu.

Bryant Connect App Mobile app was developed in 1965. There is nothing there.

Bingo, I did not about the hidden service menu.

Maybe I missed this OR I guess poor documentation and not something worth hiding.

Thanks @sktn77a @mike_home

Any suggestions on replacing Bryant Thermostat with my existing ecobee 3?

Ecobee customer service told me it will work.

Bryant customer service was lame at best and deferred me to the installer.

The installer is useless and he had no clue about this HP setting.

Here is a what the Evolution 987MB42060C17 installation manual says about thermostats:

Thermostats

For best results, use a communicating wall control to control this modulating furnace. A single stage or two--stage heating and cooling thermostat can be used with the furnace. The furnace control board CPU will control the furnace and outdoor unit staging. A two stage heating and cooling thermostat can also be used to control the staging. However, full modulating capability will not be available when the furnace staging is controlled by the thermostat. Furnace staging will be limited to Minimum and Maximum inputs or Intermediate and Maximum inputs depending on the configuration of set-up switches SW1-2 and SW4-2. For two stage thermostat control of a 2-stage outdoor unit, remove the ACRDJ jumper from the furnace control board. Refer to typical thermostat wiring diagrams and the Sequence of Operation section for additional details. Consult the thermostat installation instructions for specific information about configuring the thermostat. See Fig. 35 and 36.

You can use the Ecobee or any other 2-stage thermostat. However you lose the modulating and variable speed capability. In addition the diagnostics you can find in the service menu will also not be available. I recommend you keep the Bryant thermostat and get the most use out of our furnace and heat pump.

If the installer does not know how to set up the thermostat, then I question what other things he does not know about the installation of this equipment. Is this a Bryant dealer or someone else? This is very nice equipment but it will not work well if not installed properly.

Thank you @mike_home

The installer is Homeworks Energy in Medford, MA, USA.

Yes, I will keep Bryant Thermostat. I will keep following up with installer but as of now I do not feel good I am in good hands as it seems like a hasty job and washing their hands off (Not great after sales customer experience. No follow ups and replies to my calls).

i have the Carrier version of your thermostat. Mine does not have WiFi capability and I have AC condensers and not heat pumps. I will help guide you as much as I can. If you have problems it is the responsibility of the installer to fix them.

I think the equipment has to be registered with Bryant in order to be covered with the 10 year parts warranty. If this is not done, then it may default to 5 years. You should look into this. The normal practice is the installer covers labor charges for one year.

Yes, I will follow up on product registration with installer too ( Another to do for me ).

I am not sure what the HP and furnace lockout setting means in terms of when a HP stops and when furnace takes over.

Why there are 2 separate temperature settings? Shouldn't there be just one temp setting as a cut-off?

The installer came and went and could not give me a good answer.

Never mind, I deleted my question as you will not answer it.

Hope you find out about what is a simple thing to implement.

Bye!

I referred the link to the manual in this chat forum

I will explain it how I believe it is supposed to work. I defer to anyone who who has experience with this dual fuel or hybrid heat system and can provide a better explanation.

The heat pump is the primary heat source, the gas furnace is the back up heating in case the heat pump can't supply heat. Both lockout settings are defaulted to "none" initially unless otherwise changed. Under default conditions the heat pump will always come on. However if it is taking a long time to reach the set temperature, the thermostat will switch over to the gas furnace. When and how often is determined by the proprietary software inside the thermostat.

Now you may decide when it is very cold out (let's say below 30 degrees), you want to lock out the heat pump and have the thermostat fire up the gas furnace immediately. On days when the temperature is mild, (let's say above 50 degrees), you to lock out the furnace and only use the heat pump even if it means it takes longer to heat the house. When the temperature is between 30 - 50 degrees, you can have the thermostat decide how much of the heat pump should be used before turning on the furnace. You can make the lockout range smaller. I am not sure if the lock out temperatures can be equal to each other. It may prevent you from doing that or having a setting when both are locked out.