566. Steam from your Heat Pump

Hey, what's up, everyone? Derek Cole here. Welcome back to the podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And finally, finally, we are getting into winter weather, cooler weather. It is finally starting to feel like Christmas. Record low temps coming up here shortly. Load temps come up shortly. One thing I wanted to address, it's always a popular topic, it's always a question we get, and it's about heat bumps. I have a pump. What is the steam? What is the noise? Is my heat pump on fire? Do I need to be talking to you or do I need to be talking to the fire department? What is going on with my heat pump? As a homeowner, you may have noticed when it gets cold, steam comes from your heat pump. While this may be in, if you're not used to seeing this, it can be a bit of an alarm, right? If you're not used to seeing this, it's kind of alarming. You hear noise, you see steam, you're worried. But actually it's quite common and nothing to worry about. In fact, it's normal. And it's part what's called the defrost cycle. For your heat pump. Your heat pump goes through the defrost cycle to keep your home warm and to keep it comfortable. So how does the heat pump work? Well, to understand why steam appeared during defrost is important to have a basic understanding of how a heat pump works. Essentially, a heat pump is a device that moves heat from one place to another. During the winter, it pulls heat from outside and brings it indoors. In the summer, it takes the hot air out of the house and brings it outdoors. So it reverses. Right. So in winter, you're bringing heat from outdoor inside. In summer, you bring in the indoor heat and putting it outside. Right. Of course, you do this with refrigerant, can help in this as well. But the defrost cycle. So during the winter months, your heat bum goes through a defrost cycle. As it removes that heat from outside, the coils on the outside start to ice and gets to be a challenge producing that. So what's going to happen if it becomes too frosty? They typically have a sensor on the coil. Or in the logic of the system, if that outdoor coil gets too much of a frost on goes into a defrost cycle. So during the defrost cycle, the heat pump switches from heating mode to cooling mode for a few minutes, which causes, by the way, the loud noise you hear. Is that being done by the reversing valve? It's reversing the flow of refrigerant it's going from heating mode to cooling mode. This allows the outdoor coal to warm up. Because now you're taking that warm air like on the summer season, you're taking that warm air and pushing it back outside so you can melt any ice or frost off that coal As a result. How do you stay warm inside? Heat strips. So when you look your thermostat and catch it on this cycle, you may see the auxiliary heat come on. And that's so you don't get uncomfortable inside. So while the ice melts, it's cold outside, the steam will rise because of ice or the frost melting. Right. But the auxiliary heat strips come on so you don't get cold at the same time. Does that make sense? So Derek, how long does this take? Well, there's a few factors in how long it takes. Temperature is a few factor. But typically defrost lasts somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes. 5 and 15 minutes is pretty normal. But again, during this time you may notice the auxiliary heat will be on your thermostat or the backup heat strip heat they call it. So if you see that happening, kind of smell, that heat strip come on for the first time, well, it could be in this situation because you have a burning smell because the heat strips have not come on since last year. And then you look outside, you see steam coming from your heat pump, you think there's a problem. Burning smell, steam, smoke, what's happening? I better call someone. Well, I mean you can, I mean steam during defrost is normal, but it's important also to keep an eye out for any warning signs. So if it lasts longer than 15 minutes or you even notice steam on maybe a 65 degree day, in those cases, it's best to call a professional. But importantly, if you have proper maintenance, which is critical to have a longer life of your unit, a longer or better efficiency, keep the outdoor unit clear, debris, change the air filters regularly, have your heat pump activated before it gets into winter so you can go ahead and get that burning smell off it. The burning smell is there's dust, dirt, debris on those wires. And you have the smell when it activates, turns on, cause it's burning off those things that have been on it since last year, it's been a while, right? But a well maintained heat pump will not only save you money on energy, save you money on energy, which we all like, but it will also ensure you stay comfortable during the winter months. Again, steam from your heat pump during defrost is normal. Nothing is wrong with that. But. And it's also a sign that your heat pump is working as it should. But keep an eye out for any warning signs that take care that any more design than to take care of your heat pump to ensure its longevity and its efficiency. That is the main situation with steam from heat pump. So if you hear the noise, you may even smell a kind of burning smell if they haven't been activated because your heat strips are on. And then you're like, what's that smell? And you look outside and you see the steam from the heat pump. I can see how you can be concerned. But that is perfectly normal default cycle. If that's happening, if it lasts longer than 15 minutes, you probably need to call a professional. Something may be stuck or something may not be communicating properly, which could be a problem. So steam from your heat pump, nothing to be worried about if it's in defrost. If it's in the defrost cycle and you hear that valve change the refrigerator, which is noisy. It's noisy. It's like my sound effects here when you switch that over. But that is normal. The defrost cycle is normal. And with temperatures in the 20s, it's normal to see steam rise.