Hey HVAC guys (or people with heat pumps)...

[MystichromeVert]

Got a sec to watch a quick video of my heat pump making some Godawful racket?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4205815727138667255

Any ideas? It's only done it once. We switched over to the "emergency heat" setting for about an hour and it hasn't done it since. Think I should get somebody out here to look at it or just hope it doesn't happen again?

[cstreu1026]

considering the highs are suppose to be in the low teens early next week I would probably get it looked at.

[Holly]

Ours starting making a louder than usual sound last week when it starting getting cold. It's right outside our bedroom window, and I kept wondering what the noise was. Went out there, and I think that thing was working overtime. It just kept running and running and running. I flipped ours on emergency heat too. The guy that fixed our ac/furnace over the summer said it's more energy efficient to use the heat pump in the winter. I don't understand that though, it runs a long time, puts out "cool" air, and never really gets cozy in there. Turn it on emergency, it blows out "hot" air, and our house is heated up in 15 minutes. I thought about calling him, but he charges $85 just to come out and look at it. Heck with that, we have a free service call from him coming up in 2 months, I'll wait for that. If worse came to worse, we always have the good ole kerosene.

[MystichromeVert]

Well, it went all night without doing it again. Who knows...

[Black Horse]

Well, it went all night without doing it again. Who knows...

Must have been that frozen dead cat.

[bobtsgt]

yeah that could get annoying pretty fast. Perhaps the bearings were cold and just needed to warm back up and expand alittle.

[Holly]

Is the air coming out cool, or warm? Just wondering, because when I have it turned on normal, using the heat pump, the air coming out of ours is cool. I called, they said that is normal. Doesn't make sense to me. I'm using the emergency for now, I could only imagine our electric bill if I left it on normal, it runs almost constantly.

[Carl]

The thing about leaving it on Emergency heat is that you are using a bit more electric to heat coils instead of reversing the A/C unit. So it could cost you more....or so I think. Correct me if I'm wrong cause I will turn on my emergency heat too!!

[Holly]

The thing about leaving it on Emergency heat is that you are using a bit more electric to heat coils instead of reversing the A/C unit. So it could cost you more....or so I think. Correct me if I'm wrong cause I will turn on my emergency heat too!!

You are right, that is what our guy said. But still, what is going to cost more money? Using more electric for the heat coils, or letting it run non-stop? Because when it's this cold, ours does not quit running using the heat pump! I will be anxious to see our electric bill this month, for January it was $137. Not bad at all.

[kennebellcobra]

It's probably just went into defrost mode and when it's real cold it will rattle and make some noise. When your emergency heat is on your heat pump should not run. I would leave on EH when it gets real cold.

[Black Hole]

You are right, that is what our guy said. But still, what is going to cost more money? Using more electric for the heat coils, or letting it run non-stop? Because when it's this cold, ours does not quit running using the heat pump! I will be anxious to see our electric bill this month, for January it was $137. Not bad at all.
Mine was $381!!!!!!! (Gas) That's the highest so far since I've owned my house. My A/C and furnace and hot water heater are all about 10 years old, so they're not as efficient as the newer stuff. I have old 2 pane single hung aluminum windows too, although I do have a bunch of insulation in the attic and my basement is insulated too except the outer walls of the garage.

December was $130, most of the others have been betwen 70-125 over the past year.

[kennebellcobra]

Ice on the fan blades will cause that too.

[MystichromeVert]

yeah that could get annoying pretty fast. Perhaps the bearings were cold and just needed to warm back up and expand alittle.

That's kinda what I thought the first time I heard it... that the bearings were going bad... but after being off for awhile, it quit doing it.


Is the air coming out cool, or warm? Just wondering, because when I have it turned on normal, using the heat pump, the air coming out of ours is cool. I called, they said that is normal. Doesn't make sense to me. I'm using the emergency for now, I could only imagine our electric bill if I left it on normal, it runs almost constantly.

The air feels cold, but it's always been that way. It took a lot of getting used to coming from a natural gas heated home growing up.


It's probably just went into defrost mode and when it's real cold it will rattle and make some noise. When your emergency heat is on your heat pump should not run. I would leave on EH when it gets real cold.


Ice on the fan blades will cause that too.

Cool... thanks for the info. Yeah, the emergency heat shuts off the outside unit. That's what we did when it stated making that noise. We usually flip over to emergency heat when the temps get down around 15-20. That was our home inspector's recommendation when we bought the place.