Aux Heat Check

Aux Heat Check is a free educational guide for people who see Aux Heat, Auxiliary Heat, or Emergency Heat on a heat-pump thermostat and want a careful reading before they change a setting or call for service.The site starts with the difference that most manuals actually use. Auxiliary heat is usually the backup heat that can come on automatically when the heat pump cannot keep up. Emergency Heat is typically a manual choice that holds the compressor off and runs backup heat alone. Those labels are not universal, and the same words can mean different things on an ecobee, a Google Nest, a Honeywell Home control, or a Daikin One+. Aux Heat Check keeps those paths separate and points to the source document for each model family rather than inventing a single setpoint for every house.A short strip-cost estimate is included so a homeowner can see why long runs of electric resistance heat are expensive. The math is deliberately plain: nameplate kilowatts times the household electricity rate, then an hourly and daily figure. It is not a bill predictor and it does not replace a measured load.Guides also cover heat pumps that blow uncomfortably cool air, lockouts, and when a recurring Aux alert is a setting to review versus a reason to ask a qualified technician for help. The site is US-focused, remains free, and is usable in the browser with no account and no newsletter signup. It is not a diagnosis and not a substitute for a licensed HVAC professional.Who it is for: homeowners with a heat pump who want to understand their thermostat, renters trying to decide whether to report a problem, and anyone curious why their winter electric bill jumped. The guides are short, written in plain language and linked to manufacturer and government sources so readers can verify each claim. The site is maintained by Jerry Chen and updated as the sources change.