Latest / Cool Talk with Hartzell's | Your HVAC Questions, Answered! / Why Your Heat Pump Blows Steam

Transcript

Why Your Heat Pump Blows Steam · Cool Talk with Hartzell's | Your HVAC Questions, Answered!

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Picture this scene for a second, right?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: It is six in the morning in Kingfisher, Oklahoma.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Early.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, super early.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: And the temperature outside is a bone-chilling fourteen degrees.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: So you are standing in your kitchen, you know, shivering a little bit, clutching your coffee mug, and you happen to look out the window.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I can already see where this is going.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Right there in the yard, your outdoor heat pump unit has this thick white steam just like pouring off the top of it.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it looks exactly like smoke.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly like smoke.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: And worse, the big fan on top of the unit has completely stopped spinning.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: So your heart just immediately drops into your stomach.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because you think the thing is on fire.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: You are absolutely convinced the entire machine is on fire and you are about to freeze to death while staring at a massive, massive repair bill.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: It really is the ultimate homeowner nightmare.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: That visual is incredibly alarming when you are, you know, already dealing with freezing temperatures and you just want your house to be warm.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell And that exact moment of panic is the mission of our deep dive today.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: We are going to figure out what is a normal winter heating function and what is an actual expensive disaster.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell, which is so important to know.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: To figure this out, we are looking at the field notes and public safety rules of Dave Hartzell.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: An absolute pro.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: He is the owner of Hartzell's Heat and Air.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: He is a master HVAC licensee, Nate certified, a trained comfort specialist, and a Mitsubishi diamond dealer.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: That is a lot of credentials.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: And he has been in business for over 15 years, carrying a 4.8 star rating across hundreds of reviews.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Basically, he has almost 50 years of experience in the field.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: He has seen every possible way a heater can break.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: And, well, more importantly, he has seen every way homeowners accidentally break their systems while trying to fix things themselves.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's unpack this.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because jumping from Dave's amazing credentials back to that frightening visual of the smoking outdoor unit, it it's just uh it is jarring.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: The very first thing Dave wants you to know is that you can just take a deep breath.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Nine times out of ten, that terrifying cloud of steam outside your window means your machine is working perfectly.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Working perfectly by looking like it is actively on fire.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: I just I don't buy that.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: We need to explain the physical mechanics causing this.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Why would a unit designed to heat a house suddenly stop its fan in the dead of winter?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell So it all comes down to the physics of moisture and freezing metal.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: When the weather outside is cold and damp, um frost naturally builds up on the outdoor coil of your heat pump.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Just from the air.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Just from the moisture in the cold air hitting the freezing metal fins.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: It turns to ice.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if the system just kept running like that, the ice would eventually form a solid wall across the entire unit.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Ross Powell And that wall would block all the airflow.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: The unit would become completely useless.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the system has internal temperature sensors that recognize it is choking on ice.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell Okay.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: So it knows it is freezing over.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And when it detects that problem, it switches into what is called defrost mode to melt that ice.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: To do this, it utilizes this mechanical component called a reversing valve.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Is that the loud noise it makes?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: You might actually hear a loud hoosh sound from the yard right before the steam appears.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: That hoosh is the reversing valve physically shifting gears inside the pipes.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: It temporarily takes the hot, highly pressurized refrigerant that it would normally send inside to heat your house, and it just it routes it backward.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: It sends all that heat straight to the outdoor coil to melt the frost.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that totally explains the steam.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: It is just the ice flash melting off the suddenly hot metal coils.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I am still hung up on the fan stopping.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, if this was my car on the highway and my radiator started blowing steam and the fan stopped, you would panic.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: That is a catastrophic failure.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: I am pulling over and calling a tow truck before the engine block literally warps.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: So why is it intentional here?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell That is a really logical comparison, but the goal of your car radiator is to get rid of heat.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: The goal of this machine during a defrost cycle is to hoard heat.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I see.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: What's fascinating here is that the machine is actually pausing to save itself.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: If the outdoor fan kept running, it would just keep blowing 14-degree wind across those coils.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Which would cool them right back down.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: That freezing wind would constantly cool the metal down, defeating the entire purpose of trying to melt the ice.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: By stopping the fan completely, the heat pump allows the thermal energy to build up in one concentrated pocket right on the coils.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: And that melts the ice very quickly.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Understanding the specific defrost cycle prevents so much panic.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And well, it saves you from paying for an unnecessary nighttime service call.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Wait, but if the heat pump is rerouting all of its available heat backward just to melt the ice on its own outer shell, what is happening inside my living room?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell It is a good question.