Heat Pump & Whatever To help Search Meant for In order to Retain & Upkeep Your own Heat Pump - Local Support Middle

A heat pump normally takes heat externally and moves it into your residence.  Even chilly winter air carries some heat, and heat pumps can draw out heat from the outside air on a cold day and transfer it indoors to sustain a comfortable temperature.  It does this by operating as a refrigeration system - fundamentally an air-conditioner running in reverse.  If the heat pump is consuming heat from the outside air, the efficiency of the heat pump lowers as the outdoor air temperature reduces. The colder it is, the harder it gets to extract and move heat.

The efficiency of a heat pump varies significantly with the outdoor temperatures. While a heat pump may be twice as efficient as a regular heating system at 50 degrees F, when the outdoor climate drops to less than 30 degrees, additional electric resistance heating kicks in.  At very low outdoor temperatures, the heat pump compressor will shut off completely and the backup heating system takes over - using far more electricity.  Most smart thermostats support many stages of heating and cooling, and can run the heat pump and auxiliary heat together to increase comfort and reduce overall energy costs.

In case of compressor or general system failure, many thermostats have an emergency heat switch that bypasses the thermostat and activates the supplemental heater.  You may have noticed that after a power outage, the supplemental electric resistance heater runs for a while to heat up the house.  This is normal, as the system is designed to reheat the oil in the crankcase of the compressor before restarting the compressor.

If you notice that your system is heating but the outdoor compressor is not working, or if the emergency heat light is on, there could be several reasons for this.  The power might be off to the outdoor unit because of a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker.  A very unclean air filter, or dirt on the outside unit could also be the issue.  Drastic changes to the settings on the thermostat might also push the system into emergency heating mode.

If the auxiliary or emergency heat light is constantly on when the unit is heating, there is probably some problem with the system.  A service specialist can easily check if the system is low on refrigerant, or if there is a more severe problem. Keep an eye on your thermostat light and your system, as well as your electric bill.  If there is an increase in electrical usage for no apparent reason, you may have a heat pump running on costly backup electric resistance heat.
By Your Local Heat Pump Repair Heating & Air Contractor

Park Mechanical Plumbing, Heating & Air
3104 O Street. Suite 15
Sacramento, CA 95816
916-452-4154
http://parkmechanical.com