3 ms·
By the time you do that, you might as well also put in a variable speed compressor and a variable speed fan, at which point there’s not much left. (Seriously,
by amluto 3y ago
By the time you do that, you might as well also put in a variable speed compressor and a variable speed fan, at which point there’s not much left.
(Seriously, where I live, you will likely pay $1k or slightly more to drain and refill the refrigerant. The hardware for an entire modern heat pump, indoor and outdoor components, is maybe $3-4k. Is it really worth it to drain an old existing unit, cut the pipes, add a reversing valve, retrofit in the controls, pressure test everything, deal with the fact that the outdoor unit (formerly the condenser coil) will start producing copious amounts of condensate that the manufacturer and installer did not anticipate, and refill the system?)
- elil17 3y agoThis is because HVAC companies wildly overcharge. It does not take $1,000 worth of labor to drain and refill refrigerant, but it does take a qualified technician, and there are not enough of those.
- amluto 3y agoThat’s absolutely true. But the same problem would exist, much worse, if everyone started modifying their old A/C systems to turn them into heat pumps. To add to the list of why this whole idea seems dubious: a conventional air conditioner operates with its evaporator coil at a balmy 50F or so. If you reverse it, the outdoor coil will become the evaporator, and it will operate below freezing if it’s cold out (even if the outdoor temperature is a bit above freezing). As a result, condensate can form and freeze on the coil. This is entirely manageable (any modern heat pump can operate in decently chilly conditions, and heat pumps equipped for low temperature operation can operate in very cold conditions), but I expect that at least some engineering is involved.