Not sure the heat pump upgrade is all that great for people driving mostly in warmer climates, such as southern CA, given the noise the pump produces, complexity, cost and reliability; compared to the simple resistive heat coil. The heat pump in 2021 M3’s appears to generate noticeably higher levels of noise; buzzing, grinding, humming etc. compared to the resistive hvac heating. The heat pump upgrade seems to benefit people in cold climates; not sure it’s a better for people driving mostly in warm climates?
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Model 3 heat pump noise
- Thread starter MikieKey
- Start date
Are you making an observation based on your car, or repeating what you have read somewhere? Also, its my understanding that in fact the heat pump would help us in southern california more than those in places that are REALLY cold. The colder it gets the harder it is for the pump do its job.
In our southern california winters, with temps in the 40s to 60s, I think it would work quite well actually.
Do you understand a heat pump?
In simple terms AC and refrigeration don't produce cold they just move heat from one space to another.
Heat pumps in simplistic terms allow the heat to be moved in either direction.
Now this does create some additional concerns with frosting of the coil or some gurgling it really isn't that big a deal. I say this using airsource heat pumps as the primary heat in my 42yo Green Bay area home..........
Granted Fujitsu not Tesla built my system but the point is I don't think heat pumps are really your complaint unless you complain about air conditioning too.
In simple terms AC and refrigeration don't produce cold they just move heat from one space to another.
Heat pumps in simplistic terms allow the heat to be moved in either direction.
Now this does create some additional concerns with frosting of the coil or some gurgling it really isn't that big a deal. I say this using airsource heat pumps as the primary heat in my 42yo Green Bay area home..........
Granted Fujitsu not Tesla built my system but the point is I don't think heat pumps are really your complaint unless you complain about air conditioning too.
I dont frequent the model Y section but I would suspect the guidance would be similar to what they advise for model Y's. I have no idea what that is, though. Do you (or anyone else) know what that guidance is for model Ys?
interesting question/ observation.
Model Y manual actually has the same statement about using seat heat over the cabin heater. I thought of that after I posted... Kind of surprising, but it'll still be more efficient than the old heater if you do use the vents
Heat pumps are typically installed in homes located with mild winters. Once the outside temperature gets below freezing, heat pumps require resistive heating of the outside coil to defrost it. So the heat pump merely transports the resistive heat to the inside (which takes more energy than just straight resistive heat).
The more humidity, the less efficient the heat pump becomes (at sub freezing temperatures).
For example, here in the North Dallas area this morning, the temperature was 37 dF and the humidity was 89%. The dew point was 34 dF which means water would condensate on the outside coil at 34 or below. Since the heat pump typically runs the outside coil at least 10 to 20 degrees below the outside temperature, that condensing water will be freezing on the coil (all the time).
To fix this, the heat pump has to defrost that outside coil with heat. It can be done with resistive heat. Or the heat pump can reverse temporarily, pulling heat out of the house to heat up that outside coil. Once the coil is defrosted, it reverses back. Pretty inefficient...
If you live in an area with low humidity (like Arizona), the heat pumps work great. In a high humidity area with sub zero temps, no so much.
This makes perfect sense. Resistive heat directly touching you will always be more efficient than heated air. Think of an electric blanket.
Thanks, so basically, as I thought, the OPs (and my own) location of Southern California is the perfect place for it. Thats what I thought, but thanks for confirming. I dont have a heat pump at my home.
I believe my Fujitsu system which only begins to struggle once temps fall below -15f in my 40yo leaky Green Bay area home only has resistance heat in the base to facilitate draining. The coil is defrosted by running the AC for a few minutes which does make it blow.cold in the house periodically.
Yes, that operates the same as the Daikin mini-split heat pump I installed in my office/warehouse.
When I bought it, there were two low temperature options (-13 dF and 5 dF). Since I live in Texas, I choose the 5 dF version. It really does not work well (at all) below 25 dF. Yes it still heats but is remarkably slow - due to it reversing every 15 minutes (or so) to defrost the outside coil.
I did look at the schematics of both versions of the heat pump. The low temperature version (-13 dF) had resistive elements built into the outside coil. My guess is this is how the same unit (with a small modification) can work at really at that low temp. But the electricity used goes way up. In fact, my summer cooling bill is lower than my winter heating cost with this heat pump. Fortunately we have very few cold days in the teens.
With regard to the noise that the OP mentioned - my guess is the heat pump is reversing direction multiple times and that makes the noise. On my mini-split, the reversing valves are located in the condenser, on the roof. I never hear a thing.
Perhaps since the heat pump is located in the frunk, it might be easier to hear this reversal.
MasterC17
Active Member
The heat pump configuration should be no louder than the A/C compressor in the 2020 Model 3. The only reason people complained about it on the early Model Y was because they hadn't installed any NVH blanket over the compressor. Since they've been coming with said blanket I'm pretty sure the complaints are gone.
tstolze
Member
Read the above everyone, remember a "Heatpump" is an AC system that transfers heat into the cabin instead of out of the cabin by changing the flow of refrigerant.
One point that might have been brought up already, there is waste heat from the Motors/Inverter and Battery that the Heatpump will use to assist in transferring heat to the cabin instead of just using the outside air.
derichio02
Member
I just received my 2021 M3P and the heat pump is loud! Sounds like gurgling and a faucet running. I am in so cal but traveled to the high desert too where it was 45 degrees and while super charging... wtf it was loud lol. I believe the AC seems not as loud because you hear the fan blowing. With the heat pump the fan is not always blowing as loudly. I noticed the noises much more when sitting still rather than accelerating.
Yes, mine too. It’s a machine though, so who says it needs to be totally silent?
derichio02
Member
True lol. It doesn’t bother me as I mostly have the window down and tunes at a moderate to high volume. Was just chiming in that this seems normal-ish
