A homeowner took to Reddit to ask questions about the heat pump HVAC system in their new house and wondered what they needed to know before they moved in. 

Posting in the r/heatpumps subreddit, they explained that they'd never lived in a house with heat pumps before and weren't sure what to expect. 

"This is new to us as our prior home was gas and we both grew up with oil," they said. "They are new heat pumps as it's a new build. We live in New England so winter can get pretty cold. Just curious if there are things we should be looking out for or checking on a regular basis? Basically, heat pumps for dummy's lol. Any tips or advice are welcome, thanks!" 

There are a lot of misconceptions and unknowns about heat pumps, but they're surprisingly simple to understand. Heat pumps function by transferring heat from one place to another to regulate temperature. In the winter, they pull heat from the ambient air outside and move it into the home; in the summer, they pull heat from inside the home and move it outside. They are incredibly energy-efficient, even in cold temperatures, and can save you big money on your energy bills. 

TCD's HVAC Explorer can help homeowners understand their HVAC options and can save you up to 50% on your monthly energy bills. 

Smart upgrades that slash monthly energy bills

TCD has resources that make it easy to begin your journey:

• Mitsubishi can help you find efficient heating and cooling solutions for your home and connect you with trusted installers
• Not ready to spend up front? Palmetto's $0-down HVAC leasing program can lower your energy costs by up to 50%
• TCD's HVAC Explorer makes it easy to access exclusive offers from preferred partners

Palmetto's HVAC leases start as low as $0 down and $99 a month, and they include 12 years of maintenance, so you can enjoy your system worry-free. 

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What people are saying 

Commenters were quick to offer the new homeowner advice on their new system. 

"Set the thermostat to 68 degrees and leave it alone," said one. "Change the air filters every couple of months."

"After snow or ice rain make sure the units aren't covered in snow or ice," said another. "Make sure fan blades aren't iced up. This can throw fan blades off balance. I had to defrost my fan blades this morning with a hair dryer. My heat pump is air to air ducted. So my fan blades face up like a traditional central air unit."

"The heat from it is going to first feel weird," said a third. "It doesn't blow hot like forced air from [a] furnace. So you wonder if it's really keeping the house warm or not. But over time you just notice you are not cold which means well it's doing something even though it seems like it's not when you put your hand in front of the indoor units."

They continued: "Also because it runs low heat and runs almost all the time it's better to leave it [at] a set temperature rather than increasing and decreasing it. If you reduce the temperature too low it's going to take several hours to get to comfort levels hence the set and forget strategy."

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