Winter Weather Advisory - Heat Pump tip.

With the winter weather advisory coming to our area on Tuesday. Here is a tip for you to remember about your heat pump. On cold days, especially when ice accumulation is in the forecast, your heat pump outside will not be able to keep up with the elements around it. You should expect to have ice form around the fan and outdoor coil. This could cause damage to the fan and the fan blade. Our recommendation would be to run the emergency heat at your thermostat. This will prevent your outdoor unit from coming on and will operate your indoor blower and heat strips only. This does cost more to run on your utility bill, but it may also say you a service call. Be proactive and try this before the cold weather arrives. A good test would be to turn the thermostat to Emergency Heat, if your house warms up quickly, your unit was wired to operate emergency heat. Some systems have to be wired by the technician who installed your system. So make sure it works before you actually will need it. 

This picture shows a heat pump not defrosting. Outdoor temp 21 degrees- 

The picture below shows the heat pumps defrost is working properly. Same outdoor temps.