Furnace Help

[bsp4444]

I just looked out and noticed my heating/AC fan outside is encased in ice. What's the remedy for that?

[KC Kings]

Originally Posted by cardken

If you have a Heat Pump, you have a low charge, you'll notice your indoor air will be luke warm at best, but switch thermostat over to Emergency Heat. This will activate heating elements inside of your furnice, will provide temporary heat until you can get service out to charge unit. Also check your Air Filter, if clogged will cause lines to outside unit from Air Handler(Furnice) to become incased in ice.Re member a heat pump only heats efficently up to 34 degrees. After that you should switch over to Emergency Heat, it always amazed me that they install those unitd in the mid west.

Heats efficiently up to 34 degrees, or 34 degrees over the outside temperature?

We have a 2,400 square foot house, a heat pump, and very rarely does the emergency kick in. If it is in the teens outside or if it is in the 30s and our garage door has been opened a while it will kick in, but other than that our house stays at 68 with no problem.

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by KC Kings

Heats efficiently up to 34 degrees, or 34 degrees over the outside temperature?

We have a 2,400 square foot house, a heat pump, and very rarely does the emergency kick in. If it is in the teens outside or if it is in the 30s and our garage door has been opened a while it will kick in, but other than that our house stays at 68 with no problem.

It depends on your brand of heat pump and how old it is. Some newer heat pumps can keep your house warm when the outside temperature is around 20 degrees. I toyed with the idea of a heat pump last year but decided to go with a 94%+ efficient gas furnace. If you're on KCPL and have a heat pump you'll also get a discount on the cost of electricity from mid-September until sometime in the spring.

[cardken]

Originally Posted by KC Kings

Heats efficiently up to 34 degrees, or 34 degrees over the outside temperature?

We have a 2,400 square foot house, a heat pump, and very rarely does the emergency kick in. If it is in the teens outside or if it is in the 30s and our garage door has been opened a while it will kick in, but other than that our house stays at 68 with no problem.

34 degrees outside. like the other poster stated, depends on the age of your model. You must have fantastic insulation.

[HonestChieffan]

I love people who bag on heat pumps. Had one in Indy, and one in KC house and have two currently.

[cardken]

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan

I love people who bag on heat pumps. Had one in Indy, and one in KC house and have two currently.

I have no probem with Heat pumps, but they were designed for a less agressive winter climate. They are perfect for those of us in Las Vegas.

[cardken]

Heat pump
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A heat pump is a machine or device that moves heat from one location (the 'source') to another location (the 'sink' or 'heat sink'), using work. Most heat pump technology moves heat from a low temperature heat source to a higher temperature heat sink.[1] Common examples are food refrigerators and freezers and air conditioners and reversible-cycle heat pumps for providing thermal comfort.

Heat pumps can be thought of as an heat engine which is operating in reverse. One common type of heat pump works by exploiting the physical properties of an evaporating and condensing fluid known as a refrigerant. In heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) applications, a heat pump normally refers to a vapor-compression refrigeration device that includes a reversing valve and optimized heat exchangers so that the direction of heat flow may be reversed. Most commonly, heat pumps draw heat from the air or from the ground. Air-source heat pumps do not work well when temperatures fall below around −5°C (23°F). Okay, 23 degrees I stand corrected.

[DaFace]

My parents have an "emergency heater" installed along with their heat pump because they don't work worth crap once the temperature gets down too low.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Sounds like someone has put sugar in your freon. Theres only one way to check it out.

[bsp4444]

Originally Posted by cardken

Heat pump
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

A heat pump is a machine or device that moves heat from one location (the 'source') to another location (the 'sink' or 'heat sink'), using work. Most heat pump technology moves heat from a low temperature heat source to a higher temperature heat sink.[1] Common examples are food refrigerators and freezers and air conditioners and reversible-cycle heat pumps for providing thermal comfort.

Heat pumps can be thought of as an heat engine which is operating in reverse. One common type of heat pump works by exploiting the physical properties of an evaporating and condensing fluid known as a refrigerant. In heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) applications, a heat pump normally refers to a vapor-compression refrigeration device that includes a reversing valve and optimized heat exchangers so that the direction of heat flow may be reversed. Most commonly, heat pumps draw heat from the air or from the ground. Air-source heat pumps do not work well when temperatures fall below around −5°C (23°F). Okay, 23 degrees I stand corrected.

It's heat pump with a propane furnace backup. It runs off of the cheaper electricity until the temperature falls below a certain point (23 deg., as pointed out) then the propane furnace kicks on.