Dullsters

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Every year I install this sunsail to shade my ac unit. (dullsters.net)

submitted 23 hours ago by admin@dullsters.net to c/Dullsters@dullsters.net

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Shading the condenser unit keeps it cooler and increases it's efficiency and helps keeps my electricity costs down. The sail is high enough and mesh like so that it doesn't trap the hot air. In fact it creates a slight wind tunnel effect. The shade it provides lasts during the hottest part of the day and a tree helpfully blocks the sun for the remainder. The unit is never in full sun this way. Keeping the weeds and other debris away from the unit so that it gets good airflow and cleaning the condenser every year also help with the units efficiency.

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[–] wetbeardhairs@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 7 hours ago

You're blocking 300-500 W of solar radiation on a heat exchanger that runs 20-100% of the day. So yeah you're definitely going to get some improvements. Most notably it will run less often because it isn't dealing with the excess heat.

AC units SHOULD be designed for 100% duty cycle. But we all know that nothing is really capable of that - even industrial stuff. So if your shade reduces the duty cycle by a few percent, you might increase the longevity of the unit by an order of magnitude.