Maybe you have heard how heat pumps can really save you a lot of money on your heating and cooling bills? Enticed by saving money, you might have had such a device installed. If it was not attached to a geothermal heating and cooling system, you probably made a huge mistake, especially if you live in an area of the country that is extremely hot part of the year and/or too cold part of the year. Here are the pitfalls of installing a heat pump in an extreme temperature environment, and the ultimate results of that action. 

Pump Is Overworked and Breaks Down

Regardless of extreme cold or extreme heat, the result is the same. The pump cannot put enough heat into your home during the winter, or enough cool air into your home during a scorching hot summer. As a result, the pump will be working overtime and trying to heat or cool, and failing miserably. Any attempt to increase the heat or cooling will probably result in failure of the pump. When you call heat pump repair services, you will have two choices at that point. One, repair the heat pump and possibly repeat this service again in a month or two, or replace the whole system. 

The Humidity Gets to Be Too Munch

Heat pumps can navigate moderate humidity, but if you live in the lower half of the Florida panhandle or anywhere where the humidity rises above fifty or sixty percent several days in a row, that could damage the heat pump too. Humidity is an extreme weather condition, especially when combined with heat. The pump becomes overwhelmed with moisture, bogged down, and has difficulty trying to cool air with so much moisture in it. You may need an HVAC technician to clear out the pump of any residual moisture, and then run it only at night when the pump will not have to work doubly hard against both the heat and humidity. 

Snow and Ice Coat the Pump Station Outside Preventing Operation

Trying to get heat into your home when the weather is so cold that a sheet of ice encases the pump outside and a layer of snow is over the top of that, the pump is not going to be able to do its job. It will freeze up, possibly crack the case and other parts in its attempt to blow cold air out and push "warm" air in, and then the whole thing will have to be replaced. Unless you have a geothermal unit working in tangent with a heat pump, heat pumps should only be used and installed in milder climates.