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First off, I was upfront about my ignorance. Secondly, copper is way more expensive than stainless steel, unless I’m missing something. More than 8x according t
by eloff 4y ago
First off, I was upfront about my ignorance. Secondly, copper is way more expensive than stainless steel, unless I’m missing something. More than 8x according to random websites on Google.
I’m sure there is a reason copper is used, but if the industry has to find an alternative, it would likely be cheaper.
- mindslight 4y agoStainless sucks at heat transfer, and has to be welded. Copper can be soldered (low temperature), or I believe refrigeration lines are commonly brazed (higher temperature). Raw material cost doesn't tell the whole story. Stainless is harder to work with, therefore costs more to manufacture. And even if it ended up being less expensive in the long run, there would a lot of capital investment to recover.
- Kirby64 4y agoStainless steel not conducting heat would be an advantage for linesets - you don't really want the heat/cold to be released in the lineset... it's released in the condenser/evap coils. Those coils are already often made out of aluminum, so dissimilar metals aren't really an issue as far as I can tell...
- lazide 4y agoFlexible stainless tubing is more expensive than copper flexible tubing. Also, copper flexible tubing is super easy to source.