Derek ColeGM, Simmons One Hour Heating & Air · AI HVAC Answers

Heat Pump Efficiency: Freezing Temps & Energy Savings #shorts

31 Jan 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:48

In this short instructional video, the speaker explains that heat pumps can continue extracting heat even when outdoor temperatures drop to freezing, 30 °F, 20 °F, or 10 °F, and that they remain far more energy‑efficient than relying on emergency (auxiliary) heat. The speaker advises users to let the heat pump manage its own defrost cycles—alternating between heating and defrosting—rather than manually switching to emergency heat, because the defrost process is more efficient for the energy bill. Emergency heat should only be engaged when the outdoor unit is obstructed by snow or ice, preventing normal operation.

Chapters

Heat pump can still get heat out of there even though it's freezing outside, or 30 degrees, or 20 degrees, or 10 degrees. You can still get heat out of there, and heat pump heat is a lot more efficient for energy than that emergency heat. But if you have to use emergency heat, you have to use it, so don't switch over. Let it figure itself out. If the unit is covered in snow or ice or it's blocked, then emergency heat needs to be used. But if that unit can go through its cycles of defrosting, coming back on, defrosting, coming back on, that is much more efficient for your energy bill if you let it do that.