We have the condensing unit of our AC system on the south side of the house (it was the most convenient place). It gets a lot of direct sun during the day, and I hear that your AC's efficiency can be reduced by 10% if the condensing unit is in the direct sun. Should I make a type of shade cover or something and attach it to the fence? The distance of the fence from the house is about 4 feet, and the fence is 6 feet high.
Howie
what was the title of the discussion?
| >
| I don't recall the exact wording. You could start here:
I read through the whole discussion (titled "shading exterior AC unit")... it's tough to conclude the answers to my questions!
yeh,,true. In fact what I read was a total amount of codswallop with no regard for thermodynamics,,at all ! Shade your unit by all means but be sure of two things:
Equally you should take note of what direction your primary air comes from in the hotter months. It is important that the winjd does not oppose the forced air path of your unit.
Post more to get more :-)
BTZ
It helps. So does trickling rainwater over the coil.
Nick
bullshit alert !!
never ever do this !
BTZ
It can help, but I doubt it you will get anything close to a 10% improvement. It also can hurt if you are blocking the air flow. The really important part is the air flow. Frankly just changing the direction from which the air comes in so that you may draw in cooler air is likely to make a much greater difference.
In any case, do nothing to block the flow of the air.
As a note to the comment of dripping water on the coils. That will, at first, reduce cost, but, unless it is very carefully engineered it will not help long. The deposits and damage to the coils will soon cause a much larger problem.
Rainwater leaves no deposits. My $10 fountain pump uses 10 watts and reduces the power from 1050 to 950 watts while increasing the COP by 10%.
Nick
Why not, little worm?
Nick
Ref: D. Y. Goswami
I won't do it because rainwater does contain minerals. Ever heard of Acid rain? That may be pH related, but rainwater does contain minerals.
Do it if you want, but the stuff will build up and clog the coil over a few years....
You must not get the rain water we get around here. However your situation, if you have very clean neutral rain water, that would come under the "..carefully engineered" clause. I might suggest that if you have acid rain, that can also be a problem even if it does not appear to leave deposits.
As in "distilled water contains minerals"? :-)
Nick
as in, as the rain falls, it picks up pollutants from the atmosphere.
NO! Rain water collects dust and minerals from the air. If you ever washed a dark colored car and forgot to move it out of the rain, there would be dust spots all over. John
Consider planting a deciduous tree or shrub (one that drops its leaves in the fall).
Would you care to name these rainwater minerals? :-)
Nick
We only have about 4 feet between the house and the fence (property line)... I wonder what type of deciduous tree or shrub I could plant here in Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada)? Only 4 feet of space for a tree or shrub??
Howie
I would not be worried about the minerals, as I would be nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides, and the carbon dioxide and goodies it picks up as it falls... Thats just what I want on my aluminum coils....acid.... I mean...obviously you have never seen a coil where a dog likes to piss on it...
Water on the coils screws up the charge balance, and while it SEEMS like a good idea, IF you want a water source AC, go geothermal...
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