Reasons Your Heat Pump Might Not Heat as Much as You Need in Illinois
You have probably wondered why your heat pump seems to stop working as efficiently when it’s extremely cold outside. While heat pumps are incredibly efficient, the principle on which they operate makes them extremely susceptible to the extreme cold you find in certain areas in Illinois. To understand why this is, we have to look at how heat pumps work and what we can do to alleviate some of the problems you might encounter with them in Illinois.
Understanding Heat Pumps
Heat pumps are similar to your air conditioner and refrigerator in that they both work by using a refrigerant to collect and transport heat from one location to the next. That is why the back of your refrigerator feels warm to the touch. It is continuously compressing and recirculating refrigerant that removes heat and puts it into your kitchen. A heat pump will typically transport warm air from the outside to the interior of your home, but that becomes far more difficult when the temperatures outside are below freezing. Understanding how we solve this problem will give you an idea of the challenges you might be facing that keep your heat pump from operating at peak efficiency in Illinois.
Less Heat in the Air
Heat pumps work by extracting heat from the air around them and pushing it either into or out of your home. During the summer months, your system pulls the heat from inside your home and dispels it outside. In the winter, the reversing valve switches the direction the refrigerant flows, and pulls heat from the outside air and pushes it into your home. While this boosts efficiency during milder winter months, it becomes virtually impossible to do so when temperatures plummet.
When temperatures plummet to around 5°F, you reach a point where there is just no more heat in the air for the heat pump to extract. At this point, your heat pump will need to work much harder to extract less energy, reducing efficiency.
System at Its Balance Point
As your heat pump works hard to warm your home in winter, your home is radiating heat back into the air. There comes a point where the energy being brought into your home matches the energy radiating from it. This is the heat pump’s balance point. It is where the heat pump reaches its capacity to heat your home in excess of the energy being lost to the outside world. When your heat pump reaches that point, it requires an auxiliary heat source to better heat your home.
Ice and Dirt Build Up
As temperatures plummet outside, ice can start to build up on your heat pump’s outdoor coil. This will block heat absorption, causing your heat pump to run its defrost cycle more often. While it is running its defrost cycle, it is not moving heat into your home. Dirt can also build up in your air filter and restrict airflow. This will cause your heat pump to work less efficiently.
Low Refrigerant Levels
As mentioned above, heat pumps use refrigerant, and its levels can get too low if there’s a leak somewhere in your system. When this happens, you need a professional to recharge your refrigerant as quickly as possible. Not only is it unsafe to handle refrigerant, but it’s actually illegal for unlicensed individuals to use it.
Other Considerations with Heat Pumps in Cold Areas
Upgrading to a cold-climate heat pump is a smart choice if you live in a part of Illinois where it gets extremely cold. If that choice isn’t immediately available, you can add electric resistance strips or another backup heat source for those days when your heat pump cannot heat your home by itself.
Trusted Heat Pump Experts
While it can be difficult to figure out why your heat pump isn’t keeping up in extreme cold temperatures, it might be a smart choice for a professional checkup. Our professional technicians can easily diagnose common problems that cause heat pumps to not work at maximum efficiency.
In addition to heat pumps, we work with boilers and other HVAC equipment. We will quickly diagnose and fix your problem to keep you comfortable in your home.
Contact BELOMAN for more information today.
