7 common reasons a heat pump blows cold air BEFORE READING FURTHER: Watch this video on how a heat pump works. Phone: (704) 321-4173 If you have a programmable thermostat, make sure that your thermostat is properly programmed. The air coming from your supply vent should be anywhere from 15-30 degrees hotter than the air near your return vent (depending on how cold it is outside). Frost on the outside coil is condensation that forms up on the coil in the form of frost. Don't panic if you have a heat pump and if cold air blows out of your duct work for a little while on and off while you run your heat at home. When overheating, your furnace can trip a high limit switch, causing the furnace burners to shut off so that the heat exchanger does not crack. If your heat pump has iced over or if drifting snow has covered up the unit, this can cause a malfunction. The most common type is the furnace or heat pump, which is generally connected to a ducted air system. When your car is low on coolant, it won’t be able to send any to the heater … Is someone else adjusting the thermostat? To troubleshoot a misbehaving gas furnace, start with the easiest explanations and solutions, then work your way to the most complicated. While the system is in cooling mode, the frost that had built up on your outdoor coil then turns to water, runs down the outdoor coil, and piles towards the bottom. Your ducts are usually in the attic and outside of your insulation, exposing them to the bitter cold. A heater blowing cold air could be a result of a leak in your ducting. Remember, if you aren’t able to get your heater back up and running, you can always count on Horne Heating and Air Conditioning to fix the problem and get your home warm and comfortable. Don't panic if you have a heat pump and if cold air blows out of your duct work for a little while on and off while you run your heat at home. Rebecca, if I were close to where you live, I would come out and take a look at your system and … Some other issues that may be causing your heat pump to malfunction include, low refrigerant, bad valves or a faulty metering device. Even if you have a gas furnace, they typically have an electric starter that ignites the gas burner. At Precision Heating & Air, this is a common problem we’ve seen with furnaces in Atlanta.There are several possible causes for a furnace blowing cold air. Don't panic if you see frost on your outside equipment's coil. Your heat pump might not actually be blowing “cold” air. If your flame sensor is dirty, it may not recognize whether your burners have turned on. Your furnace blowing cold air could be caused by hot air escaping through holes in the duct work that carries the heat throughout your building. It can also prevent them from igniting. We wanted to address this, as many times homeowners think this is an issue with their heating and cooling system, but if they have a heat pump, it's actually typically a very normal process. Why Is My Furnace Blowing Cold Air? In that case cool air will be running through the system This just means a simple thermostat adjustment. Check out this article, on how to tell if your unit is a heat pump or air conditioner. If this is the case, you’ll have to replace it with a part that has the same voltage and wattage. In the winter, that same humidity is pulled out of the air, but it comes in a form of frost on the outdoor coil (condenser). This too can cause your heater to blow cold air. Two thermostat issues that could cause your furnace to blow cold air include: Your thermostat is still set to COOL not HEAT Your thermostat fan setting is set to ON not AUTO If gas supply is interrupted for any reason, the gas furnace pilot light will go out. So, if you have a tripped breaker, the furnace may stay on however, the air can’t warm up because the gas burner can’t ignite. It's all part of the process of heating your home with a heat pump! Have an expert inspect your ducts along with the furnace. These issues are the most common ones that arise and result in your heating systems inability to warm the air and you receiving the cold blast from your air vents instead of the heated air you want. Perhaps your temperature gauge is running below normal. Hopefully, being patient will pay off and your heater will soon be sending warm cozy air throughout your home. Allow your system to run for 5-10 minutes to see if the air warms. Why is My Heating System Blowing Cold Air? The reason the fan shuts off during this process is so the system doesn't pull the cold air from the outside across the coil while the hot refrigerant circulates. Arizona Trane Fall Air Conditioning Promotion 2020 - Up to $600 in Instant Trane Rebates, Finding a home efficiency auditor: the questions to ask, how to tell if your unit is a heat pump or air conditioner. Don't panic if steam comes out of the top of the outside equipment. If your heater turns on but it’s blowing cold air, turn it off and check to make sure there’s nothing obstructing the blower. When the defrost cycle is complete and the defrost sensor closes, the system runs in heating mode again. If it’s a particularly cold day or night, your heat pump might just be blowing air that’s cooler than your body temperature, making you think it’s cold. When your furnace isn’t running, the air in your ducts cools down. Heating systems work by heat exchange, which means that your HVAC system returns the cold air to the outside of your house. You may have noticed a loud sound right before cold air blows out through the vents in your home. The Heater is Too Big/Small – The heater’s