Hello,

I just bought my first home in Minnesota, I moved from Texas, so winter
is new to me here. I have an outdoor heat pump and I noticed it has a
TON of ice around it, like a small ice rink, is this normal? On my
thermostat I can put it on Heat, Cool, Auto, or Elec Heat.
When I put it on auto or heat it runs off my heat pump and the air out
of the vents feels cool. When I put it on Elec Heat, my furnace kicks
in and I get nice hot air out of the vents.
My home inspector told me to run it on auto or heat to save $ on energy
and that running it on Elec will kill my furnace
I don't know? Anyone know much about this?
I think I have been getting bad advice up here. This is my first
Minnesota winter and I took my sump pump hose off in the fall and my
neighbor came over and told me to leave it on or I would have a ice
rink on my side walk in the winter, he is a native to the state and I
thought he would know more then myself, so I listened. The past few
months my pump was running 24/7 and never dealing with one before I
figured it must be normal. A few days ago my electic started
shorting/flickering, so I went down and the hole for sump pump was full
with bubbling water, I was confused, so I went out a lifted up the hose
by the base and it exploded out with boiling hot water.
How damaging is that to let your sump pump run 24/7 for a few
weeks/months, can it cause electric issues, fire, etc?
I am starting to miss Texas like crazy!