The complexity of most heating and cooling systems hinders homeowners from prioritizing as well as maximizing their units. However, these are integral to ensuring the comfort of your home. That’s why familiarizing yourself with the systems’ components is critical.
Your heat pump, for example, is an essential element in your system. Its job is to use refrigerant to take thermal energy from the outdoors to provide heat indoors. During the warmer months, it uses this same process to remove heat from your home and transfer it outside to cool your space.
As most people are accustomed to oil furnaces, it can be confusing to learn that there’s a system that needs to be defrosted while heating your home. Given that a heat pump’s defrost cycle is related to your pump’s operation, your trusted air conditioning service provider talks you through its basics in detail in this post.
As the name implies, a heat pump can function as both a heating and an air conditioning unit. As mentioned earlier, it uses electricity to draw energy from the environment when in heating mode. It takes the heat present in the outdoor air and sends warm air into your home. Other heat pumps function by drawing heat from the ground rather than removing it from the air.
The heat pump also functions as an air conditioner. It has a cooling function that draws cold air from the ground and sends it into the house. You can streamline your home heating and cooling systems by replacing the furnace and air conditioner with a single heat pump system.
HVAC repair experts explain that heat energy is taken from the colder outside air when the heat pump is switched to the heating circuit. Under the right conditions, frost can form on the outdoor coils and quickly accumulate at specific temperatures and humidity levels.
The heat pump activates the defrost cycle to remove ice from the outdoor coil and prevent further frost buildup. When the heat pump enters defrost mode, the operation is temporarily reversed, and a “cooling cycle” is performed. This causes warm air to pass through the outdoor coil and temporarily heat up, melting the frost. This will continue until the outer ring reaches 57 degrees.
Any air conditioning service provider will tell you that the heat pump works by taking advantage of the heat exchange characteristics of the refrigerant to take heat from the outside air and transfer it into your home during the winter. In the summer, it does the opposite to ensure efficient cooling.
When heat energy is removed from a particular area, the temperature instantly drops. If the heat pump’s outdoor coil has sufficient moisture and frost has accumulated, removing the heat can cause the coil to freeze and frost. Frost makes it difficult to extract heat from the air. Secondly, the heat pump needs to melt the ice to be able to function correctly.
While heat pumps are easy to maintain during heavy snow or ice, it’s still wise to inspect them occasionally. Clear snow out from underneath it and from the top, sides and area surrounding the unit to allow for proper drainage when the unit is defrosting. To avoid untimely HVAC repairs, remember that there can be a variety of causes if your heat pump isn’t defrosting correctly, such as:
Several factors influence when a heat pump switches over to the defrost cycle—the outdoor temperature and humidity, the heat load your system can deliver and the pump system’s condition. Generally, heat pumps will regularly defrost when frost conditions occur. However, defrosting frequency should be no more than roughly every 35 minutes. Although the length of time the heat pump defrosts will vary, ordinarily it shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes.
It’s inevitable to have to call for “air conditioning repair near me” during emergencies. Still, the best thing a homeowner can do is prevent their heat pump from having issues. Here are some simple things you can consider to make this possible:
Have you been searching for “air conditioning repair near me” online? If so, keep Albert Air Inc. in mind. We offer a wide range of HVAC products, including top-quality Wi-Fi thermostats. After all, controlling your heating and cooling system is integral to ensuring comfort and energy efficiency in homes and businesses, and we’re here to deliver. Give us a call at (714) 526-6368 or fill out our contact form to request a free estimate.