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Because if it is sending all its heat outside, my house is getting cold right when I need it most.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So you might feel the indoor air gets slightly cooler for a very brief period.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: But modern systems are engineered to prevent a massive temperature drop.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell How do they do that?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: While the heat pump is defrosting itself outside, it automatically turns on electric heat strips located inside your indoor air handler.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Ross Powell Oh, so there is a backup.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: These strips generate heat temporarily to ensure your house does not suddenly freeze.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Once the outdoor ice is gone, the reversing valve shifts back, the fan turns on, and normal heating resumes.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Okay, that makes the visual make sense.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: But knowing that the heat pump has to literally occasionally defrost itself naturally leads to a much bigger physics problem.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Trevor Burrus Thermodynamics.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: If the machine requires that much concentrated heat just to melt the ice on its exterior, how on earth is it getting heat from freezing air in the first place to push into my living room?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell It seems wrong.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Here's where it gets really interesting.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because trying to extract heat from 14-degree air, it feels like taking a completely dry, crusty kitchen sponge and trying to squeeze a single drop of water out of it.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: It seems physically impossible.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell It does feel entirely counterintuitive.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: But the key is to remember that heat pumps do not burn fuel to create heat.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like a traditional furnace does.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: A traditional gas furnace creates heat by setting fire to natural gas or propane.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: A heat pump simply moves existing thermal energy from one place to another.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: And in the realm of physics, even at 20 degrees or 14 degrees Fahrenheit, there is still thermal energy to extract.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because absolute zero is nearly 460 degrees below zero.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: So 14 degrees still has plenty of heat energy bouncing around.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so it captures it.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: But capturing a tiny bit of heat does not warm up a house.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where the compressor comes in.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: The liquid refrigerant cycling inside the outdoor unit is incredibly cold, much colder than the freezing air outside.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the tiny bit of thermal energy in the winter air transfers into that super chilled refrigerant.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because heat always moves toward cold.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Then the compressor takes that slightly warmed refrigerant and violently squeezes it.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like a bicycle pump.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Mechanical compression concentrates the scattered thermal energy, raising the temperature significantly before sending it inside.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: But there has to be a physical limit to how much heat you can squeeze out of freezing air.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: There used to be.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Older heat pumps use single-stage compressors, which struggle and really lean on auxiliary heat in a hard freeze.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: They are either 100% on or completely off.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: But newer variable speed cold climate models heat efficiently well into the single digits.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: They adjust their speed constantly to match the exact conditions outside.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Which is amazing.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Incidentally, bypassing the freezing air entirely is why some people opt for geothermal heating and cooling systems, which is uh one option Dave actually offers out in Oklahoma.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, geothermal is great because it uses underground loops to tap into the earth, which stays a constant, moderate temperature all year round.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: But for the air source heat pumps we are talking about today, the technology has just gotten much better at wringing heat out of the wind.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: It really has.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, even with incredible technology, the way that heat feels when it finally reaches your living room creates a massive sensory disconnect for homeowners.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: I know exactly what you mean.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because when I grew up with a gas furnace, that machine would blast air out of the vents that was like 120 or 130 degrees.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: It felt like a hairdryer.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: It did.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: You could stand over the floor register and it would practically melt the soles of your sock.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: But a heat pump simply does not do that.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Not at all.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: A gas furnace blasts that super hot air, while a heat pump generally delivers air in the low 90s.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now consider that your normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you put your bare hand over the living room vent, a 90-degree breeze is actually going to feel cool or, you know, lukewarm to your skin.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Even though that 90-degree air is perfectly capable of heating a 70-degree room.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: The true test is simply whether your house maintains the temperature you set on the wall thermostat.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: But human psychology takes over.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because if I am standing in my living room and I feel a lukewarm breeze, I am going to look out the window at the snow, assume the machine is failing, and just march over to the thermostat and mess with it.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: You are going to crank the dial up.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: I will crank it up to 80 degrees.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that behavior, that psychological reaction, is the absolute worst thing you can do.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: By changing your behavior out of panic, you force the system into an inefficient state.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: As the temperature drops, the heat pump has to work much harder to move the same amount of heat indoors.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell And when you demand a sudden 10 degree jump.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: It eventually needs backup.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: It simply cannot bridge that massive gap quickly enough.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: So this is where auxiliary heat comes in.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: The thermostat triggers electric heat strips in the indoor air handler to assist the outdoor unit.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is when you see AUX or aux heat displayed on your thermostat.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Which is perfectly normal on a freezing morning.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Completely normal.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: But those electric heat strips are basically giant toaster coils.