Heat pump Inop

Woke yesterday and it was 54 downstairs and 68 upstairs. Obviously I isolated the problem to the first floor heat pump not providing heat. Emer.heat strip light is on though. Fan will run if I set it to run but don't think it's kicked on when in auto.
My HVAC guy is on a scuba trip to Cabo and won't be back until Saturday.

So, any ideas of what I might try in the interim to get it operating?

Feel your pain, I'm waiting for the HVAC guy to get here. Mine isn't doing anything at all.

Either a heat strip has gone out or the computer board has failed that controls them.

Just went though this 2 weeks ago. Either fireplace or propane heater to supplement heat until A/C guy comes out & part comes in.

Long Johns and a portable indoor heater....that’s all I got

The back side of the breaker box for the unit upstairs is completely melted. Glad that my house didn't catch on fire.

Not comparable, but we have had bone chilling cold here in the Purchase area.

Last Thurs when the ice started, I fired up the trusty pellet stove. Shut down two minutes later. Auger motor failed. I live 15 miles out of town in an all electric house.

Not having backup heat in event of power outage is not good.

Backup generators aren't just for hurricane prone areas.

Sounds like you may have a bad limit in your heat strips. Or one of your heat strips is burnt.

Sounds like compressor is bad. Keep running heat strips.

Contact AC Man on here...

Go look at the outside unit, is it covered in ice? If so get the water hose out spray till all thawed give it a minute and turn heat back on. Our heat pump would freeze over like that in long periods of really cold sometimes.

On thermostat there is switch says emergency heat or auxiliary turn it on

My opinion is...

Thermostat not working or sensing that the temp is below your setting and not engaging a heat source...replace Thermostat.

Fan is just a fan. Whether on auto or run has nothing to do with engaging the heat source.

Emergency or heat pump are just heat source choices. Neither will operate if not being told to do so by the thermostat.

If your 24V transformer failed, there are no control signals available to make anything turn on...... that transformer provides the voltage for the control circuits.

If you plan on having electric heat as a backup via a generator, you better buy a hellaciously large one and a LOT of fuel as it will be running hard.

Ain’t that the truth.

I am exploring propane options . That means getting a tank. Getting a stove or fireplace logs. Getting them installed. Getting propane delivered.

The pace at which things happen around here...I’d say it’ll be next fall before it’s done.

That's what I'm thinking. Outside unit isn't frozen, fan works when turned on, Aux heat is on according to thermostat but it's not putting out any heat.
I've got enough little portable electrics to take the chill off so I'll wait for my regular HVAC guy to get back from Cabo. That is one hard working dude and deserves a week off even if I'm a tad chilly.

Get a new auger motor, and a spare. Seems it would be less hassle than switching over. But then, I don't know what auger motors cost.

My family farmstead home has nothing other than propane space heaters. On a good note, propane carries a lot of BTUs per unit, so you at least get a lot of heat from each gallon of fuel. We upgraded the heaters to thermostatically controlled radiant heaters. This was a superior upgrade as it was hard to regulate temperature without the thermostats, and rooms invariably overheated - meaning we wasted fuel. There are heater sales this time of year, but won't be going INTO winter in 8 months. I'd suggest at least deciding now and buying heaters even if they don't get installed for a while. Installation is easy, but running gas supply line can be a challenge depending on circumstances. The plastic piping is great, easy to work with.