In the winter heat pump icing up is often perfectly normal.
Heat pump air handler frozen.
Every so often the unit will go into defrost mode to remove that frost.
As warm air hits the coil condensation builds up.
Diagnose your thermostat for any obvious problems.
We don t need to go too in depth so bear with me but understanding this principle is the key to figuring out why your air conditioner is freezing up.
Fixing an outdoor frozen heat pump can be as easy as setting the defrost cycle to run a little more frequently which did the trick for us.
So what s the deal.
It will also need to be replaced by a technician.
During the cold winter months your heat pump s outside unit will sometimes be covered with a coating of frost on the sides or even light ice.
If it continues to attempt to operate it can seriously damage itself.
The joule thomson effect how your air conditioner freezes up.
Heat pump frozen in winter.
Of course in the summer the situation is reversed.
The joule thomson effect is a principle in thermodynamics which states that if everything else is kept constant.
Your heat pump and air handler will not function very well when outside temperatures are below 60 degrees.
Sometimes the evaporator coil will freeze if the a c is running when it s cool outside.
If the heat pump turns on when you want cool air but not for heat this is likely the cause.
Your outside air conditioning refrigerant line is covered in ice which seems crazy in arizona heat.
The most important factor when dealing with a frozen pump is to act fast.
Many times a clogged air filter is the reason behind frozen cooling coils.
Try to avoid using your air conditioner at night when the temperatures drop.
Change your air filter.
Standby for a small high school physics lesson.
Heat pump not heating.
If you have a frozen air conditioning coil there are a few steps you should take to troubleshoot the problem before calling an hvac repair company.
In this scenario the air coils inside the interior air handler get very cold.
Well your heat pump works to cool your home by absorbing heat with a cold refrigerant that runs through your evaporator coil.
As the name suggests the reversing valve allows the heat pump to work as both a heater and an air conditioner by reversing the direction of the refrigerant.
It is possible to ice up the indoor coil however if the air conditioner is running in very cold.
If the coil gets too cold the condensation freezes causing your heat pump to freeze up in the summer.
Heat pump or air conditioner iced up in summer.
The system extracts heat from the inside of the house and moves it outside.
Chances are your indoor unit s evaporator coil is frozen solid and cold liquid refrigerant is flowing to the outside unit through the refrigerant line which is why it s covered in ice.
Troubleshooting a frozen air conditioning coil.
This includes the indoor unit outdoor unit and interconnecting line set.
Immediately turn off your heat pump.
