If you have a heat pump or similar..

[redneck1]

Go outside and check on your outside unit every now and then when there's a storm .

A friend of mine just cost himself a big chunk of change because he didn't .
Its been freezing rain / snowing here since about 10 am
About an hour ago I got a call from my less then mechanically inclined friend panicked because his outside unit was making a terrible racket and he didn't have heat any more .

The fan on it must have had a good inch of ice built up on it , which of course threw it out of balance and pretty much shook the whole unit apart .
Ancillary to that the whole thing was packed full of snow and ice greatly reducing its efficiency before vibrating its self to death .

Check your unit every now and then ... And a little WD 40 or Pam spray on the fan blades goes a long way to helping ice not build up when you know its possible .

[jsizemore]

A rental house I look after has a heat pump located below a roof valley. Freezing rain and snow would build up on top of the unit and freeze the fan and heat exchanger. I made a simple cover that resembles the shape of a covered wagon with the ends open. I used some metal roofing and treated wood. The openings on the each end are as large as the fan exhaust on the top of the unit. I used a couple of the fan shroud screws to keep it attached with sheetmetal straps. It's been on there for years with nary a freeze up.....so far.

[rbuck351]

Mine is a geothermal heat pump and doesn't have the box outside. It has about 2000 ft of underground pipe that circulates coolant at about 50 degrees to the heat exchanger that is in the house. It works as AC in the summer.

[Petrol & Powder]

Heat pumps are very popular in the south where winter isn't normally severe; but then we have the current situation in Texas.

I hate to sound like an old guy, but.......it appears the younger generations have very limited knowledge about how things work. I would dare say that many of them don't seem to WANT to know how things work, they just expect them to work.

The advice from the OP is good advice and was once very common knowledge.

Heat pumps are good solutions in places where temps rarely drop below 35. Below that or when packed full of snow & ice, they leave a lot to be desired.

[ioon44]

When the temps get under 35 I shut off my air source heat pump's and use wood and propane back up.

[GasGuzzler]

I am in North Texas. I have a heat pump for the reasons explained above. Problem is it's -5 right now so there is no available ambient heat to exchange. My unit has a three stage furnace element that helps but by then I'm really using a lot of electricity to run the system. I have it set to 63 and it hasn't stopped running since Friday. I have no WBS or fireplace.

[Petrol & Powder]

I am in North Texas. I have a heat pump for the reasons explained above. Problem is it's -5 right now so there is no available ambient heat to exchange. My unit has a three stage furnace element that helps but by then I'm really using a lot of electricity to run the system. I have it set to 63 and it hasn't stopped running since Friday. I have no WBS or fireplace.

At least you have electricity. From what I've been reading a lot of Texan's don't have power right now.

Of course next summer when it's 105 degrees, you'll miss that -5 :-o
Well.......maybe you will not miss it, but I bet you'll remember it.

Hang in there. You folks will get a break soon.

[375supermag]

Hi...
I have a heat pump at my house here in southcentral Pennsylvania.
It actually works pretty well. When it gets below about 25°F, the emergency electric heat elements kick in.
I keep a kerosene heater to heat the living room and kitchen if the power goes out. Haven't needed to use it the last three years..
I still run it every once in a while to test it and to use up the kerosene in the tank.

[rbuck351]

My geothermal heat pump works very well below 35 and works very well at 30 below. Ground temp is about 50 degrees here and the 2000 feet of under ground pipe brings that 50 degrees into the heat exchanger in the house. In the coldest months of the year which averages around 0 my electric bill for my 3000 sq ft all electric house runs about $200. I have 2 wood stoves. The one in the kitchen is a cook stove, the heat stove is in the basement. For when the power goes out I have a 5kw gen set. The only problem with this system is the cost.

[SSGOldfart]

My geothermal heat pump works very well below 35 and works very well at 30 below. Ground temp is about 50 degrees here and the 2000 feet of under ground pipe brings that 50 degrees into the heat exchanger in the house. In the coldest months of the year which averages around 0 my electric bill for my 3000 sq ft all electric house runs about $200. I have 2 wood stoves. The one in the kitchen is a cook stove, the heat stove is in the basement. For when the power goes out I have a 5kw gen set. The only problem with this system is the cost.

And operational costs I'll be setting up a better back up this year. If your prepared you can easily survive -25/-30 in a elk camp,so why not single digits in East Texas.for a couple of days.

[Ickisrulz]

Our heat pump switches to aux (emergency) heat when outside temperatures get below freezing. I have read there isn't any heat to get out of the environment at these temperatures.

I hate heat pumps because since they normally don't blow "hot" air they make the house drafty even though they maintain the desired temperature.

