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heatpump ALWAYS freezes

3K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  chayce 
#1 ·
Hi, I had this problem all the last 4 years, and last night was the first cold night here and it didn't even get quite to the freeze point. I live in Coastal South Carolina. For the most part ever one has just said heat pumps are no good and can't handle the cold at all, which just doesn't seem right, I've had it checked out but they say its fine. But it never faiils, in the summer when its 90to 95 outside, its 85-90 IN my house , in the winter when it stays cold for severfal days forget it, its 35 or lower IN my house! And it always caus the fan thingy outsode freezes up.Last night for the first time it dropped to 35 degrees out for the first tim, thermostat was set to 70, its 65 and the AUX heat is trying to run which is silly cause all it ever blows is cold air, it has a switch for EMER heat, but that blows up my electric bill and sounds a damn alarm almost the entire time its running. I shut it off to thaw out the fan just a while ago, please is there anything I can do aside from buying a new unit. Which I can't =-( or am I stuck freezing again the winter and roasting again next summer? Thank u so much.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Sounds like you have a few problems. One being the thermostat is not wired correctly, the aux heat should come on when the house temp falls 2 degrees without you switching to emergancy. Both the HP and electric elements should be on at the same time at that point.
Heat pumps will frost when it gets below 40 but they're supposed to defrost on their own. Frost too heavy to clear in a defrost cycle and only a 10 degree temp difference between inside and outside in the summer makes me think low on refrigerant.

The things you can do are.... put a clean filter in, clean the outside coils, clean the inside coils, make sure the thermostat and HP are wired correctly(should be a wiring diagram in the air handler and in the HP). If the air handler is in the attic check the duct for air leaks. Have all that done before a tech comes out to check the charge.
 
#3 ·
Thank u for ur answer, the filters stay changed, I clean all the coild once a month, I have a lot of animals lol, so. However I don't know much aout all this but, all I have outside is the big fan looking thing, the rest of the entire unit is inside the house. The aux heat comes on by itself like u said, when it drops about 2 degrees what it should be, I have to manually turn on the emer heat. The outside fan is what freezes up, and no it does not defrost on its own, and the charge has been checked and I was told it was fine. So I'm gonna have to go wth the wiring of the thermostat? Which would suprise me I know who installed it and that's not overly confidence inspiring. The thermostat being wired wrong would cause it to freeze up so easily and not heat or cool properly? Like last night it only got down to 68 so its not that bad yet, but its been warm out still for the most part, the real problem comes when its in the 30s and lower constantly for days and weeks, then the house can't heat up during the day, and by night fall the house itself is not much warmer than outside, without me having to turn on the emergency heat which , like I said blows my bill to the moon. I will get the wiring checked, thanku
 
#4 ·
The thermostat not being wired right. Isn't causing the outdoor unit to freeze up. Something else wrong is.

Your aux heat, and emergency heat. Use the same electric heater. Since aux heat isn't keeping up. The stat is probably wired wrong.
 
#7 ·
I was thinking defrost board also, but you said it failed to cool in the summer as well. Sounds like your system is either undercharged, or since it's been this way for 4 years it has a blockage of some sort in the liquid line. You need a hvac tech to look at it, but there is an easy check you can do yourself. With it running trace out the smaller liquid line and see if it gets cold somewhere. You'll probably find a kink or a brazed joint where it gets much colder and this is your problem. Also if you get it looked at post the gauge readings here and tell us what the tech tells you!
 
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