Learning to 'trust' heat pump again

Well here we go again folks. It’s a new year and my first column of 2012. Once again we start off the new year with a bang. Actually not a bang but a sad tale of Mother Nature and my old nemesis, Misfortune, kicking the year off by throwing a few jabs at me.

Not exactly sure whether it was 2011 getting a last couple of licks in on me, or if 2012 just felt like smacking me a couple of times to show me the kind of year it intended to be. Either way it has been a rough few days here on the old homestead. A couple of weeks back our daughter Melissa's car gave up the ghost. It is about 14 years old and has well over 160,000 miles on it. She is waiting on her income tax refund to replace it as she needs a down payment to buy a new (new to her that is) vehicle. In the meantime, Terry and I have been driving her to and picking her up from work. She works from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 29, we had picked her up and returned home. When we came in it seemed pretty cool in the house so I went to turn the heat up a bit. The temperature had dropped a tad, and I thought I just needed to raise the thermostat a smidgen. However, when I reached for the thermostat I realized it was dark and obviously not working. I thought maybe, as some thermostats are, it was battery operated. We had to replace the previous thermostat back a few months ago when it finally just quit working. However, this one has no battery. Obviously the problem was something else. Thankfully, it was still under warranty so I called the folks who installed it. One of the company owners had given me a cell phone number that he said would reach him 24 hours a day.

By the time I got him, it was close to 11 p.m. He said he could come out if he had to, but that chances were he would not have the parts he would need on his service truck. He said if we could make do until morning he would have a technician here early to fix it. We told him that would be OK since we would be going to bed soon anyway. Sure enough early Friday morning a technician arrived and started checking it out. For some odd reason, the controls had apparently been hit by a current surge that had ruined a couple of the microchip boards that ran the thing. Yes, even heat pumps are now computer controlled. The guy said that was somewhat unusual and so he did not have the parts to make the repair. He headed back to their shop to get what he needed. Meanwhile, Mother Nature decided that would be a simply grand time for the temperature to start dropping. 

As is my general luck, they did not have the parts in stock. They said they would try and find them but as it was a holiday weekend it might be Tuesday before they could find them. Meanwhile, the weather grew nastier and colder with predictions of bitter cold by Tuesday. As I heard the weather reports I grew concerned. I called Mr. McCreary, the owner I had been talking with, and left a message that we really would need it fixed by Tuesday if at all possible. Monday morning he called and said he was on his way to fix my heat pump. He worked out in the cold for a good couple of hours in miserable cold with snow flurries blowing. Finally, he got everything replaced and it started working great. That night the house was good and warm throughout for the first time in five days. It felt wonderful.

Today it is a little cooler. Although set on 78, it is showing 76. Also the thermostat was blinking "heat on." Having just gone through problems with it, I began to worry. I started checking it every couple of minutes. Finally I could stand it no more. I called Mr. McCreary's hotline. I got no answer. However, in miserable weather like this (still cold with snow flurries and wind gusts), I figured he was busy on a service call somewhere. I called his dispatch number and asked if they could contact him and ask him to give me a call. Sure enough he called in just moments.

Mr. McCreary asked exactly what was going on and I started explaining to him what I had observed. He then explained to me what was happening. As he put it, having just had problems with our heat pump I likely was checking it every few minutes. (Guilty as charged.) He also explained that when the outdoor temperature is 18 degrees a heat pump is doing all it can do to keep the temperature at 76. As he said, "It is working just fine."  Although no expert on heating and cooling, I do understand the basics of how a heat pump works. I know Anne Catron, my high school physics teacher, would be amazed that I remembered that compressing air, even cold air allows it to generate heat, which is how heat pumps work. And yes, I realize the colder the air, the less amount of heat available to be generated.

I also agree that after the problems recently experienced, I am just a little leery of the heat pump and just want to be sure it is working as it should. That is just human nature. But I will try and trust the thing since Mr. McCreary assures me it is doing actually very well considering the outside temperature. And I know it is. I am just a worrier when something like that fails. It's like having your car break down. For a while afterwards one has a difficult time trusting it to be the faithful ride it once was.

My dear wife, Terry, and I want to take this opportunity to wish a wonderful New Year in 2012 to the staff of the SCN&M and to its many wonderful readers. After all, it is you folks who make writing this column worthwhile. May 2012 bring each of you peace and comfort as well as improved prosperity. May each of you find this year provides if not all you want then at least all you truly need. A belated but sincere Happy New Year to each of you.   

A freelance journalist, Robert “Rocky” Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition.