Is it true with geo when heating in cold climate that having a programmable thermostat may be counter productive? We are used to turning the temp down at night. We were told that it would not save any to do that since in the morning the auxiliary heat would have to come on so much more.

Also what kind of thermostat or indicator would you recommend to know when the aux heat is on?

Thanks

VisionPro IAQ 9000 Honeywell programmable thermostat with outside temperature; controls temperature, humidity, and fresh air. It has a spot where you can lock out the auxiliary heater if it is above an outside air temperature; 0 degrees - 65 degrees, 5 degree increments. We use them!

....and it is fair to say that once you are below your balance point (temperature at which aux. may come on), you will then not save money by dialing back at night.
Good luck,
Joe

There been quite a bit or research on this topic in this forum. See this thread,

http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/Forums/tabid/53/forumid/13/postid/50527/view/topic/Default.aspx

I beleive the basic conclusion is that turning your temperastat down at night does save you energy provided that the Aux/backup heat is disabled and it doesn't matter to you that the system will take longer to bring that temperature back up to a comfortable temperature.  

I was one of the participants in this experiment.

A key comment to add to the summary above is that the experiment was conducted where there was adequate heating capacity.  I.e., the system is not 'short' on heating capacity.

Best regards,

Bill

I think it's important to remember most systems are not short all the time.  That during many of your heating days, the system is adequate to heat the entire house without the assistance of Aux heat.  You will only be utilizing the AUX heat on the coldest of nights to assist the unit with heating.  How many of the coldest nights would depend on how short your system is for the heating load.  I beleive for the bulk of the winter, AUX heat will not be required, so long as it's disabled, you will save $.  You could always re-enable it for the few weeks or months of the coldest part of the winter.