"Existential Angst" fired this volley in
:

Cut, if A/C mfrs would outfit the condensing heat exchanger with a
water
jacket,

Yeah, but then they wouldn't work with air. There has to be intimate
contact between the condensor tubing and the exchange medium.

If they were to outfit them with "Siamese" condensor tubing, so one line
carried refrigerant, and the other a liquid exchange medium, AND put fins
on the array -- then it would work, but would be quite a bit more
expensive.

On a side note: With a little re-wiring of the controls, a large window
unit AC makes a dandy monster-scale dehumidifier. Just situate the whole
affair inside the conditioned space (instead of through a window or
wall), and run the condensate outside. The wasted energy also heats the
space (some).

I have dehumidified large industrial drying rooms for cheap that way.

Lloyd