Heat pump – avoid this mistake

Air-to-air heat pumps are a common heating method in this country. Higher electricity prices mean that sales have done Records arrived. Even in the cabin, more and more people are getting a heat pump.

winter problem

It is recommended to purchase and install a heat pump in the spring, when the weather is drier and this reduces the risk of moisture in the wall during installation.

When installing the outdoor unit, it is important to consider where the water flows. Especially in the winter, any problems with this can come to light, writes Hus og bolig, a member of the National Homeowners Association.

– There must be a good drainage under the pump, so that the water can be drained. If you have a heat pump near the front door and loads of water flows in front of the door and settles there like snow in winter, that’s not very smart, says sales manager Stig Jorgensen at Kinnan, a distributor of heat pumps throughout the Nordics, to Member Journal.

In winter, the heat pump automatically defrosts the ice to avoid the permanent formation of ice, sleet and snow in the outdoor area. This sometimes generates a lot of water.

– There can be up to two liters of water an hour, and during the winter there can be a lot of ice, says Jørgensen.

The pump could explode

This can be problematic in several ways. Some may find that the ice settles where you have to walk, so that it becomes slippery. Another problem is that it flows toward the foundation wall, and travels there.

If the water stays directly under the pump, large amounts of ice can swell quickly, Jørgensen explains to DinSide. In the worst case, it can grow so large that it bursts the pump from below.

– Place the outdoor unit in a place where there is good drainage in the ground below it. If this is not possible, you should have a so-called drip pan with heating cable. Then the water can be channeled away to a location so that bulges of ice under and around the outer area are avoided, Jørgensen explains.

Heat pumps sold in Norway today should be well equipped for the Norwegian winter weather.

– We always recommend that you should have at least half a meter above the ground when installing a heat pump, Rolf Ever-Meeting Haegemoen, General Manager of the Norwegian Heat Pumps Association tells DinSide.

– Auto drop!

can be moved

Snow can also be a problem, perhaps especially in a cabin where you don’t have the opportunity to dump as much snow as you do at home.

– If you live in a place with a lot of snow, the outdoor unit should be placed in a place where snow does not accumulate. Plus, it should probably be hung a little higher on the wall, Jorgensen advises.

According to Jørgensen, it’s also a good idea to put a roof in the outdoor area so snow doesn’t collect in the outdoor area. And if snow accumulates in the outdoor area, he says, that could make it less efficient.

Heat pumps must be installed by a professional, and people are not allowed to do it themselves. However, according to Mytting Hagemoen, there is no problem with the installer moving the heat pump afterward.

– If you go against the installer’s advice and choose the site yourself, you could end up paying a few thousand for it, he says.

warn about it

If ice forms under the outdoor unit, care must be taken that the ice “grows” in the outdoor unit itself, as this can damage the heat pump as mentioned.

– If this still happened, you should contact the specialists to remove it and not try to remove it yourself. So it might be a good idea to scrape off the ice before it gets to the heat pump and install a drip pan, says Jorgensen.

According to Kinnan, one of the most common mistakes heat pump owners make is having users attempt to defrost the inside and inside of the outdoor unit themselves.