I got it this way, if it was up to me I would like in on the shady side, but I have to make due with what is.
Planting shrubs in the area is not practical as it is a 8 ft walkway from the kitchen to the backyard, with a hill starting after the 8 ft somehting like:
h__/
Where the | of the h is the house and the rest of the h is the a/c unit. the _ is the walkway and the / is the start of the hill.
I was considering some fencing around it, but wondering if the restriction of airflow vs blocking the sun would help or hurt. I was also considering planting some trees on the hill, but that might take years (for me to buy and plant the trees, then I suspect some time for them to grow too ;))
Would it really make a diference if the unit was in the shade, and is it worth the effort?
The outside unit is only part of your AC. There should be another part, maybe in your garage, that’s connected to the main vent in your house (you know, that big vent that you open to change your AC filter.)
Unless you’re having problems with a cool house, I think you’re fine.
This may be a stupid question, but why not just put some sort of shade over it? Build an awning, or even just put up a lattice. Hell, you could probably even put a beach umbrella there on days it’s not too windy.
I wouldn’t worry about it. The coils are cooled by convection from the air blown across them. After they have been in the sun for a while, the cooling fins are warmer than if they had been in the shade, but they will reach air temp in a couple of seconds once the fan kicks in. From then on (after those couple of seconds) the vast majority of the heat being dissipated will come from the compression of the refrigerant. The sun will be a small contribution. Would shade help? yes, but a tiny amount. The temperature of the air blowing across the coils will be the major factor.
The condensing unit (outside the house) is actually releasing heat picked up the evaporator (inside the house). So it really doesn’t matter that the sun is baking down on it.
I’m not so certain. Shoot your hose at your condensing unit once, and have a person inside sitting next to a vent. Ask if they notice if it suddenly cools down a bit. You’ll be suprised. But that might have more to do with water being a better conducter of heat than air.
Go visit a largescale greenhouse and look at the fine mesh netting that they use to create a shady effect, then get some and put it over the unit. Needless to say, it needs to be put well over the unit, at least 5-6 feet clearance.
Also once a friend has a room a/c in his fireplace. It worked for a time then the breaker tripped (and the fireplace back are was pretty hot), so it was actually taking more power also.