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: They require a sudden massive surge of electricity to get hot.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: And this is where Dave has a very strict rule for thermostat discipline, right?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Dave says set the thermostat where you want it and leave it alone.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Do not drop the temperature to 60 at night to save money and then crank it up five or ten degrees when you wake up.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Ross Powell Because that forces the system to rely heavily on the electric heat strips to catch up quickly.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell Yes, which totally defeats the efficiency of the heat pump.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell It is like driving a car.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: If you crank the thermostat, it is like slamming the gas pedal to the floor every time a stoplight turns green.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell That is exactly what it is like.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell So just to clarify, practicing patience with a steady thermostat is literally cheaper for the listener than demanding immediate heat.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell It is literally cheaper.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: If we connect this to the bigger picture, small, steady settings are much kinder to the longevity of the equipment overall.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: It is designed to maintain equilibrium, not to perform sudden sprints.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so now that we understand what is normal, the defrosting steam, the lukewarm air, the auxiliary heat, we need to clearly define what an actual failure looks like.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell So people know exactly when to call for help.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Yes.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: What is a real disaster look like?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell Well, a light frost is fine, like we said.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: But if you see a solid block of ice covering the coil, and that ice survives multiple defrost cycles without melting, that is a major problem.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell What causes a solid block of ice like that?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell It indicates a bad sensor, uh defrost control failure, maybe low refrigerant, or even just water dripping continuously from a broken rain gutter.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell And this leads to some crucial safety warnings from Dave.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Because when people see ice, they want to break it.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it is so tempting.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: But Dave strongly emphasizes you must never attack the ice with a screwdriver or a snow shovel.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Never.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: And never pour hot water on it either.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you do that, what happens?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you slip with a screwdriver, you will instantly puncture the pressurized coil.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Doing so will turn a basic service visit into a massive, massive repair bill.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: The refrigerant will hiss out and the system is dead.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: So put the tools down.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, switch the thermostat to emergency heat.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, exactly.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: But before calling Dave, there are safe DIY checks you can do.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: What can the listener check safely?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Check that the thermostat is actually on heat.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Ensure the indoor filter is clean because a dirty filter chokes airflow.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Clear away any snow, leaves, or plastic tarps from the outdoor unit so it can breathe.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: And what about the electrical panel?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Check the breaker, but here is the rule.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: If the breaker trips, you may reset it exactly one time.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Just once.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Just once.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: If it trips again, stop.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Never open electrical panels or outdoor unit panels yourself.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Write down any error codes on your thermostat and call a pro.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: Which brings up a big point.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: To remove the fear of calling, we have to talk about Dave's exact costs.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Transparent pricing is so rare in this industry.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Across his multi-county service area, a weekday call is$210 that is split into a$99 dispatch and a$111 diagnostic fee.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Super clear.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: And nights and weekends are$309 split into a$198 dispatch and a$111 diagnostic.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: And the repair cost is always quoted before any work starts.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: No blank checks.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: This raises an important question, right?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: How transparency and pricing changes the dynamic between homeowners and tradespeople.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: It changes everything.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: It really does.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: When the listener knows the exact financial stakes, the panic is drastically reduced.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can just make a calm decision.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: So what does this all mean?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: It means you are going to be okay.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Heat pumps are highly capable in Oklahoma cold snaps.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Seeing steam during defrost or the aux light on a 15-degree morning is completely normal.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Normal.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: The real signs of trouble are solid blocks of ice, a dead quiet outdoor unit while ox runs for hours, or a repeatedly tripping breaker.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: The ultimate rule is to put the screwdriver down and call an expert like Dave at 405-375-4822.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Or visit his website at heartsoulsheatandair.com.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: Just remember that a little bit of system knowledge is your absolute best defense against winter anxiety.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: You do not have to be an engineer.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: You just have to know what normal looks like.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: I want to leave everyone with a final thought to Mullover.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: As heating technology shifts from burning fossil fuels in a furnace to extracting thermal energy from freezing air with a heat pump, we are not just changing our machines.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: What are we changing?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: We are being asked to change our fundamental psychological expectations of what warmth actually feels like and how we control the climate inside our own homes.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Adopting new technology always requires adopting a new mindset.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: It really does.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: You have to trade the immediate blast of a furnace for the steady efficiency of a heat pump.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us on this deep dive and stay warm out there.