[MUSTANG]

When the temps get under 35 I shut off my air source heat pump's and use wood and propane back up.

+1. :goodpost: This applies to both the Southern Nevada and the Montana houses.

[KMac]

At least you have electricity. From what I've been reading a lot of Texan's don't have power right now.

Of course next summer when it's 105 degrees, you'll miss that -5 :-o
Well.......maybe you will not miss it, but I bet you'll remember it.

Hang in there. You folks will get a break soon.

I am from North Texas and will take 110 degrees any day over 32 degrees, much less -5.

[.429&H110]

Here in the Sonoran desert, my snow shovel hangs where I left it. My heat pump power bill for January is $160, twice the July A/C bill. We have had two frosts so far! Now it's raining.
C'mon Algore, where's the global warming?

[country gent]

I put one of them in my new shop. The heating shop I used and I discussed it and the actual unit is inside the garage out of the weather and blowing sand and stuff, Only the cassette is in the shop up on the wall. This seemed to be a win win here as the building stays warmer than outside do to radiant heat and as said the units out of the weather. We did have to add a pan and drain under it for condensation.

Here in the fall when the farmers are running crops there is a lot of blowing leaves and dust, not to mention sand from the fields spring and fall By putting the actual unit in side the garage its out of all this.

[crappie-hunter]

My t-stat gives me the option to automatically shut down the heat pump at 35 degrees, and automatically start the oil hot water furnace.

[David2011]

At least you have electricity. From what I've been reading a lot of Texan's don't have power right now.

Of course next summer when it's 105 degrees, you'll miss that -5 :-o
Well.......maybe you will not miss it, but I bet you'll remember it.

Hang in there. You folks will get a break soon.

Among those who lost electricity we were pretty fortunate. We lost power around 3:00 AM Monday and got it back around 2:30 this morning (Tuesday). Problem is, the city water plant is down and unable to get water to 100,000 residents. It “only” got down to 15 degrees F at our house but that’s still too cold for this Gulf Coast boy. I’ve lived in cold climates; prefer sailing in a t-shirt and shorts.


And operational costs I'll be setting up a better back up this year. If your prepared you can easily survive -25/-30 in a elk camp,so why not single digits in East Texas.for a couple of days.

I’m not in East Texas but right on Galveston Bay. You have to understand that houses here are not designed for more than a few hours of light freezing temperatures. My house is heavily insulated but the water lines are in the attic as they are in virtually all homes in Gulf Coastal Texas. I lived near Longview, TX for a few years, east of Dallas. Winters are much colder there than on the coast but the water lines are still in the attic. Easier to repair but more likely to need repair.


I am from North Texas and will take 110 degrees any day over 32 degrees, much less -5.

Your 110 is our 90 degrees but, yeah. Any day.

[BJK]

Thanks for the heads up.

We're in Maine and have 2 heat pumps. So far I've used them at -10 and they worked fine. But that was just a test since '20 June was when they were installed and I wanted to see what they would do this winter. Supposedly they are efficient down to -20°F, but now when it gets to 20° and will stay there I light the woodstove.

Not checking the outside unit is just ignorant. Maybe they were older units? Ours go into auto self-defrost mode when they detect ice on the coils that make the unit less efficient. To see the melt water that pours out of the unit in that cycle is just amazing.

[bangerjim]

Only problem we have with our two heat pumps is the vines growing inside the units! No ice here in the desert SW.

I check them a few times especially during the growing season (which here is about 10 months long!)

HP's work great here where it never gets below 30 at night. I would never put one in back east or up north (where we used to live) for heating! Very little heat in 10-20°F air to "pump" out of it. They probably should work great for AC in the summer back there. They sure do here in 112F heat. We run everything (well, by the rules 75%) off the solar system on the roofs. It is nice to know between about 1.5 hours after sunrise and 1 hour before sunset, I can run the entire 2,600= SQFT house (all electric) off just solar.

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve been considering a heat pump. I’ve been told there are hybrid units that can also run on heating oil when the temperature is low. Anyone know anything about these hybrids?

[hc18flyer]

I live in NE Nebraska, -26 last night. I have a air source heat pump, but I also have an efficient wood stove in my basement. Below about 30 I switch to auxiliary electric heat, but it seldom runs, we heat with the wood stove. Two good weekends working on fire wood and I am set for the season. It sure is nice to have a 'slave' (14 year-old Grandson) to help, makes everything go quicker and more fun! Today we had our first ever 'rolling blackout', because of the wide spread extreme cold. We have another 2 days of this and our temps will moderate to more seasonable. AMEN!!!!

[hc18flyer]

I’ve been considering a heat pump. I’ve been told there are hybrid units that can also run on heating oil when the temperature is low. Anyone know anything about these hybrids?

