My emergency heat light comes on much too often if its 40 outside the heat strips take over can you tell me why?

If it has always been that way, it may be wired up wrong, misadjusted, or a bad temperature sensor. If it is a problem that has developed later, the system may not be working well enough to produce the heat you need without it, or there could be a problem with the controls. Post back with more details. Maybe somebody else here can help. I don't know that much about heat pumps, and haven't seen too many other good answers on them.