Q: My heat pump outside unit seems to be running all the time, is that ok?
A: Oh, the joy of heat pump ownership. Of all the zillions of heat pumps we have worked on and hopefully will be working on they all seem to have their little nuances. In this case we are talking about air-to-air heat pumps. These are the most common, I suppose, with an outdoor unit that absorbs the heat and an indoor unit that rejects that heat and keeps your toes (reasonably) warm. If I was born any piece of heating and cooling equipment it would hopefully not be an outdoor unit, at least in Montana. Battling the elements would be a way of life. Being unappreciated or at least misunderstood comes with the territory. Don’t they see me out here? Don’t they know what I do? The only way to get some respect, or at least attention, is to turn into a big ‘ole chunk of ice. You will know when your heat pump is needy when it goes for the snow ball look and sends your electric bills through the roof (that will show them).
To be perfectly fair, properly operational air-to-air heat pumps rock the free world. The outlet air temperature of an air-to-air heat pump is naturally lower than that of, say, a gas furnace. It’s still 90 degrees, which is higher than your 70-degree home, so more air changes are required. At some point your home will be at its “thermal balance point,” where the heat in matches the heat out. This is inevitable and is actually a great opportunity to take note of both your home’s and heat pump’s performance. At some point your system will not keep your home warm without some assistance. This helping hand is typically some degree of electric heat but it can be some variety of fossil fuel system as well. How much additional heat and at what outside temperature is the rub. You would generally not install a heat pump on an old leaky, poorly insulated home. On the other end of the spectrum are the few super-insulated and sealed homes, which are specifically designed, tested and certified. Most homes (despite what you may think) are positioned toward the bottom of the scale; despite being beautiful, they leak like a sieve. Due to the fact that only a small percentage of homes are subjected to an actual blower door test, you will never know, but your utility bills and certainly heat pump run-times will be affected. AirWorks does perform blower door tests if you really want to know, but prepare to be surprised and/or shocked at the results. There are some tricks to the trade that can improve the run-time situation, we just need to embrace some current technology. Not all heat pump thermostats are created equal, unlike all men are created equal (see Declaration of Independence, 1776). With thermostats anyway, they are designed for various functions dependent on application and cost. At AirWorks we generally use Honeywell gear and so with heat pumps we use the 8000 series. It has a tiny but important feature that allows the savvy installer to set not only the “droop” in temperature when the supplemental heat operates but the time as well. This super sweet little ditty will allow the heat pump to do its job for a pre-determined amount of time, then give the system a little push to satisfy the thermostat and keep their humans happy.
Give AirWorks a call at (406) 257-1341 and we can set you up to better control your heat pump or give it the attention it needs (and loves to have).
