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Air Conditioning
This probably came up beforebut I still am not sure of the answer.
My AC condenser is exposed to the sun for a good part of the day. I have often thought that by making some sort of a covering to ward off the sun the unit would cool better and perhaps not work as hard.Any ideas? Frank |
"KTECH" wrote in message ... This probably came up beforebut I still am not sure of the answer. My AC condenser is exposed to the sun for a good part of the day. I have often thought that by making some sort of a covering to ward off the sun the unit would cool better and perhaps not work as hard.Any ideas? Frank No ideas off the top of my head, but ... yes, getting the sun off an air conditioner will make it work better and more effieicntly. The trick though is not to block any air flow. It varies from unit to unit, but it can be done. I had some noticeable luck and a measured increse in the cooled air temp of a few degrees just by putting mirror-film on the case of one of mine, a 10k btu unit. Since the western sun hits it both from the top and the west-side directly it was hard to figure any way to get the sun off it without stopping some air flow. The tree I finally planted does a great job now, after only a few years. BTW, it only took the film idea a few weeks to get so dirty it didn't reflect anymore so it's not a good answer. I suppose there are ways to do it with properly positioned louvres but that's beyond my abilities g. The tree worked best in the long run, for me at least. Also shades part of the hosue of course. HTH Pop |
"KTECH" wrote in message ... This probably came up beforebut I still am not sure of the answer. My AC condenser is exposed to the sun for a good part of the day. I have often thought that by making some sort of a covering to ward off the sun the unit would cool better and perhaps not work as hard.Any ideas? Frank No...wont make any difference you will ever see. Want proof? Just look at the millions of units in CA, NV etc that are installed on rooftops....and yes, I started working in the deserts of CA in HVAC, and I can promise you, the units are designed to be outside, in the sun...and work. |
"KTECH" wrote in message ... This probably came up beforebut I still am not sure of the answer. My AC condenser is exposed to the sun for a good part of the day. I have often thought that by making some sort of a covering to ward off the sun the unit would cool better and perhaps not work as hard.Any ideas? Frank The cost of any cover will be more than any return you will see in efficiency. Plus you want the AC to be in the open as much as possible to get good air flow around and above the unit. Good chance a roof over it would block the air flow enough to be counter productive! Leave it alone! Greg |
KTECH wrote:
This probably came up beforebut I still am not sure of the answer. My AC condenser is exposed to the sun for a good part of the day. I have often thought that by making some sort of a covering to ward off the sun the unit would cool better and perhaps not work as hard.Any ideas? Frank Not likely. The AC is looking for Air temp and that is not going to be much different with or without shade. In fact if the shade reduces the air flow, it will increase operating expense. -- Joseph Meehan Dia duit |
Joseph Meehan wrote: KTECH wrote: This probably came up beforebut I still am not sure of the answer. My AC condenser is exposed to the sun for a good part of the day. I have often thought that by making some sort of a covering to ward off the sun the unit would cool better and perhaps not work as hard.Any ideas? Frank Not likely. The AC is looking for Air temp and that is not going to be much different with or without shade. In fact if the shade reduces the air flow, it will increase operating expense. -- Joseph Meehan Dia duit Then there is the effect that the condenser is buried in the housing, not being hit directly by the sun. As soon as the unit kicks on (or very soon thereafter) the interior of that housing is going to be at the ambient air temp anyhow. The heat exchangers (radiators) will also reach operating temperature whether the sun hits them or not. Harry K |
"KTECH" wrote in message ... This probably came up beforebut I still am not sure of the answer. My AC condenser is exposed to the sun for a good part of the day. I have often thought that by making some sort of a covering to ward off the sun the unit would cool better and perhaps not work as hard.Any ideas? Frank This is Turtle This question has been ask at least a 100 times that i know of and here is what was said just about everytime. The HVAC People and some manufactors say it makes very little difference as to sun hitting it or not. Now when they say that it is on the thought that it will run just fine but at a little higher head pressure which will cost a little bit more to operate the system. This will come from the ground, unit, and area around the unit will be heated up and will be putting off heat to be sucked into the condenser coil which will be a little higher temperature than if it was setting in the shade. Now this small amount of added heat is small but may not justify any cost to build a shade cover for it but shading may not be cost effective but it does save a little money to shade it. I researched it over the internet and came up with a few good sights that said it saved money but none said how much. Now here is one from the Florida Public Service Commision on 101 ways to save on your electric bill. Check out Artical number 53 to see about condenser in the sun. http://www.floridapsc.com/general/pu.../101summer.cfm TURTLE |
