In this episode of The Comfort Experts, hosts Derek Cole and William Skipper explain why heat pump units sometimes emit visible steam in winter. They describe the built‑in defrost cycle that melts ice on the outdoor coil by reversing refrigerant flow, which creates a cloud of steam that can be mistaken for a fire. The hosts also discuss how the thermostat activates auxiliary electric heat or dual‑fuel gas burners during defrost to keep indoor temperatures comfortable, and they stress the importance of regular maintenance to prevent excessive ice buildup, high energy bills, and potential system issues. The episode concludes with a call‑to‑action directing listeners to 1houraircarolinas.com for service.
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Hey, this is Derrick Cole along with William Skipper, and welcome to The Comfort Experts. And today we're talking about steam from your heat pump. And William, a lot of phone calls we get in the wintertime is, hey, my unit's on fire, my unit's smoking. So what is going on with that?
Well, your unit hopefully is not on fire. What we find most of the time is that the unit is a heat pump and it's went into its defrost cycle. A heat pump has a built-in defrost cycle to prevent ice buildup on the outside unit. To kind of explain to you what's going on is a heat pump in the summertime puts its cold refrigerant on the inside. Well, in the wintertime it reverses the cycle and brings the cold refrigerant to the outside. Well, the cold refrigerant outside along with the cold temperatures will cause a frost or slight ice buildup on that coil. Well, that heat pump has to defrost and thaw that ice off of that coil to allow it to run properly, right? It's a time cycle or a temperature cycle depending on the unit. It could be both. But once it senses that that coil is frozen or it has a heavy coat of frost, it will go into a cycle, bring the hot refrigerant back to the outside, melt that ice off, and when the fan comes on, it It creates that steam cloud that everybody thinks that my unit's on fire, I need to call the fire department. But actually it's normal operation.
So if it's reversing the cycle, William, how's that actually keeping you warm inside?
Well, when it does go into a defrost, your thermostat will turn your auxiliary heaters that are in your unit, or if you have a dual fuel system, your gas burners on to overcome that cold air conditioning cycle is basically what it's doing from getting your house cold.
Right, so it's completely normal operation. We would recommend you have a maintenance done on your system to make sure this operation is correct because if you're not paying attention, you can have that ice buildup and insides will be nice and warm and you won't know the difference.
That's right, until you get a highlight bill.
Yeah, so for more information, go to 1houraircarolinas.com.
Today's episode was brought to you by the Comfort Experts. See us for all your heating and air conditioning needs. For more information, visit 1houraircarolinas.com. That's onehouraircarolinas.com.
