3 ms·
The first part of this article is a good intro to how they work. But still, one flaw. I'm guessing that a lot of people are simply not aware that compressing a
by euroderf 3y ago
The first part of this article is a good intro to how they work. But still, one flaw.
I'm guessing that a lot of people are simply not aware that compressing a gas will heat it and decompressing it will cool it - at least not to any significant degree. So (imho) please talk about how the operation of an A/C makes this fact obvious - make an appeal to everyday experience. And THEN talk about how putting it in reverse makes a heater, even when it's really damned cold outdoors.
- yathern 3y agoYou probably already know this, but for anyone else reading - it's more than just compressing and decompressing - it's changing phase between liquid and solid! It takes a lot of extra energy to go from a liquid to a gas - think about how when boiling water, it doesn't all immediately turn into steam when it hits 100 degrees. It takes a long time to boil it down to nothing, even on a really hot stove. That's because switching from liquid to gas takes more energy than just getting hotter. The refrigerants used in ACs and heat pumps take advantage of this behavior to maximize how much heat they can move - much more than if they stayed as a gas
- euroderf 3y agoGood point. I kinda skipped over the phase change part of the story. This too can be used explain the heat pump concept better. Freezing or boiling water takes time because it takes energy.