We see a lot of them 'coupled' with propane furnaces here for the cold weather. That is what my next one will likely be. hc18flyer

[bangerjim]

Both my heat pumps have "auxiliary radiant heater elements" in the air handlers that come on if the temp is REEEAAAAL cold outside. I paid extra for them ( about $200/unit) so the wife would have warm air when the air handlers come on during very chilly mornings. To date, I have not seem them come on....I have a whole house 12 circuit data gathering system so I can see everything about everything running that is electric! Great graphs and data on my computer for energy calculations. I can see from my office computer (or cell phone) when the wife turns on the dish washer or clothes dryer! And look back several years by day to see what was going on. I just notice as of yesterday our HP's have not come on for almost 2 weeks! Not that cold here now. Hitting low 80's in a few days.

[chambers]

Air heat pumps tend to freeze moisture on cycle as saw first hand at friends place. New unit( less than 6 months old), we had early in year 20 deg to 32 deg. F high humidity weather( where the trees frost white every night), unit iced up completely. Called manufacturer and asked if defrost cycle could be increased, no luck with this idea. Recommended to either defrost unit with gas torpedo heater to deice to stop fan from rubbing on ice. Did that twice this year, since cold weather is here and less moisture in air, seems to work. It does have small electric resistance heat build in.

[jim147]

They have defrost thermostats in them that should take care of it. You can cover part of the fan if you know what you are doing. It's not easy charging a heat pump after repair in the winter.

Sounds like that unit might have an install problem. Hard to tell unless looking at it.

[mrmachinist]

My heat pump works well in south Louisiana. At 32 degrees it switches to the heat strips automatically. I have been keeping a fire going in our fireplace that has a stove insert with a blower and keeping the central unit fan going to circulate the heat. Our house has been nice and warm through this cold snap. 14 last night which is very unusual.

No shortage of firewood down here thanks to hurricane Laura......


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[45DUDE]

I have a heat pump. you couldn't give me another one. 28 degrees and mine don't work and the 220 heat kicks in and makes you mad when you get the bill. I went to window units and propane and bills are ok and you can service them yourself and end the service calls. A reconditioned 350 gallon propane tank rents for $75 a year and propane is $2.15 on the last refill. They are costly to keep propping them up. I do have a fireplace for backup but haven't needed it in 12 years. When the electricity goes off they are useless. The 220 still works since 1985 if I need fast heat. Natural gas is 5 miles away but not available to me. I am not really having a problem other than the internet crashing every hour for 1/2 hour or so. It has been zero degrees the last 3 nights and 3 burners keep 2100 square feet at 73 degrees.

[10x]

Here in the Sonoran desert, my snow shovel hangs where I left it. My heat pump power bill for January is $160, twice the July A/C bill. We have had two frosts so far! Now it's raining.
C'mon Algore, where's the global warming?

Thank you for that information.
You live in a dessert paradise.
It takes a great deal of electrical power to extract heat from air when the ambient temperature is -40degrees (F or C all the same thing) It would be cheaper to use electric base board heaters at that temperature.
The only economically viable option here is natural gas and the new Canadian carbon taxes are going to kill that.

[rbuck351]

Natural gas would be great if there was any in my area.

[10x]

Natural gas would be great if there was any in my area.

It used be great here until the federal government decided to tax it with carbon taxes

[HATCH]

I’ve been considering a heat pump. I’ve been told there are hybrid units that can also run on heating oil when the temperature is low. Anyone know anything about these hybrids?

I am not familur with the hybrids that use heating oil as I live in South Carolina.
Homes here have 4 types of HVAC systems.

(1) Heat Pump with electric strips
(2) Standard AC with Gas furnace
(3) Heat Pump with Gas Furnace (hybrid)
(4) GeoThermal

My house has a AC with gas furnace downstairs and a heat pump with electric strips upstairs.
My should has a mini-split. It is the "HIGH HEAT" model meaning it will produce heat when the temps are down to the 20s. Its basically a heat pump.

Now I use to work for a company that deal with HVAC controls.
There was a school district that installed GEOthermal units in a new school.
The underground liquid lines ran 30 feet under the school. It saved 35% on its HVAC yearly cost compared to the exact same floorplan when compared to standard HVAC units
If I were to build a brand new home, it would be a hybrid system.
Natural gas isn't a issue here. I have a instant water heater, fire place and stove that are gas in addition to the furnace downstairs.
The only additional thing I wish I had was a whole house natural gas generator. But I really think that would be a waste of $10K has we rarely lose power here and when we do its only for a couple hours. We did lost power for 9 hrs one day last year. Wasn't even long enough to burn a tank of fuel on my 7500 portable generator.