As the summer season gets into full swing, most of us are going to be relying on our cooling systems to keep us comfortable on a daily basis. That includes heat pump users, a rapidly growing demographic in the home HVAC market. While heat pumps are great systems for keeping comfortable all year round, they are not perfect. There are still problems that can affect them, and if you’re a heat pump owner you should know what they are. Let’s take a closer look at the problems you’re likely to run into during this summer.
Refrigerant Leaks
Heat pumps, like all air conditioning systems, operate by recycling refrigerant through their systems. This refrigerant is not consumed, but is evaporated and condensed to move heat from one place to the other. If a leak develops in the refrigerant line, as can sometimes happen, it drains the heat pump of the refrigerant that it needs to operate. Without that refrigerant, the heat pump will break down.
Icing Over
If you’ve used your heat pump during the winter, you may have noticed that ice occasionally forms on the outside of your unit. You may be surprised to know that your heat pump can actually ice over in the summer, as well. While it’s not necessarily a problem in winter, ice on your heat pump during the summer is not a good sign. If there is ice forming on your heat pump’s indoor unit, it means that the evaporator coil is icing over. That can occur because of low refrigerant, or because the coil itself has not been cleaned in a while. Regardless of the cause, though, a frozen evaporator coil will eventually require replacement if the ice is not removed.
If your heat pump is experiencing problems, call Touchstone Heating & Air Inc. We service heat pumps throughout Starke, FL.