Peak Amps of a heat pump based AC vs compressor based AC?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
Sign up Log in
4 replies · 3K views
Stephen Tashi
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
Education Advisor
Messages
7,864
Reaction score
1,605
TL;DR
Generally speaking, do residential air conditioners based on heat pumps have less peak power usage than AC units that use only compressors with radiators?
In my city (USA) typical older houses have "100 Amp service" so their peak electric usage is limited to 100 Amps. In considering what sort of electric air conditioning system to install in such a house, peak usage is major consideration. Generally speaking, which type of residential unit has higher peak usage, units based on heat pumps or units based on compressors with radiators?

Edit: I'm using the term "heat pump" to indicate a system that uses a line buried deep in the ground to access an area that remains at a moderate temperature compared to the surface temperature.
 
Physics news on Phys.org

Discussion

Stephen Tashi said:
Summary:: Generally speaking, do residential air conditioners based on heat pumps have less peak power usage than AC units that use only compressors with radiators?

In my city (USA) typical older houses have "100 Amp service" so their peak electric usage is limited to 100 Amps. In considering what sort of electric air conditioning system to install in such a house, peak usage is major consideration. Generally speaking, which type of residential unit has higher peak usage, units based on heat pumps or units based on compressors with radiators?

Edit: I'm using the term "heat pump" to indicate a system that uses a line buried deep in the ground to access an area that remains at a moderate temperature compared to the surface temperature.
That last line clarifies a lot, because a heat pump and air conditioner are exactly the same device except that you can switch the coils...so much of the post was hard to make sense of...

...but yeah, a ground source is more efficient than air source because the ground's temperature is usually closer to room temperature than the air's.
 
russ_watters said:
...but yeah, a ground source is more efficient than air source because the ground's temperature is usually closer to room temperature than the air's.

Total efficiency is a consideration, but my main interest is in peak power usage.

(As another example, tankless water heaters are , generally speaking, more efficient that conventional water heaters. But the peak power usage of a tankless heater may be too much for a home with 100 Amp service when other appliances are in use - even though the peak power usage is brief.)
 
Stephen Tashi said:
Total efficiency is a consideration, but my main interest is in peak power usage.
Peak power demand is lower for ground source. Peak power demand happens when the difference between the heat sink and room temperature is largest. E.G, when it is hot outside. In cooling mode, the ground source should be much more efficient than the air source at peak.
 
Stephen Tashi said:
"100 Amp service"
I have 80 amp per single phase, with 230V, so I can get 18.4 kW.
It is hard to know the maximum energy flow = power, without voltage. What is your voltage?

P.S. I believe your "Amp" should be ampere, amp or A, because Ampere was a person.