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The outdoor unit of my heat pump puts off smoke from time to time. Also, it looks like it is frozen sometimes. Is this normal? |
- If the “smoke” is white or very light gray, then yes!
- The reason is because of the way heat pumps work. In the winter, the outdoor coil gets cooler than the outside air in order to extract heat from the air. In fact, it can get as much as twenty degrees cooler than the outside air during normal operation. In this way it absorbs heat from the outside air, then the compressor "Pumps" it to the indoor coil. If the outdoor air is 45 degrees, then the heat pump coil can be 25 degrees. Any moisture in the outside air condenses on the outside coil when the air passes over it, and freezes instantly. The heat pump has a special “defrost” circuit that warms the outside coil and melts the ice off every 90 minutes.The defrost circuit is active whenever the outdoor coil is colder than 32 degrees. When this “defrost” occurs, it can look as though smoke is pouring off of it.
- As long as it thaws periodically, the thin frost buildup does not adversely affect normal heat pump operation. However during freezing rains, the defrost circuit may not be able to thaw the coil often enough. In that case you can often turn the heat pump off and thaw the coil yourself with water from a bucket or garden hose.
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