Your electric bill in Venice just doubled, and the prime suspect is hiding inside your air handler: the electric heat strips. These resistance heating elements are the most expensive way to heat a home — simple, reliable, and brutally costly per unit of heat — which is why they are meant to run rarely. When they run constantly, or when they fail and force the system into strange behavior, the bill tells the story first. This page explains what heat strips are, why they drive bills up, how they fail, and what replacement involves on your American Standard system.
What heat strips are
Electric heat strips are resistance heating elements — essentially high-powered heating coils — mounted inside the air handler. Electricity flows through the resistive element, the element glows hot, and the blower pushes air across it into your ducts. There is no combustion and no heat pump cycle involved: it is the same principle as a toaster, scaled up to heat a house. A typical air handler carries multiple strip circuits (“banks”) staged by sequencers — time-delay relays that bring the banks on in sequence rather than all at once, avoiding a massive instantaneous electrical surge. On a heat pump system, the strips serve as backup and emergency heat; on a straight-electric system, they are the only heat. Either way, resistance heat costs roughly three times what a heat pump delivers per unit of warmth — which is why strip runtime is the number to watch.
Why the bill explodes
High bills trace to strips running far more than designed. The causes form a familiar lineup. A heat pump problem — the outdoor unit not heating properly — forces the strips to carry the load they were meant to back up; the house stays warm, but every degree comes from the most expensive source. Stuck sequencers — a sequencer welded closed keeps its strip bank energized continuously, even when the thermostat is satisfied; this is the classic “bill doubled with no change in habits” failure. Thermostat or control faults — miswiring or a failed control calling for auxiliary heat inappropriately. Oversized or misconfigured staging — strips engaging too early or too aggressively instead of letting the heat pump do its efficient work. The diagnostic question is never just “are the strips on” but “why are they on, and should they be.”
How strips and sequencers fail
The components are simple, and their failures are straightforward. Elements burn open like a blown fuse — that bank produces no heat, and the remaining banks work harder; or an element sags, breaks, and shorts against the frame, tripping breakers or creating a hazard. Sequencers fail in two directions: stuck open (no heat from that bank — the house underheats) or stuck closed (unstoppable heat from that bank — the bill explodes and the house overheats). Wiring and connections — high-current circuits generate heat at every loose connection, and loose strip wiring is a genuine fire concern, which is why this work belongs to professionals. Fusible links and limit switches — the safety devices protecting the strips — trip when something is wrong; a tripped limit is a symptom to diagnose, not a reset to keep pressing.
What the diagnostic visit does
The technician starts with the electrical panel and works inward: verifying the strip circuits’ breakers and wiring, then measuring each element’s resistance to identify open or shorted banks. Sequencers are tested for proper staging — do the banks come on in sequence, and do they drop out when satisfied? The thermostat and control wiring are verified so the strips are not being called inappropriately. Critically, on a heat pump system, the reason the strips are running gets diagnosed too — because replacing a sequencer without discovering the failing outdoor unit just resets the timer on the next bill shock. Every measurement is electrical: amperage draws per bank, voltage supply, resistance values. This is a purely electrical repair, and it is diagnosed like one.
What replacement involves
When an element bank or sequencer has failed, replacement is a defined electrical job: power verified off and locked out, the failed component removed, the genuine American Standard replacement installed, connections torqued to specification, and the full staging sequence tested — banks on in order, banks off when satisfied, amperage draws matching ratings. The visit ends with verification under real operating conditions, not just a bench test. Our visits use genuine parts installed by trained technicians, keeping your manufacturer warranty intact. And because strip failures often signal wider electrical wear, the technician inspects the surrounding high-current wiring as a matter of course — the loose connection next to the failed sequencer is the next failure prevented.
Keeping the strips honest
After the repair, keep the strips in their proper role: rare backup, not primary heat. Watch the auxiliary heat indicator on your thermostat — occasional appearances in cold weather are normal; constant presence in mild weather means something is wrong and deserves a call before the bill arrives. Change filters on schedule, because restricted airflow overheats strip elements and trips limits. Keep the annual service visit: the electrical inspection at its core checks exactly the components that fail here. And for the failures that cannot wait — a burning smell from the air handler, a tripping breaker, strips that will not shut off — our 24/7 emergency service with same-day dispatch covers Venice around the clock. Electrical faults are the one category where waiting is never the right answer.
FAQs
Why are heat strips so expensive to run?
Resistance heating converts electricity directly to heat with no efficiency multiplier — roughly three times the cost per unit of warmth compared to a heat pump. They are designed as backup, not primary heat.
Can I replace a heat strip myself?
No. Strip circuits are high-current 240-volt electrical work with genuine fire and shock hazards. This is professional-only repair.
What is a sequencer?
A time-delay relay that stages the strip banks on in sequence rather than all at once. When it sticks closed, its bank runs continuously — the classic doubled-bill failure.
Why do my strips run constantly?
Either a control fault calling them inappropriately, a stuck sequencer, or a heat pump problem forcing them to carry the full load. Diagnosis determines which.
Is a burning smell from the air handler an emergency?
Yes — turn the system off and call immediately. Our 24/7 emergency service with same-day dispatch covers Venice around the clock.