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This is interesting. Gut says that it does increase efficiency. Thing I'm questioning is by how much?
Anybody got numbers or a good educated guesstimate?
https://www.aceee.org/files/proceedings/2002/data/papers/SS02_Panel1_Paper24.pdf
Shading the compressor can help but it can also hurt.
Those units can draw enormous amounts of air. Unless the shading covers a very wide area around the compressor, it's likely to mostly pull in air that wasn't shaded and is still at normal ambient temperature.
If the shading obstructs airflow, it can reduce the efficiency of the unit.
Nice source! Thank you kindly.
Tracks with the gut feeling. Shade will only marginally improve efficiency but constricting flow definitely hurts. Units are best installed on the North/Northeast sides of houses in the northern hemisphere.
If your unit is a heat pump, are you then paying for that savings in the winter when it doesn't benefit from any solar warmth to help heat your house? If so, I wonder if it is a relatively balanced outcome or if one of the seasons has a bigger impact. I imagine it depends in part on which season is more extreme in your area.
I would think so. Another factor would be dropping leaves in the fall and winter so less shade, a good thing, in this case.
Not going to give an educated guesstimate, but I do know our ac unit is in full shade of trees, with not much greenery around. It is probably 20 years old. We were told, ten years ago by a repair man, it was close to kicking the bucket, yet it's still going.
My neighbor, has the same unit, newer, leas than ten years old unit, in full sun with bittersweet growing all around it. Last summer they spent half the time trying to fix it, and this year I saw them install window units..
I'm guess, it helps to have it shadded with no plant debris. Purely anecdotal.
Knock on wood oh boy..