No Stage 2 Heat - Heat Pump

Hello, all.

I’ve had my Wyze thermostat for months now and just realized something is set up wrong.
First off, I’m using a heat pump and do not have the details ( I can fetch them when I’m home later).
Back when I set up the Wyze thermostat, during the testing phase of the app, AC worked, stage 1 heating worked but stage 2 heating did not work.

I didn’t think much of it since I’m in southern CA and no issue has showed up until now, (coldest temps of the year 34F outdoor morning temps). I keep noticing that in most instances the air coming out of my vents is COLD. Doing some research I realized that depending on the delta temp (thermostat sensor temp versus thermostat set temp) the wyze will kick on stage 2 heat.

I leave my heat off at night, and have it auto heat in the morning at 6AM up to 68, usually from a 58-62 house temp.

SO either:

  • My heat pump doesn’t offer stage two heat
  • My thermostat is wired wrong

Attaching Images of my old honeywell and my Wyze.

I’d need to see pictures of the air handler wiring to determine if you have second stage heat strips on your heat pump.

2 Likes

Hey Speadie !
Thanks so much for your help. It’s a very old Lenox handler. It’s located right next to the thermostat actually.
Here is the wiring (yikes).

Wow, that’s an old one. Had to refer to my thermostat cross compatibility manual for that, but can confirm there is no second stage heat on that air handler. X3 is the external transformer common return path for the F/G (fan only) and Y/W1 (heat pump) fan speeds available on that unit.

Hey Speadie,
Yeah the air handler is super old. Was gonna take a pic of the unit but don’t think matters. It’s kind of funny it has note cards all over it with notes and phone numbers for different maintenance guys. The heat pump outside is much newer.
Anyways, how can I get Wyze to stop stage 2. It gets my heater in stage two and cold air comes out. What can I do to prevent that ? When I run the test stage 1 works and stage 2 is cold. So when it’s cold in my house I think Wyze tries to kick on stage 2 and it never warms up.

Reset your thermostat, and during setup tell it you have the following wires: Rc, Y, O/B, G, C
It might complain if you leave the W1 wire plugged in, but should let you skip eventually, or you can disconnect that wire, as long as it doesn’t short out against anything else.

You are the man!!!
It works. I can’t believe I’ve had it set up like this for 8 months now. Granted, I only started heating on and off the last couple month. I was always confused as to why it would heat, and then cool off at one point. It must have been trying stage 2 lol. Wow I should have been more proactive. It didn’t complain about any wires. It was successfully wired the first try and only offered stage 1 heat and cool. Works perfect.
Thank you so much!

1 Like

I’m back.
I might officially give up on this Wyze thermostat. Sometimes the air comes out hot, sometimes it doesn’t.
Sometimes it will warm up and a couple C before desired temp starts blowing cold air. I can’t stand this thing. Might go back to my honeywell.

1 Like

following along, I’d really be surprised if you didn’t have AUX heat (2nd state) with a heatpump. Trying your old thermostat is a good comparison.

Hey speadie,
Looks like you’re the expert on the heat pump issues based on some other forums I read. I saw where you said… if you only have 1 wire for both second stage heat and emergency, they need to be split between W1 and * and reset wyze thermostat so you can re-add it and tell it what the wires do.

This makes sense, and I’m willing to try it. However, will this operate the auxiliary heat efficiently (only when necessary)? I saw something about auxiliary only comes on manually and stays on for 30 minutes so I’m confused.

I’m in PA where it can drop into teens some days and I do not want to sacrifice my electric bill over this if it won’t operate the heat pump correctly. Thanks so much!

Justin

This thermostat has some drawbacks with heat pumps, mostly because it lacks any sort of outside temperature sensing. If you live somewhere where it gets cold enough outside that you shouldn’t run your heat pump compressor, I cannot in good conscience recommend this thermostat for you.

If you just want to have an emergency option, and you live somewhere that won’t get cold enough outside to damage your compressor ever, then you can use a jumper between W1 and * to allow for second stage backup resistance heat and emergency heat.

1 Like

That make sense, thank you. I will probably go with another smart thermostat for my home since it was 19 degrees this morning.

Any recommendations for what is best for a system that only has a heat pump? I see a lot of people recommend Ecobee, but don’t want to end up buying the wrong thing again.

1 Like

I don’t know if I can move that far north. Seems there is a lot to learn about furnaces, carbon monoxide and freezing to death.

Just an observation from someone that relies on Air Conditioning. I would need to attend a course, if I ever moved far enough north. Even my cold water is warm.