HVAC question about my heat.

[rem270]

Have 2 units, both split units all electric. Why is one of my outside units freezing up on the sides? It's been doing it for a while but always kept it at the desired temp where it will come on and go off. I check the thermostat religiously and this morning it was fine meaning it was at my set temp. Just a little while ago I noticed I had it set on 66 but it was down to 64 and blowing kind of cold air. Even with this really cold weather it's always kept up at 66 and never struggled. I turned the emergency heat on and it immediately like within 10 mins got back to 66 and shut off.

Guess I'll call someone tomorrow. Only the downstairs one is doing it. The upstairs is fine (for now) knock on wood!!

 

[CATCHDAWG]

Sounds like your defrost isn’t working. Either the board or the sensor.

 

[cbhunter]

Could be a lot of things but heat pumps don’t do real good when it’s this cold even when running right


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[Good time Charlie]

low of gas...need a little freon.

 

[rem270]

What I mean by normal is low temps That are warmer than about 20-25 degrees.

Stay warm!

Thanks for the info and yes others have been helpful as well. I noticed it when I first turned my heat on this year around November when it was 30's and 40's. Sometimes it would be frozen halfway up and sometimes all the way. Few times I cut it off to let it thaw out but always kept my set temp and never dropped below so never worried too much about it. I noticed earlier with the emergency heat on that the outside unit wasn't running. I'll keep it like this for now. This is the only house I've ever lived in that an electric heat pump has been good. 2 others were terrible and always struggled to keep up when it dropped below 30. The house is insulated big time also so I know that plays a big factor.

Thanks for the help.

 

[KPH]

Normally with heat pumps I don't tell anyone to go to Em. Heat unless they have a problem. From what you have described I would say you have a problem and should have someone who knows what they are doing to check it out, or you are going to have one hi electric bill.

 

[bushhog]

Under normal operation, the inside unit will only freeze up If the air flow, or Filter is restricted or dirty, or you are low on freon. But with a heat pump there is another reason. Your defrost circuit is not working. This heats the outside unit so the frost build up will melt. A heat pump uses a reversing valve to change the cold air to blow outside and the warm air to blow inside. With out the defrost circuit the unit will freeze up and no or little heat is produced.

 

[TheAirMan]

I understand a lot of the times people are just looking for ideas of what could be a problem when they ask about situations like this. I have done the same thing with vehicle problems. However, really all your going to get is a lot of guesses. Some from people(and not trying to offend anyone and not talking about anyone in particular or anyone that’s replied to this thread) who really don’t know enough to really be guessing. Yes, it could be low of refrigerant, if it’s froze up it doesn’t necessarily mean the defrost cycle isn’t working. Low air flow over the outdoor coil will do the same in winter as low airflow will do to the indoor coil in summer. What about a fan with a low capacitor that runs sometimes then cuts out, or fails to start sometimes. Bad bearings will do the same. What about a restricted orifice or faulty txv causing low charge symptoms. As cold as it is defrost won’t keep up with problems like that. Hopefully it is something as simple as a defrost sensor. But the list of what it could be goes on and on.


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[cbhunter]

Normally with heat pumps I don't tell anyone to go to Em. Heat unless they have a problem. From what you have described I would say you have a problem and should have someone who knows what they are doing to check it out, or you are going to have one hi electric bill.

this! Prepare yourself for some sticker shock on elec bill. They are gonna be high next month regardless but EM heat will eat you alive. Good luck and hopefully it just needs a little charge


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[double browtine]

low of gas...need a little freon.

^^^^
This. My old unit Didi the same way. Turn your thermostat to emergency heat for the next couple of days. Heat pumps don't do much when it's below 15°

 

[rem270]

Normally with heat pumps I don't tell anyone to go to Em. Heat unless they have a problem. From what you have described I would say you have a problem and should have someone who knows what they are doing to check it out, or you are going to have one hi electric bill.

this! Prepare yourself for some sticker shock on elec bill. They are gonna be high next month regardless but EM heat will eat you alive. Good luck and hopefully it just needs a little charge


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My electric bill in this house has really shocked me. 3000 sq ft and it was $125 last month. $165 this month. Back home the house I lived in I never seen one under $220 and in the real cold weather it pushed $300. It was a little smaller house at 2300 sq ft.

