Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Condenser shade ideas.
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Old 03-30-2023, 08:55 AM
ton80 ton80 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JGibson View Post
This contradicts itself. On one hand, it's saying shade wouldn’t produce any savings and on the other hand, it's saying to put it on the north side in the SHADE. HUH?

Moving it to the north side is not logistically possible, it’s a courtyard villa.

The house's plastic fence shades it from the east but the condenser is in between the two villas so as the sun moves west there is about a 3-hour time frame when it’s baking in the sun of course this is the hottest part of the day so 3 hours may not sound like much but it makes a difference.

I had no intention of putting some sun barrier too close to the unit as I realize it needs airflow for heat transfer.

On my unit, the fan is on top so that is where most of the heat transfer is taking place.

It's not only about monthly cost savings but trying to preserve the unit and not work harder than it needs to be.

I guess after paying $5000 for a new unit last year unexpectedly I’m being a little conservative.

Thanks for the idea Village Tinker.
The comment on putting the condenser on the North side of the house if possible is based on what the relative air temperatures are versus side of the house. The cooling and heated are done with very large amounts of ambient air passing over the HVAC. condenser . Direct sunlight on the metal has negligible effect on the system but the cool air from a grove of trees provides much better cooling. Next time you pass an old farmhouse check to see if it is inside a grove of trees. Usually is. Farmers were/are smart people and in touch with their surroundings.