2022 Freeze and Your Heater
This is a not so quick Public Service Announcement regarding the pending FREEZE and what to expect from your heater over the next few days. Just like your air conditioner has trouble keeping when it 99 degrees outside with a heat index of over 105 degrees your heater will have some issues keeping up when the temperature drops below 30 degrees. And the wind chill will make the temperature feel even colder. I’ll give some explanations by heater type and house construction type.
ELECTRIC HEATERS
Electric heaters will struggle the most because the temperature rise is typically around 25 to 30 degrees. That means the temperature that goes into the filter area will come out the vents about 25 to 30 degrees warmer. This makes the air coming from the heater feel warm and not hot like a gas heater usually does. A house sitting on a concrete slab will be warmer than a raised uptown style house. If your heater is running and can keep the house in the 60’s degree range then it is working and doing all it can. Rule of thumb is during the very low temperature you can only heat your house about 30 degrees warmer than outside and possibly less in a raised house.
GAS HEATERS
Gas heaters don’t struggle as much and that is due to the higher temperatures they run. A gas heater will have a temperature rise of 40 to 50 degrees. Again a raised drafty house will still have more issues heating up than a house on a concrete slab. Rule of thumb with gas heaters is you can warm a house about 50 degrees warmer than it is outside when temperature are as low as they predict, especially when you add in the wind chill factor.
HEAT PUMP
Heat Pumps use the outdoor condenser that cools your house will also heat your house. The main issue with heat pumps is the colder it gets outside the less heat it can produce. All heat pump systems with have electric heat strips for backup heat. When it’s extremely cold outside the outdoor unit can freeze up and turn into a block of ice. You don’t need to worry because the unit has a built in defrost board which will melt the ice away and turn on the electric heat strips. Raised houses will struggle more than a house on a concrete slab.
YOU MUST MAKE SURE YOUR AIR FILTERS ARE CLEAN IF THEY ARE WASHABLE OR NEW IF THEY ARE THE THROW AWAY TYPE.
Dirty filters will cause heaters to run hotter than they are designed for. Electric heaters could short out the heat strips or cause a fuse and/or the disconnect to melt due to high amp draw and you’ll be stuck with no heat at all. Gas heaters have limits that are designed to protect the heaters from overheating but high temps can cause the limit to fail and leave you with no heat.
Here at Help Service Co. Inc. we would like everyone to be safe and aware of how these drastic temperatures will affect you and your home. You can take a temperature reading of the air going in the return grill and what’s coming out the vents to see if there is an increase in temperature if you don’t think it’s heating enough.
Thank you and stay warm,
Korey P. Knobloch
