Heat Pumps, Ductless & Inverter Systems

The thermal balance point is the point at which a heat pump can move heat into the home at the same rate the home loses its heat. Above this point, the heat pump will not need any additional help to heat the home. But below it, the heat pump will need auxiliary heat with it […]

Since heat pumps work by extracting heat from the outdoors to bring it inside, the outdoor coil will almost surely freeze up. To mitigate the freezing, heat pumps enter a defrost cycle in which they run in cooling mode to send hot, high-pressure refrigerant back through the outdoor coil and melt the ice. While the […]

This tech tip was inspired by Alex Meaney and Ed Janowiak’s session at NCI’s High-Performance Summit 2025: “Good Design Isn’t a Buffet: The Importance and Interconnection of Manuals J, S, and D.” Alex is a building science expert who worked at Wrightsoft (now MiTek) for several years before launching his consulting firm, Mean HVAC Consulting […]

We’ve talked about compression ratio a lot over the years. Compression ratio is the number you get when you divide the absolute head pressure (PSIG + 14.7) by the absolute suction pressure (PSIG + 14.7). It measures the efficiency of a compressor, and lower numbers indicate that the compressor is moving more refrigerant while consuming […]

My goal in this tech tip is to help those who struggle to understand heat pumps get their heads around them as quickly as possible and understand some of the things a tech needs to know about them. The basic idea of a heat pump is to use the compression refrigeration cycle to move heat […]

We’ve entered that season of service calls for “smoking heat pumps,” and I figured now is as good a time as any to share a few quick tips for troubleshooting defrost. Of course, the “smoking heat pump” calls can be solved over the phone with a quick explanation of normal defrost conditions—as can the service […]

Understanding Heat Pump Defrost Cycles: What Homeowners Need to Know Older Heat pumps may have a bad reputation but newer heat pump technology has been a game-changer for many homeowners, providing efficient heating and cooling throughout the year. But as with any piece of equipment, they have their quirks. One particular aspect that often raises […]

Thermal balance point is a concept that is going to start mattering a lot more in years to come as more and more homeowners become interested in electrification. In almost all cases, the heat load for a house is larger than the cooling load; this is true even where I live in Dallas, Texas. Why […]

Introduction Replacing a reversing valve is either every technician’s dream or nightmare. The sheer amount of brazing involved in confined spaces will inspire either delight or nightmares about the upcoming valve replacement. Fortunately, these emotional highs and lows are uncommon because we don’t diagnose and replace bad reversing valves very often.  That itself poses a […]