Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - HP defrost?

My son has a goodman heat pump that is probably about 3yrs old. Today when he got home from work, he found the outside unit covered with ice with the exception of the backside [facing house] The pad is also covered with ice.

He didn't know if it would hurt the HP to run like that so he switched the unit to emerg heat and called me.... like I know anything abut heat pumps :(

Since he lives in a hollow, the outside temps have probably not got above freezing in a few days. It's suppose to get down to 19` tonight and 8` tomorrow night:eek:

Does it hurt to eave the unit running with it all iced up? I assume it won't defrost if the unit isn't running and the exterior temps are low. What things can he try before having to call a repair man?

How much ice?.........ice from an ice storm or ice because the unit has not gone into defrost?

The unit should defrost on its own, regardless of ambiant temp.

And no it won't defrost if its off.

It's my understanding all the ice is from the heat pump itself. We had a little rain that turned to snow around mid day yesterday.

The reason I asked is because it seemed odd that it was clear on the home side, except for the fact that during high humidity ie: ice , rain, etc. you will have excessive ice build up b4 defrost.
Did your son catch the system at that point in its operational cycle or has he noticed an insuffcient heat problem?:coffee:

He said the house was warm enough. He didn't notice it until he went to feed his dog and saw all the ice on the unit. He was concerned that it migh tear something up with it running and covered with ice so he turned on the emerg heat and lowered the thermostat. As far as I know, the outside unit isn't running now that the heat strips are on.

My advise would be to put the unit back into service and keep an eye on it. I get alot of service calls every year simply because the home owner is not sure of system operation.

If it runs fine and stays clear of "heavy" ice all is fine

If it turns into an igloo there is a problem:cool:

Thanks,:thumbup:
I'll call and tell him. Hopefully the next time he calls me, he'll have good news. I had a HVAC buddy that lived across my holler but he got divorced and moved to mississippi:eek:

I stopped by there this morning on my way back from my doctor appointment and either it wasn't near as bad as he described or it had defrosted the majority of it. The only ice was on the bottom 4" about 1" thick and and a 1" or so on the pad. I chiseled the ice off of the pad and the outer half of the ice on the unit. I brought a heat gun with me but it was slow going. I was freezing up quicker than it was melting the ice:eek::D

Anyway it looks like it should be fine. He bought the house 1.5yr ago and this is the coldest winter we've had in a quite a few yrs. Thanks again for your help:thumbup:

your welcome, glad it worked out;)