My heat pump is covered with ice, what causes this and how do I fix it?

Answer 1

This is what usually happens when your unit is low on the freon or what ever you have in it to replace the freon. What happens is the unit senses that it's not getting warm enough and never shuts off. You need to have an A/C or Refrigeration man out to check the unit.

Answer 2

I have had my Heat pump freeze-up in the winter several times during the last 16 years. It typically happens when the humidity is high and the outside temperature is near freezing. I found a post on the Internet that tells how do fix the problem within 15-20 minutes. Here is what works for me here in Central Texas:
1) switch the thermostat from Heat to A/C.
2) set the temperature to a setting below the inside house temperature...I usually set to 60 F.
3) shorty after the A/C unit will come on...note your clock time.
4) in approx. 15-20 minutes the A/C unit outside will thaw and all the ice will be gone.
5) switch the thermostat back to Heat and set the inside temperature to the desire setting.
6) It is that simple...enjoy the warmth.
NOTE: The icing-up problem can be caused by other issues as mentioned in some of the other posts or maybe just by the right combination of humidity and temperature. My unit was recently checked with Freon, etc. and everything checked-out O.K., but is still iced-up.
The above fix is worth a try. If it doesn't work, then call for service.
Hope all the above helps!
Steve

Answer 3

You can't......The reversing valve or the defrost control is bad..When you operate a heat pump around 32`-38` they will ice up especially if it is the least bit humid.....If you have back-up heat ie: furnace, you can cheat a little by heating the house up to about 80` and then turn on the AIR CONDITIONING. This will heat the condenser (outside unit) and dump off the ice Might take two or three tries..This can be done, also, by disabling the change over valve but you have to watch the pressures. You should call a service man or woman..If thisis a new unit there is a light on the thermostat or the computer within the outside unit that will tell you what the trouble is....The flash sequence tells you the code and that is listed on a label on the computer..

Answer 4

Heat Pump Freezing Up

Answer 5

I'm not sure I have this right but, if I recall correctly, I think it might be b/c of one of two problems, or both. If you don't change your air return filter on a regular basis (depending on which kind you use, it might be once a month to every 3 months) it causes it to clog up and then, ice over. The other problem might be that it is low on the fluid it needs (freon?) and if that's low, I know in the summer time that the unit will freeze over no matter how hot it is outside...so, it's a possibility that the same thing occurs w/ the heat setting too? (If it did happen in the summer time, you'd switch it off AC and switch it over to heat and it would thaw out eventually). Anyway, try checking &/or changing the filter, chip off the ice (w/ the unit turned off inside), and then, try again...see what happens...??? Otherwise, maybe try Yahoo's search and see if you can come up w/ some free Web site advice that way. Good luck!

Answer 6

Ice build up on your heat pump is a normal occurrence when the temperatures drop below freezing. A heat pump has a defrost timer that energizes and melts the ice off of the coil. If yours is not melting at all you probably have a bad defrost timer. Also if your heat pump is not up on legs and is sitting directly on the pad the ice will build up and smash your coil. This in turn will cause your unit to develop leak(s) in your coil and will greatly shorten the life of your heat pump.

Answer 7

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
My heat pump is covered with ice, what causes this and how do I fix it?

Answer 8

call a service tech out - you cant do much about it. and turning on your auxillary heat while running it in air conditioning mode wont work either. the unit wont let you run aux heat and cooling at the same time.

is your unit under your eve and is snow melt dropping on it?

is it solid ice or just icing on the coils- which is normal, the unit will sense this and switch into defrost mode automatically, accompanied by a loud noise and steam will be seen coming out the top. it will switch back to normal operation once it's done.

switching it to cooling in the winter can also bugger the compressor up too - read your manual they will tell you about not turning on the air conditioning in extreme cold.

in short call a service tech, if somethings wrong you cant fix it anyway .

Answer 9

Water drips off the roof onto the unit. At night the temperature goes down below freezing and the fan blade is locked tight with ice buildup. Time to spray with Windshield De-icer, Hot Water or carefully break the fan blade loose of the surrounding housing.

Answer 10

It could be a dirty return filter, dirty indoor coils, low of refrigerant, wrong setting on the defrost board or a bad defrost board.