12/22/2022
Some helpful hints from 5 Star to prepare for the upcoming cold weather conditions:
Heat Pumps: Once outdoor temperatures drop below 38 degrees, there is not much heat a heat pump can pick up. In extreme cold, your heat pump can be working properly and still not reach your desired set point. Typically, a heat pump will only produce heat coming out of the register around 85-88 degrees. In extreme cold like we are going to have, your auxiliary electric strip heat will be running a lot to try and maintain your set point but may not be possible.
Things to know:
1. Your outdoor unit will be defrosting a lot in this cold weather. The defrost cycle will look like your outdoor unit is smoking and on fire. This is actually just steam coming off the unit from where the unit is defrosting ice off the coil. You may also hear a loud sound when the unit goes into defrost.
2. With thermostat set to heat, go ahead and turn your thermostat 10-12 degrees above what the current temperature is inside your house. This will bring on your auxiliary heat strips. When you do this, more than likely you will smell a burning smell. That is the dust burning off the strip heat that has accumulated on them since the last time they came on with the mild winters we have it may be the first time since last year that they have come on. Let the dust burn off and set the thermostat back to the regular set point.
3. When a heat pump goes into a defrost, you may feel colder than normal air coming out of the register. That is because the heat pump actually switches to cool mode to defrost the outdoor unit and the heat strips are the only heat source active.
4. Please! Please! Please! Go ahead and turn your temperature up on the thermostat and make sure your heat pump is working today. If it is not, call today for service. We are expecting to be overwhelmed with service calls over the next several days.
5. This extreme cold is hitting our area at the very worst time possible. Many of the local parts supply companies will be shut down Friday and/or Monday for Christmas. Therefore, parts for repair will be limited to the supply we have in house or on our trucks.
Gas Heat: Unlike a heat pump, gas heat (LP or Natural) puts heat out of the register at about 128 degrees no matter the outdoor temperature. The gas units will more than likely keep your house warm and toasty during this cold snap. If you have gas heat and it is heating now you should be fine as long as you have gas.
If you are on L.P gas, check what percentage of gas you have left. If you are low, call and get more gas coming today. You will use a lot of LP gas over the next few days.
We hope you find this information helpful. Thank you for your business and we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year!
