When the cold winter weather settles in, your heat pump becomes an essential component of your home comfort. While these are very efficient and reliable systems that are specifically designed to handle cold weather, they can experience ice accumulations from time to time in their condenser unit. If you notice that your heat pump seems to be encased in ice, it’s important to act correctly to minimize damage and promptly restore comfort to your home.
Why Did Your Heat Pump Freeze
Before we dive into the steps you need to take to unfreeze your heat pump, it can be helpful to understand why it freezes up in the first place. This can allow you to better direct your efforts in a safe and efficient manner.
Normal Frosting
When your heat pump is operating during cold and humid conditions, a thin layer of frost will naturally form on the outdoor condenser coils. All modern-day heat pumps are specifically designed to handle that thin layer with their automatic defrost cycle. This is where your heat pump will pull heat from inside your home for a short time and circulate it out to your condenser coils to remove that ice. Because frost melts very quickly, a small amount of it isn’t very dangerous for your heat pump.
Low Outdoor Temperatures
When temperatures dip down to the teens or single digits, moisture in the air starts to freeze up. This causes the moisture surrounding your condenser coils to freeze on the coils. Over time, this continuous ice buildup can occur if the defrost cycle for your system is delayed or insufficient.
Poor Airflow
For your condenser unit to operate correctly, it needs to have adequate airflow in and out. If there’s debris like leaves, snow, or even ice covering the outside of the unit, it can restrict its airflow. When the airflow is blocked, it prevents proper heat exchange. It won’t take long until ice starts forming on your unit and stressing your overall heat pump system.
Refrigerant Problems
For your heat pump to work correctly, it needs to have an appropriate amount of refrigerant. If your system experiences a refrigerant leak, which leaves it with low refrigerant, it will reduce the ability of your heat pump to transfer heat effectively. Without sufficient heat transfer, frost can accumulate on the surface of the coils instead of melting off during normal defrost cycles.
Dirty or Damaged Coils
Anytime there is dust, dirt, or damage to the coils in your outdoor condenser unit, it will reduce their operating efficiency. This is because any layer of debris on the coil can prevent heat transfer in or out of it. Moisture is more likely to freeze up on dirty coils than clean ones.
Defrost Malfunctions
All heat pumps rely on sensors and reversing valves to initiate their defrost cycle. This defrost cycle is where heat comes from inside your home to the outdoors to thaw any ice off the coils in your condenser unit. If the sensor fails, your system won’t know to turn on its defrost cycle. This will allow ice to freely accumulate on the surface of the coil. Additionally, if the reversing valve to switch modes from heating your home to the defrost cycle is faulty, defrost mode won’t work.
Why Is Ice Buildup Dangerous?
Now that you understand why ice may build up on the coils in your outdoor condenser unit, it’s important to know why that ice buildup is bad. It’s perfectly normal for some frost to develop on the coils due to the natural moisture in the air. However, when your heat pump condenser unit becomes heavily encased in ice, it can lead to serious operational issues.
Reduced System Efficiency
One of the biggest problems with ice that forms on your condenser unit is that it reduces the operating efficiency of the heat pump. Ice acts more like an insulator that prevents proper heat transfer in or out of the coil. This will make your system work harder to try to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature. This can lead to higher energy bills alongside decreased comfort.
Mechanical Strain
Another reason that ice buildup on your coils is a bad thing is that it can increase the mechanical strain on your heat pump. Ice is well-known to increase the stress on your fans and motors. This can lead to premature component failure and shorten the overall lifespan of your heat pump.
Coil Damage
Apart from stressing the components in your condenser unit, ice buildup can actually damage the coils themselves. This can happen when ice bends the coil out of shape. It could also result in puncturing the delicate coil and allowing refrigerant gas to escape.
System Shutdown
All modern-day heat pumps are designed with sensors that indicate when there’s ice on the coils of the condenser unit. Many of these systems will automatically shut off due to modern-day safety features to protect the components of your heat pump. While this will maintain the integrity of your heat pump until it can be serviced by one of our professionals, it will leave your home without heating. If that happens, our heating company can help restore warmth quickly and safely.
What to Do if Your Heat Pump Is Frozen
If you notice that your heat pump is frozen, it’s important to be mindful of how you handle the situation so that you don’t void your warranty coverage. The first thing you want to do is completely turn off your unit at the thermostat or the circuit breaker. You never want to continue running a frozen unit, as doing so could cause major internal damage to the system.
If there are any obstructions around your condenser unit that could be affecting airflow, be sure to remove them. It’s never a good idea to try to chip away ice or pour boiling water onto your coils. This can actually damage the coils. You should call us as soon as you realize that you have frozen ice on your coils. The sooner we can respond to the issue, the quicker we can get your system back up and running to heat your home.
Never attempt to thaw the outdoor unit using a space heater or hair dryer. Doing this can actually cause some serious electrical damage.
When our HVAC technicians arrive, they’ll get to work diagnosing the root cause of the ice buildup on your coils. Whether it’s a defective reversing valve or simply low system refrigerant, we’ll let you know what the problem is. Next, we’ll perform reliable heat pump repair so the issue doesn’t return.
Once your system is prepared, we’ll safely work to thaw out your unit using manufacturer-approved methods. This will ensure that your warranty coverage remains intact moving forward. Once the coils are properly thawed out, we’ll test your system to ensure that it’s running efficiently.
Expert Heat Pump Repair Service
Davis & Green offers expert repair service for the Richmond, VA community. We can also assist with all your heat pump replacement, new installation, and tune-up needs. If your cooling system also needs attention, our team handles air conditioning services as well. Just call our office to schedule your next service consultation today.
