Frequently Asked Questions
Q: My heat pump made a very loud, abnormal noise, the fan turned off and steam came out of the top. What happened?
A: The most common reason for this is a completely normal cycle of operation called Defrost Cycle. During cold weather operation, ice will form on the outdoor coil. The unit senses this buildup and automatically goes into a defrost cycle. The “steam or smoke” is just water vapor from the melting ice. The noise is the reversing valve operating. After a few minutes, the fan will start up and the unit will go back into heating mode.
Q: My heat pump is running but the air coming from the registers does not feel very warm. Is my system operating properly?
A: In cold weather (below 30 degrees) the air coming from the registers will be approximately 15-20 degrees warmer than the ambient room air temperature. If the room is 70 degrees, the air from the registers may be only 85 degrees, this will not feel very warm. Considering our body temperature is 98.6 degrees, anything cooler than that will feel cool/cold to our hands. If the system is maintaining the thermostat set temperature, your system is working properly.
Q: Why does my heat pump run so much? Isn’t this very expensive?
A: During cold weather, a heat pump will run for long periods of time. Below 25 degrees, it may run continuously. Since a heat pump uses so much less electricity than conventional electric heat, it can run approximately twice as long for half as much.
Q: Sometimes the air coming from the registers feels much warmer than at other times. Why is that?
A: During periods when the heat pump cannot keep up by itself, the auxiliary heat will come on to assist. During these times the air will be much warmer. Your thermostat will indicate auxiliary/emergency heat, depending on your thermostat model.
Q: Why isn’t my electric bill lower even though the heat is set down 15 degrees at night?
A: The most economical nighttime setback temperature is 3-5 deg. below daytime temperature setting. If it is set any lower than that, the system will need to use the auxiliary heat to reach the morning set point. This will use up any savings gained by turning the temperature down at night.
