heat pump - freezing temps last winter

[lfoster]

At inspection yesterday, 2006 heat pump system was not cooling as it should. House has been vacant for 2 yrs and last winter was colder than this area usually has. It was cold enough to break water supply pipes in the attic.

Could the freezing temps have damaged the heat pump condenser?

Thanks,

[James E. Braun, CMI]

The liquid inside a heatpump is freon and compressor oil. Freezing does not effect them.

[David A. Andersen]

It wasn't that cold to freeze the refrigerant (or you wouldn't be talking to us now)!

What did you test (see and feel) to determine it was not operating correctly?

[lfoster]

House didn't cool off. Was mid 90's outside.
Ran the system 4 hours, set on 68. Interior temp in upper 80's after 4 hrs.
Temps at the registers were 67-71, 83 at the kitchen which was last on the ducting line.
I know there are lots of pros / cons about taking temps and judging from that,,,
Thanks,,,

[Marcel Gratton]

Originally Posted by lfoster

House didn't cool off. Was mid 90's outside.
Ran the system 4 hours, set on 68. Interior temp in upper 80's after 4 hrs.
Temps at the registers were 67-71, 83 at the kitchen which was last on the ducting line.
I know there are lots of pros / cons about taking temps and judging from that,,,
Thanks,,,

It appears to me that AC is working fine but duct to kitchen may be too small or perhaps a partialy closed damper in basement/ crawlspace.

It takes time to cool / heat a home with a heat pump.

[lfoster]

ah ha,,,
House is vacant, elec has been shut off until a few days before.
Overnight temp was into low 70's.
We turned unit on about 10 am and was probably 80 deg out.
It ran for the next 4:30 hrs ending 2:30 and was mid 90's out.
The house was a strung out ranch style, 1 floor, no basement or crawl,
3200 s/f, with kitchen at the farthest part. Unit is 5 ton.
I thought it should have had a larger impact on cooling, but then my central system is not heat pump.
This is what's so great about the message board,, help with questions !

[David A. Andersen]

It takes time to cool / heat a home with a heat pump.

Is it different than an A/C?

Linda,
I think there is a duct design issue.

Maybe some leakage in the return.

Not enough information, but just a hunch.

Despite the 80 temp, how did it feel in there?
You may have been fighting the humidity factor (dry bulb temps not coming down because there is too much moisture (latent heat) for the equipment to deal with.

You need to get at the suction refrigerant line.
Even if you just look inside the condenser (past the fan) to see if it is sweating, will tell you if the unit is working.

[Marcel Gratton]

Originally Posted by dandersen

Is it different than an A/C?

I think you know the answer.

[David A. Andersen]

Just checking!

Things change every day!