electric heat pump - behavior

[micaaronfl]

for those of you that have an electric heat pump i have a question.

i live in pa and yes i know electric heat pumps are not good for the winters here. question though it seems that it pumps out heat, then it pumps out warmish to colder air after or before the decent heat, ends or begins. is this the norm? unsure why it just doesnt stop after it pumps out the hot air, why does it continue to push out air?

 

[DBoon]

Heat pumps are less efficient and less able to deliver warm air as the temperature gets colder. They have a backup electric resistance heating element that will turn on to supplement the heat pump, and that is likely what you are feeling as the warmer air.

 

[tbsdolmar]

It could be going into defrost when the cooler air is coming out. When it gets warmer air it's usually if the heat pump isn't keeping up and the backup electric heat kicks on. This happens at 1 to 2 degrees below your t-stat setting when the second stage comes on. If your outdoor unit is running but the fan isn't then it's in defrost which reverses the flow of freon into ac mode to melt the ice on the coil. It will do this anywhere from 5- 20 minutes then it returns to the heating mode.