Heat pumps are one of the most efficient ways to heat and cool a home — but they’re also one of the most misunderstood systems I worked on in 45 years in the field. They behave differently than furnaces, they have quirks in cold weather, and most homeowners don’t know what to do when something goes wrong.
In this section you’ll find practical, field-tested articles covering how heat pumps work, how to troubleshoot common problems, when to call a technician, and how to get the most efficiency out of your system year-round. Everything here comes from real experience — not guesswork.
To best explain auxiliary vs emergency heat, you have to realize that auxiliary heat supplements the heat pump and emergency heat cuts out the heat pump. Auxiliary heat is displayed in various ways on a thermostat. They use abbreviations like “aux ht” or “em ht”. What does emergency heat mean? Why does my auxiliary heat…
What a great idea to have a heat pump roof and keep the snow and bad weather to a minimum. It can extend the life of your equipment and even improve efficiency. But let’s do it the right way. Over the years I’ve been working on heat pumps, I have seen some really good roofs…
There are really only about six parts in a heat pump that can contribute to making noise. Review the list below and we can eliminate them one at a time. Each of these has an individual noise characteristic. Keep in mind that the average life of a heat pump is from 12 to 15 years….
Here are three DIY projects that will make a difference in noise produced by older heat pumps and air conditioners
There are several reasons why a furnace fan keeps running. If you’re patient, we can walk through some of the most common and a few not-so-common reasons. Your furnace fan keeps running because there is a problem with your heat pump. The thermostat thinks the heat pump can’t keep up so it turns on the…