size makes a difference to how well it works. Turn your thermostat from HEAT to OFF. Again, this will result in cold air being pushed through the system. Over time, the changing temperatures wear on all sorts of things and your ductwork is no exception. Maybe the fan is malfunctioning. We are a Missouri Synod Lutheran (LCMS) congregation. This is something you can easily fix yourself. If your pilot light refuses to remain lit, this is an indication of a problem that will need to be fixed by a professional. Coolant not flowing through the heater core. The dirty air filter will block airflow, causing the furnace to run longer to heat your home until it overheats. Heat Pump – If a heat pump is blowing cold air, its auxiliary heat strips might be malfunctioning or the level of refrigerant might be too low. If you’ve just bumped up the temperature or if you’ve just turned your furnace on all together, it may just be as simple as your heater needs some time to warm up. Clogged air filters could be causing cold air to blow out of your vents. A Note About Our Hours and COVID19: Open As Usual! Horne Heating and Air Conditioning Inc. It's all part of the process of heating your home with a heat pump! Let us explain… The air could be warm but still feel cool. This might sound crazy, but a heat pump can be working just fine even if the air feels cold. Check to make sure that the air intake isn’t blocked, the ductwork is properly connected, and the filter is clear. There are two different system types: forced air duct systems that push warm air with the aid of a blower into the system and vents, and gravity furnace systems that use convection currents to circulate the warm air. People’s comfort level where indoor temperature is concerned can vary. Once the frost builds up, your heat pump automatically goes through what we call, a defrost cycle to keep allowing the air to flow across the coil freely (which is a necessary function of your system). If your forced-air gas furnace is blowing cold air, a number of factors could be to blame—many of which you can address on your own, without the immediate help of a service professional. It’s a little more complicated than that in practice, but these are … However, if your heat pump blows cold air for more than a couple minutes every hour or so, then your system isn’t working properly. The importance of a church family where you can build and mature in a life of service and faith. Click to see full answer. If your heater is blowing cold air, it can be incredibly frustrating and make for a chilly winter in Georgia. This time of year, especially when it gets cold outside in the evenings, we get many calls from homeowners concerned that there is cold air blowing out of the duct registers in their home when their heat is running. Also if your water heater has issues, you can check out this Water Heater Troubleshooting Guide to efficiently solve the issue. Your heater has to first collect and compress the air in your home, then heat it and expel the cold air. The flame sensor tells your gas heating unit to turn on and warm the air that is cycling through. This will lead to heat blowing out cold air. The reason for this, is that in the cooling mode, the outdoor coil actually becomes hot. When a heating cycle begins and your air handler turns on, that cool air will blow out of your registers before warm air does. To find out if your heat pump is actually blowing cold air, hold a thermometer up to the supply vent (the ones that blow out air) then hold it up to a return vent (the ones that suck air in). Unfortunately, these are issues that will need to be remedied by a professional. Naturally, all heaters use a fan to blow air, but if your fan setting is set to ‘on’ throughout the day, it explains why the heater seems like it has malfunctioned. You see, a heat pump heats your home by moving heat from the outdoor air into your home. Don't know if you have a heat pump? If your ducts are leaking (and ENERGY STAR says that almost all homes leak about 30% of the air in their ducts), cold outside air is making its way into your ductwork. With a dirty flame sensor, your gas burner won’t stay lit, causing the air to go cold soon after the furnace turns on. This is when the fan kicks back on and all of the frost that ran down to the bottom of the coil in the form of water is pushed out of the top of the unit, sometimes in the form of steam. As the frost builds up on the outdoor coil, it could potentially inhibit the ability for air to flow across that coil. 11. If you see frost on the outdoor coil, it is natural to the process and it is not a sign of any kind of malfunction- the reason the coil is cold falls back to the second law of thermodynamics- which states that energy always moves from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration. If you’ve just bumped up the temperature or if you’ve just turned your furnace... 2. Also, why is my heater blowing out cool air in my house? Solution: Change the air filter and see if your furnace starts only blowing warm air. A dirty air filter blocks airflow over the furnace's heat exchanger, causing it to overheat. COVID-19 Update From Ideal Energy--Keeping Customers & Employees Safe. Heat Pump Blowing Cold Air | Refrigeration Heating Troubleshooting. And you wait — and wait — but the heater just blows cold air. There are many reasons your car's heater isn't working. Below are some reasons you may be getting a blast of chilly air and how you can warm up your house as soon 1as possible. 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