Beware These 5 Wintertime Heat Pump Issues in New Bern, NC

Since heat pumps are highly energy efficient and combine both heating and cooling functions, they remain useful year-round. Nevertheless, certain problems are likely to afflict heat pumps during the winter, and it’s good to learn about them. Here are five wintertime heat pump issues that you may end up facing in New Bern, NC:

Refrigerant Leaks

Refrigerant leaks pose a perennial threat to your ability to stay comfortable at home. If they occur during the winter, they will undermine your heat pump’s ability to keep you warm and may cause other damaging problems, like short cycling.

The fact that refrigerant is critical to the heat transfer process is what makes these leaks so potentially devastating. When your system is in heating mode, refrigerant sits in its outdoor evaporator coils, where it absorbs heat from the surrounding area before evaporating and moving to the compressor. The compressor heats and pressurizes the refrigerant further, which allows the gas to then travel to the indoor condenser coils, condense and release its heat into your home upon contact with cooler ambient air.

If it loses refrigerant, your heat pump won’t be able to adequately carry out these actions, which may cause it to overwork and damage itself. Since refrigerant is toxic, never attempt to plug leaks or replace lost gas on your own. If you detect a leak, evacuate your home, call for help and let the professionals handle the problem.

Frozen Pipes

Heat pumps use a system of copper pipes to carry refrigerant back and forth between their outdoor and indoor coils. Sometimes, bits of water vapor may contaminate this refrigerant, and under frigid temperatures, that water vapor may freeze and expand. This sudden expansion, even if it’s only slight, may crack your heat pump’s refrigerant piping and let refrigerant escape.

Of course, refrigerant lines may crack for a variety of reasons, including abrasion, corrosion, and ordinary wear and tear. However, the threat of freezing is particularly significant during the winter.

Ice Formation

As your heat pump carries out its functions, it may generate a certain amount of condensation. Though the system has mechanisms to remove excessive amounts of such condensation, some of it may nevertheless linger along the interior. When the weather becomes sufficiently cold, this water may congeal into ice.

This ice may interfere with your heat pump’s operations in all sorts of ways. For example, it may block fan blades from spinning, or, if it accumulates on the evaporator coils, it may prevent the latter from touching the surrounding air. The first event would hinder airflow, while the second would interfere with heat transfer.

Dirty Air Filters

Naturally, as your heat pump’s air filters remove pollutants from the air that flows through them, they will themselves become dirty. The accumulation of debris on these filters’ meshes is the most common impediment to smooth airflow through your heat pump. If air can’t flow freely, both your indoor air quality and your system’s overall performance will decline.

To prevent these difficulties, you must remember to either clean or replace your heat pump’s air filters every one to three months. The winter months are no exception.

Other Airflow Restrictions

While filthy air filters are the most common threats to effective airflow, they are far from the only ones. Leaky ducts, a faulty blower motor or displaced fan blades may also subvert this all-important process.

Since so many things can restrict airflow, the best way to deal with this problem is to let trained HVAC technicians discover its source. If you remember to schedule annual heat pump maintenance, you’ll also be much less likely to face this issue in the first place.

The information above should put you in a better position to respond to any issues that might arise with your heat pump this winter. Ultimately, though, nearly all such problems will require the help of professionals. Call our team at J & J Mechanical, Inc. to enjoy the finest heat pump services in New Bern, NC.

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