3 degree setback vs no setback

Hi, I am wondering if beestat can help me determine if a 3F heating setback makes more sense than a constant hold. I currently have my thermostat set to 68F 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM and 65*F from 10:00 PM - 8:00 AM.

With an outdoor temp of ~32F my Rheem RP15AZ heat pump runs for 3 20 minute bursts overnight to maintain 65F. It then runs stage 1 for 2 hours and stage 2 for 1 hear for a total of three hours runtime to increase the temp to 68*F in the morning.

This is my first winter with a heat pump so I only have two months of heating data so far. Beestat has not created a heat temperature profile for me yet.

What can I look at to determine if a 68F hold overnight is more cost effective than a 3F setback from 65F to 68F.

Set to hold 68 overnight and compare runtimes.

My guess will be the hold will run less than having the setback and the 2nd stage probably won’t engage.

Are you using Smart Recovery on the ecobee? If so, that would mean that Stage 1 kicks in @5AM for that 3 hr runtime. So, your setback would really only be for 7hrs.

There are a ton of factors that impact heating costs. Your loss per hour (resist delta), exterior temps, how long the setback is for, stage 1, 2, & Aux, peak/off-peak times if applicable, etc.

1 Like