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Archives: January 26, 2016

My Heat Pump Never Reaches the Desired Temperature in Heating

heating needs

This is one of the problems homeowners experience where they set their thermostat say at 71 degrees during winter and for some reasons their house only warms up to 69 degrees Fahrenheit. From experience, this problem generates lots of service calls. While at times this could be a genuine problem, in most cases especially in the cold weather of winter, even a normal working heat pump may have trouble attaining the desired temperature.

To try and explain this, you must first be familiar with the manner in which a heat pump operates. Below a certain temperature, a heat pump loses its efficiency and may not be able to keep up with the heat loss. This means some supplemental heat must come into play to assist the heat pump and this usually comes from electric furnaces or resistance heaters. As the temperature edges towards room temperature, the backup or supplemental heat cycles off and the heat pump continues running in an attempt to push the temperature up which in most cases doesn’t manage.

Therefore, if it is very cold outside and you want your house to be at a certain temperature, you may be forced to raise your thermostat by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in order to maintain it. However, when it is not extremely cold outside and your heat pump still doesn’t attain the desired temperature then there could be a problem somewhere.

Possible Causes of Heating Problems

Below are a number of causes that may contribute to your heat pump not reaching the desired temperature.

  • Low refrigerant charge
  • A faulty thermostat
  • A refrigerant flow problem caused by restriction or bad metering
  • Poor efficiency of the heat pump due to dirt, dust or inadequate servicing
  • Bad reversing valve
  • Bad compressor valve
  • Iced up outdoor unit
  • Outdoor unit not running
  • Closed vents
  • Open windows or poorly insulated house

Some of these problems can be addressed by the homeowner while others require you to make a service call for professional attention. Before making that service call, you need to run a checklist of the following things.

  • Ensure your outdoor heat pump is running and not just cycling on the supplemental heat
  • The thermostat should be turned down below room temperature and on cool

  • The indoor and the outdoor units should have their power on and running. In the event the outdoor unit is not running, push the red reset button.
  • Check if you have a condensate pump in the indoor unit. Some heat pumps have a safety switch that automatically shuts off the outdoor unit whenever the pump overfills and fails to pump.

If you have completed the above checklist and still the problem persists, call your HVAC technicians so that they can diagnose the system. As a caution, do not attempt things you are not familiar with because working with electricity can expose you to the dangers of high voltage and electrocution.