Heat Pump Frozen Outside

When this becomes an emergency

• The outdoor coil is buried under solid ice rather than a thin layer of frost.
• Air at the registers has gone tepid and the backup element is doing the work.
• The outdoor fan is hitting ice or refusing to spin freely.
• A ring of refrozen meltwater has built up under the unit.

What a pro does

Light frost between defrost cycles is how these units are supposed to behave. A solid case of ice says defrost isn't finishing, and the tech checks the defrost board and its sensor, the reversing valve, refrigerant charge, and airflow across the coil, in roughly that order. Siting matters a great deal on windy ground, since a unit facing an open field collects blowing snow through the coil that a sheltered one never sees. Wide swings between thaw and freeze also work against the equipment, because meltwater runs down during the warm afternoon and locks the base in ice overnight. Beating the ice off with a tool ruins fins and makes every later defrost less effective.

Frequently asked questions

Heat Pump Frozen Outside?

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