 

[Bambi Buster]

I understand a lot of the times people are just looking for ideas of what could be a problem when they ask about situations like this. I have done the same thing with vehicle problems. However, really all your going to get is a lot of guesses. Some from people(and not trying to offend anyone and not talking about anyone in particular or anyone that’s replied to this thread) who really don’t know enough to really be guessing. Yes, it could be low of refrigerant, if it’s froze up it doesn’t necessarily mean the defrost cycle isn’t working. Low air flow over the outdoor coil will do the same in winter as low airflow will do to the indoor coil in summer. What about a fan with a low capacitor that runs sometimes then cuts out, or fails to start sometimes. Bad bearings will do the same. What about a restricted orifice or faulty txv causing low charge symptoms. As cold as it is defrost won’t keep up with problems like that. Hopefully it is something as simple as a defrost sensor. But the list of what it could be goes on and on.

Sound advice.

 

[Dale3]

My coils on my heat pump froze up more than they should and would not defrost. I tried switching it to AC to melt the ice, which it did, but soon after switching back to heat they refroze. I figured my defrost was not working for some reason. I had just installed a new defrost board with in the last year.
Had my heat and air guy come by and checked things out and he could not find a problem.
He did change the setting on my defrost timer to where it kick in sooner. He said the defroster likely was just not able to keep up with temps this cold and ice just kept building up.
He said with weather this cold(20 or below) I should just run it on Em Heat with it being a heat pump.
He said when it this cold it was pointless to run the heat pump and was just extra wear on the compressor.
He said heat pumps were never intended to be used this far north.
I may not be quoating him exactly but that close, so dont none of you Hvac guys go off on me if got something wrong. LOL

Like TheAirMan wrote, it could be many things and we shade tree Hvac want to be's are just guessing. lol

 

[Good time Charlie]

Could also be a reversing valve...But I would have a qualified tech add freon first

 

[rem270]

The verdict is in and it's the defrost board and timer. When it decides to thaw out he's going to check the Freon level and see how it is. It still uses the R-22 so that's some high dollar stuff!!

 

[CATCHDAWG]

The verdict is in and it's the defrost board and timer. When it decides to thaw out he's going to check the Freon level and see how it is. It still uses the R-22 so that's some high dollar stuff!!

Please refer to the first reply to this thread... :tu:

 

[dralarms]

Good time Charlie, you almost cost me a tablet screen, thought I had a bug on my tablet and almost slapped it

 

[TheAirMan]

The verdict is in and it's the defrost board and timer. When it decides to thaw out he's going to check the Freon level and see how it is. It still uses the R-22 so that's some high dollar stuff!!

When IT decides to thaw out? I’m hoping he had to get the part instead of putting a board on it and not thawing it out. Also, the are drop in replacements for R-22 that are a lot cheaper.


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[rem270]

The verdict is in and it's the defrost board and timer. When it decides to thaw out he's going to check the Freon level and see how it is. It still uses the R-22 so that's some high dollar stuff!!

When IT decides to thaw out? I’m hoping he had to get the part instead of putting a board on it and not thawing it out. Also, the are drop in replacements for R-22 that are a lot cheaper.


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Sorry i should've said when it thaws out. He found the part for it and will be back in a few days when it completely thaws out. Luckily the emergency heat is working so I'm good.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

The verdict is in and it's the defrost board and timer. When it decides to thaw out he's going to check the Freon level and see how it is. It still uses the R-22 so that's some high dollar stuff!!

When IT decides to thaw out? I’m hoping he had to get the part instead of putting a board on it and not thawing it out. Also, the are drop in replacements for R-22 that are a lot cheaper.


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I agree with what your saying, but where I live “most” of the time a board has to be ordered. And yes, we haven’t used R22 in years, we use 407C. And finally, he does have heat. We had 72 calls today, the ones that were NO HEAT are priority. The strange noises, not keeping up, etc are not top priority. It’s COLD so no heat comes first. Just a possibility of this situation.