TURTLE writes:
I researched it over the internet ... You don't need any research. Just put your clamp-on ammeter on the compressor, and hold up a big sheet of something lightweight to turn the shade on and off. Does it register anything on the meter when you do so? Would like to hear your results. |
I'm guessing with as large a mass, it would take an hour or so to make any
readable difference. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org www.mormons.com "Richard J Kinch" wrote in message .. . TURTLE writes: I researched it over the internet ... You don't need any research. Just put your clamp-on ammeter on the compressor, and hold up a big sheet of something lightweight to turn the shade on and off. Does it register anything on the meter when you do so? Would like to hear your results. |
My understanding of things, shade is cooler. However, I've seen one study
where they did one test (two houses, one in the shade) and found less than 5% savings. I'd go wtih the shade, as long as it isn't blocking the air flow. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org www.mormons.com "KTECH" wrote in message ... This probably came up beforebut I still am not sure of the answer. My AC condenser is exposed to the sun for a good part of the day. I have often thought that by making some sort of a covering to ward off the sun the unit would cool better and perhaps not work as hard.Any ideas? Frank |
"Richard J Kinch" wrote in message .. . TURTLE writes: I researched it over the internet ... You don't need any research. Just put your clamp-on ammeter on the compressor, and hold up a big sheet of something lightweight to turn the shade on and off. Does it register anything on the meter when you do so? Would like to hear your results. This is Turtle. Hummmm , I will try this in the next day or two while working on the systems. I'll get back to you. TURTLE |
Instantaneous current mesurement isn't the answer. When the compressor
is running, it always requires the same power. But maybe it will run less often to keep the set point... Watt hour meter is the required device to compare for example, two similar weeks temperature. Frank |
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Hash: SHA1 On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:46:08 GMT, "Stormin Mormon" wrote: My understanding of things, shade is cooler. However, I've seen one study where they did one test (two houses, one in the shade) and found less than 5% savings. I'd go wtih the shade, as long as it isn't blocking the air flow. Sounds shady to me. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 7.1 iQA/AwUBQtxd0QIk7T39FC4ZEQILtQCg+zO6HqA/qlTmA5OHQijDJKZgx3sAoNQz oKrZlYldivebj+5n6N9X4ltj =Ir+H -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- -john wide-open at throttle dot info |
Stormin Mormon writes:
I'm guessing with as large a mass, it would take an hour or so to make any readable difference. If the input of radiant energy of sunlight makes any difference, it would have to exhibit a quick response in this system. |
FChoquette writes:
Instantaneous current mesurement isn't the answer. When the compressor is running, it always requires the same power. If the input of radiant energy of sunlight makes any difference, it would have to exhibit a quick response in this system. |
FChoquette wrote: Instantaneous current mesurement isn't the answer. When the compressor is running, it always requires the same power. Where in the hell did you get that stupid notion from? hvacrmedic But maybe it will run less often to keep the set point... Watt hour meter is the required device to compare for example, two similar weeks temperature. Frank |
FChoquette wrote: Instantaneous current mesurement isn't the answer. When the compressor is running, it always requires the same power. Where in the hell did you get that stupid notion from? hvacrmedic But maybe it will run less often to keep the set point... Watt hour meter is the required device to compare for example, two similar weeks temperature. Frank |
Ignorance, d'you think?
-- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org www.mormons.com "RP" wrote in message ... FChoquette wrote: Instantaneous current mesurement isn't the answer. When the compressor is running, it always requires the same power. Where in the hell did you get that stupid notion from? hvacrmedic |
Actually, compressor current draw can be more or less. Depending on the
load, back pressure, over or under charged, etc. It really is a variable. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org www.mormons.com "FChoquette" wrote in message oups.com... Instantaneous current mesurement isn't the answer. When the compressor is running, it always requires the same power. But maybe it will run less often to keep the set point... Watt hour meter is the required device to compare for example, two similar weeks temperature. Frank |
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