AC / Heat Pump - What kind of noises should the compressor make when in heat mode?

Question

I have a new heat pump / AC that was installed in the last 2 months. It seems to be working fine, but I wonder if it's acting correctly in heat mode.

I was standing by the AC Compressor (the outside unit) and heard a motor running, but the fan was NOT running. After some period of time (1 minute?) the fan started spinning to vent air from the compressor chassis. This is while it is operating in heater mode (since it's a bone chilling 60 degress down here in Central Florida! :)

Is this normal behavior of the compressor unit? That the compressor motor would be on while the fan is NOT spinning?

It doesn't act that way in AC mode.

Thanks!

Answer 1

It was probably in defrost mode for a couple minutes, that is normal. In cooler days esp when humidity is in the air the coils outside ice up and the system senses this and reverses cycle to melt the ice off the tubing. It's also normal for water to drip out of hte outside unit when it does that. the outside fan does not run when it does that to make the ice melt off faster.

Answer 2

A heat pump as you describe goes into Defrost Cycle on a periodic temp outside based time. Id say this is normal and you saw end of a cycle.

The noise a compressor makes with AC is less than that of Heat Pump cycle. Here is why: The compression ratio of freon is aboujt 7.5 to 1 for AC. Contrast that with the heat pump cycle that has a compression ratio of no less than 12 to 1 for the freon. You can see the compressor is squeezing heck out of the freon in heat pump cycle.

Answer 3

Yes, that IS normal.

When the outside temperature start to drop to around 45 degrees, your condenser unit goes into defrost mode every now and then.

How exactly it does this depends on the model. On some model, it just goes into COOL mode with electric heat element turned on inside, runs compressor without fan, or turn on the heating element outside.

While it happens, you could actually see quite a bit of smoke (actually steam) come out of the outside unit.

Some model goes into defrost mode on timer, while some do this when frost forms on the coil.

It will never do this in COOL (A/C) mode.

Answer 4

Your warmth pump is operating regularly. imagine of a warmth pump as being a window air conditioner put in backwards, so the controls are outside. at the same time as it really is operating, it really is "aircon" or cooling the air outside, and it really is "pumping' the nice and cozy temperature into the room. looks inefficient to objective to kick back air it truly is already chilly as a way of "making" warmth, yet even at the same time as it really is freezing outside, the air nonetheless incorporates very nearly 500 ranges F of warm temperature. once you're utilising electricity on my own (with out gas, coal, timber, or different gas) to make warmth, it really is more low priced to flow warmth than to create it via resistance. So a warmth pump is better valuable than the former school electric powered furnaces, that are like massive toasters. the element about the nice and cozy temperature pump that makes it cycle off is that usually the coils outside will ice up, and then the gadget proper away reverses itself, growing an air conditioner, lengthy adequate to pump warmth outside to thaw the coils, and it really is what you're noticing. regardless of those classes of "opposite interest", nonetheless the nice and cozy temperature pump's less expensive to operate than the former form resistance heaters. Have the gadget checked each year via a proper high quality HVAC corporation, to save it operating at proper performance.