Heat pumps are very unique in the way they heat a space especially during ambient temperatures below 40 degrees. No matter your level of experience with heat pumps, there are some good things to know and understand.
Heat pumps are designed to develop frost on the outdoor coil to which the unit should go through a defrost cycle typically about once an hour. This defrost cycle can be very alarming if you're not sure what and why the equipment is doing this. During the defrost cycle, you will notice the fan on top of the unit not spinning, the unit will likely be making some weird noises that can be described as a metal grinding noise, something spraying at a very high pressure noise, I've heard this described many different ways. At the termination of defrost, the fan will begin to spin and there will be a blast of steam discharged from the top of the unit. Some would describe this blast of steam as smoke, but don't be alarmed, this is perfectly normal for a heat pump.
Most traditional heat pumps have something called auxiliary heat. The auxiliary heat is a suplementary heating system best compared to a large hair dryer. They are a set of high voltage resistive heating elements used for many different reasons in a heat pump. The auxiliary heat will and should operate at ambient temperatures below 40 degrees, your thermostat may even show this. Don't go to google and search about auxiliary heat running cause you will find missleading info that could scare you. The auxiliary heat will and should run at colder temperatures. The first time your auxiliary heat comes on for the year, it's not uncommon to smell a "electrical burning" smell. This is typically a result of dust build up on the auxiliary heating element being burned off the first time they activate. I'm not saying to completely disregard the smell, as a matter of fact: I would suggest having routine service where a competent and qualified technician comes out to clean and test the auxiliary heat properly. If you experience this, I will always recommend that you turn the unit off immediately and get service as soon as possible to ensure that the system is safe to operate.
A heat pump gets it heat from outside to heat the house. Yes you read that correctly, in colder temperatures; a heat pump gathers heat from outside. Without going super HVAC nerd, this eludes to the unique way in which a heat pump warms a home and the temperature of the air coming out of the vents. If a home is 70 degrees and the thermostat is set for 71, the air coming out of the vents can likely be 85 degrees (plus or minus 3), and this would be very normal and expected. If you are trying to maintain a space at 71 degrees, then 85 degree supply air can certainly maintain that. If you were to feel the 85 degree discharge air from the vents with your hands it would feel "cold", that's because your core temperater should be somewhere around 98 degrees. I tell you that so you don't call an hvac contractor just becuase the air coming out of the vents is cooler than comfort. If the system is maintaining your home setpoint and the air coming from the vents feels cool, don't waste your money; wait till there's a legit problem.
The best thing to do is have routine service and trust a qualified and competent contractor to test and inspect the functionality of your heating system and ensure it's safe to operate.
留言