Derek Cole explains how heat pump backup heat and defrost cycles work. Defrost mode switches the outdoor unit to cooling to melt frost while strip heaters keep the house warm inside. Don't set your thermostat to emergency heat routinely because it's expensive; heat pumps work fine down to around 0°C and only use backup heat when needed.
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I'm Derek Cole, host of the Derek Cole Podcast and we believe in taking the time to explain how things work for your air at home or your business. And we also believe you deserve clean air in that home. And that is why we founded the Healthy Home Challenge. It's a five day online video series with daily emails, worksheets and even quick action steps you can take to protect you, your family and your co workers. If you haven't joined us yet, you can sign up. It's free to free five day access. You can go to Simmons One Hour Comm. You'll see a link to learn more about indoor air. You've probably known for a while that you need better indoor air at home or at work. After all, we spend 90% of our time indoors these days. Your breakthrough awaits at Simmons One Hour Comm. Now let's get into today's episode. Please listen closely and maybe even take some notes so you can remember these insights of home comfort and energy savings. And share this episode with three of your friends because we all need to share better ways to be more comfortable at home. Be sure to tag me or DM me on Instagram Derek Mcole so I can say hi. Thanks again for listening and let's begin.
So if you have a heat pump, you will have a backup heat source, strip heaters, electric heaters, emergency heat, whatever you like to call it. It's called a few different things. It's really called heat strips, but basically they serve a couple purposes or really two main purposes and, and can be a third win absolutely. In a bad place. First of all, defrost cycle. So if you have a heat pump, what happens is to bring heat into the house, it is taking heat, taking heat from outside. There's actually heat, you know, in the air until zero degrees. You know, technically there's heat in there, so it's taken as much heat as it can from outside and bringing it inside. What happens is the outdoor unit or that coil is going to get frosted over because the cold air is coming through those coils to extract the heat that needs to obviously get burned off or get melted. The only way that happens is, is with the defrost cycle. So what happens is on the outdoor unit, there's a sensor, typically, typically a sensor. And when that defrost board or when that board checks that temperature sensor at the time frame 30, 60, 90 minutes, it says, hey, I need to defrost, then it goes into a defrost cycle. And basically what that is, you'll hear a Loud noise. And what's happening is that unit is actually, actually switching from heating to cooling because it now needs to take warm air and blow it outside to melt that frost that's on that coal. So to melt that frost, it goes into AC cycle. The reason you don't get cold in the house is when the AC cycle activates also also turns on the heat strips so you don't get cold in.
The home and don't notice what's happening, you know, unless you hear it going.
To defrost or, you know, see steam.
Coming up from the unit or go there and see the fan not running on top. It's in defrost cycle and it's melting that frost on that unit. That's really one, that one of the reasons you have the heat strips, another reason is because it is a good backup heat source. So if it gets really cold outside.
Or if you get home, maybe you.
Get home at 65 degrees and you want it 68, well, it's going to.
Activate those backup heat strips to help.
Supplement the heat pump to get you to that temperature as fast as possible. So those are the two main purposes and number three, really the last. You know, if the unit is, if it's snowing and the outdoor unit is covered up and cannot, you know, function.
Then you have that backup emergency heat to help you out and in the home. Now you should, you should never turn your thermostat off a heat intermerge heat unless that unit is covered or there is some reason that the unit, the outdoor unit is not working. You don't have to do it. When it's, you know, 30, 20 degrees outside, it will go into heat pump mode and defrost cycle and the backup heat will come on as needed. But I wouldn't ever turn a thermostat straight to emergency heat when it's not covered up and when you don't have a problem because you, you don't want to use the secondary heat source or the backup heat source as your primary heat source. That's going to cost you a lot of energy, a lot of money. The heat pump can still function when, you know, down to zero, basically because there's heat in the air. So it can still function as a heat pump and turn the electric heat or the backup heat on and off as needed.
Okay, I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Derek Cole Podcast. Tell some people about this episode. It's on each of us, really, to spread the better ways to be healthier and more comfortable in our homes and workspaces. I'm asking you to be the dealer of positive and life changing messages in your circle of influence. Take a screenshot right now and share this screenshot and the link to this episode with three of your friends today. Share on social media Use the hashtag Healthy Home. That's Healthy Home. We are always giving away shout outs prizes to our community. If you would like to help me personally then please rate and review on Apple podcast. Give us some stars. Leave a review because that stuff actually does help and I read all the comments. So my last thought for today please remember you deserve better air at home and greater comfort at home. Don't settle for being uncomfortable for your heating air every single month. We are so thankful for having you here in our community and be sure to go deeper with us at simmons1hour.com. It.
