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Does spraying water on an air conditioner make it more efficient?
October 5th, 2008 by admin | Filed under Uncategorized.ppc422 asked:
I mean, I know how an air conditioner works. But it seems like the colder the whole thing is, it would have to be more efficient. I’m just asking because water is included in my lease but I have to pay for power.
No problem there. I live in Wrightsville Beach, NC where it hits nearly 100 degrees with over 90% humidity. But how much will it help if a just set a hose to mist it?
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I mean, I know how an air conditioner works. But it seems like the colder the whole thing is, it would have to be more efficient. I’m just asking because water is included in my lease but I have to pay for power.
No problem there. I live in Wrightsville Beach, NC where it hits nearly 100 degrees with over 90% humidity. But how much will it help if a just set a hose to mist it?
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Tags: Humidity, Water Conditioner
yes, try it. the next time it is 100 degrees outside, stand outside with the water hose and hose it down. See if it helps. Oh, the humidity needs to be around 90% also..
I used to do this when my central A/C unit sat out in the full sun. I replaced it with a more efficient one in the shade, but the misting was a BIG help before the replacement.
I also had a high efficiency window unit that had a fan designed to pick up the condensate water and splash it back up on the coils to assist in evaporative cooling, and not waste the water it was collecting anyway!
If you can provide a steady stream of water to the condensor (the finned area that gets hot as the airconditioner runs, then yes it will work wonders. Not even worrying about the temperatures of the water, if you poured 90 degree water on it on a 90 degree day, the water will still pull the heat off the surface MUCH faster then the air will. Think of it like this, you can reach your hand into a 500 degree oven, and its warm (for a little while). If you put your hand into a 212 degree pot of boiling water, you will be badly burned almost instantly. Cooling something through still air is terrible, and while convecting air - blowing wind/fan, is better, its still no where near as good as conduction.
By cooling it more rapidly, and hopefully to a lower temperature, , the compressor has to do much less work to compress the refrigerant back to a liquid phase.