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Are You Seeing This From Your Heat Pump?

This is a great explanation of a heat pump for my friends from the Northeast that have recently moved to the South. The blogger is an outstanding home inspector.
It's been cold here lately and when it gets real cold are you seeing this from your heat pump?
Does it look like an ice cube?
A heat pump is essentially an air conditioner that can work backwards!
In winter months many heat pumps will have to put themselves through what is called a "defrost cycle."
During the heating season, a heat pump will compress heat from outside and transfer it indoors. 
When the air outside is very cold, it will freeze on the heat exchanger when the fan is blowing air over it.  The purpose of the defrost cycle is that when the unit recognizes that the ice is forming the unit will work to eliminate it.
When ice builds up on the outdoor unit, air cannot flow through it.  This can reduce efficiency dramatically and can even damage the unit.  The defrost cycle should eliminate icing before it has a chance to build up.
How often the unit goes through the defrost cycle depends on many things - outdoor temperature and ... more

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