Why Is Central Ac Unit Freezing While Only Using Heat?

by Mike C
(Atlanta GA)

we are in a deep freeze and the outside unit keeps getting ice in grill and inside unit on some copper lines, but the fan is coming on and appears to be working, is this a problem or weather related?

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by: Chester

we are in a deep freeze and the outside unit keeps getting ice in grill and inside unit on some copper lines, but the fan is coming on and appears to be working, is this a problem or weather related?

I can only assume your system is a heat pump. The problem is most likely weather related. Generally a heat pump in Atlanta would be set to defrost every 90 minutes or so and this setting would the best for most winters, but this is not most winters. Too long a time interval between defrosts will cause the outdoor unit to ice up, and that ice can also be formed on the lines going to indoor unit.
My advice is to have your Air-conditioning technician reset your defrost timer so you will have shorter intervals between defrost cycles.

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