Why don't we heat homes using air conditioners?

[Jocko Homo]

I got a chance to observe the vents of a gas furnace and was surprised by how warm the outtake vent is. The high efficiency furnace is supposed to be more than 90% efficient so why is the outtake air so warm? It eventually occurred to me that the outtake air can't be any cooler than the air in the house so that probably explains why it's so warm...

...but then another idea occurred to me. The outtake air can't be any cooler than the interior air as long as the heat exchange is passively done but it doesn't have to be. You could use a heat pump, like an air conditioner, to transfer even more heat... so why isn't this done?

If you live in an apartment that's electrically heated, why wouldn't you heat your home with an air conditioner facing the opposite way?

Thank you...




P.S. This is totally unrelated but I also noticed that the intake vent hardly sucked in any air while the outtake vent was blowing out a lot more. I wondered if this air was just being sucked in from the home but I now suspect that perhaps it just seems like a lot more air because it's that much warmer than the air being sucked in. Does this seem plausible?

 

[Dale]

This is exactly what a heat pump does.

 

[Jocko Homo]

This is exactly what a heat pump does.

Could you please elaborate? That seriously doesn't answer my question...

 

[Bill_K]

Google "heat pump" and you will see many advertisements for heat pumps that are designed to cool your home in the summer and heat your home in the winter.

 

[cjl]

Heat pumps are not efficient for large delta T, so in cold climates (where the interior of the house may need to be as much as a hundred degrees (F) warmer than the exterior), heat pumps aren't necessarily the best way to go. For milder climates, they are often used exactly as you suggest.

 

[dawin]

Could you please elaborate? That seriously doesn't answer my question...

It's funny you said that because it seriously does

 

[Drakkith]

I got a chance to observe the vents of a gas furnace and was surprised by how warm the outtake vent is. The high efficiency furnace is supposed to be more than 90% efficient so why is the outtake air so warm? It eventually occurred to me that the outtake air can't be any cooler than the air in the house so that probably explains why it's so warm...

Which vent are you referring to? The outtake vent in my home unit simply exits into the room with warmer air.

 

[Dale]

A heat pump is just an air conditioner run in reverse. They are the same thing. You ask why we don't heat homes using air conditioners, but we do and when we do we call it a heat pump.

 

[russ_watters]

I got a chance to observe the vents of a gas furnace and was surprised by how warm the outtake vent is. The high efficiency furnace is supposed to be more than 90% efficient so why is the outtake air so warm? It eventually occurred to me that the outtake air can't be any cooler than the air in the house so that probably explains why it's so warm...

The furnace flame burns at over 2000F so even if the combustion exhaust is 200F, it has still sent the vast majority of the heat into the house. But to get over 80% efficient, a furnace must take more energy from the exhaust and in the process, condense the water vapor in the exhaust. This requires a heat exchanger, a drain, a drain pump and exhaust piping that won't corrode (usually PVC) as well as ducted combustion supply. All of these features cost money so they aren't always done.

 

[Lsos]

Could you please elaborate? That seriously doesn't answer my question...

Your question of "why isn't this done?" is invalid because, well, it IS done. Hell, my home was heated by an air conditioner in reverse. It can be a much more efficient way of heating a space than by directly burning fuel or using an electric heater.

 

[rcgldr]

I've seen cheap ac/heater units that just reverse the flow for heat mode. One negative side effect is this increases the humidity in the room. I don't know if it can be enough to contribute to mold issues.

 

[russ_watters]

One negative side effect is this increases the humidity in the room. I don't know if it can be enough to contribute to mold issues.

1. No, it doesn't.
2. It wouldn't be a bad thing if they did, it would be a good thing (humidity is always too low in winter).

Not sure where you're getting that idea.

 

[rcgldr]

I've seen cheap ac/heater units that just reverse the flow for heat mode. One negative side effect is this increases the humidity in the room. I don't know if it can be enough to contribute to mold issues.

Not sure where you're getting that idea.

I recall an overly humid hotel room one time when I was working off site. Maybe it was just a faulty ac/heater.

 

[russ_watters]

In the spring and fall, when you don't use either the heat or air conditioning, the humidity can get uncomfortably high - that's the only thing I can think of. But air conditioning knocks down humidity and heat doesn't affect it.

 

[rcgldr]

In the spring and fall, when you don't use either the heat or air conditioning, the humidity can get uncomfortably high - that's the only thing I can think of. But air conditioning knocks down humidity and heat doesn't affect it.

In this case, the flow was simply reversed in a cheap window type ac unit, with the ac "cooling" the outside air, and the heat and much of the accumlated water vapor being directed. I assume there was a drip pan, but the amount of water being evaporated by the inwards flow was directing a lot of water vapor inside.

 

[gcracker89]

I got a chance to observe the vents of a gas furnace and was surprised by how warm the outtake vent is. The high efficiency furnace is supposed to be more than 90% efficient so why is the outtake air so warm? It eventually occurred to me that the outtake air can't be any cooler than the air in the house so that probably explains why it's so warm...

..but then another idea occurred to me. The outtake air can't be any cooler than the interior air as long as the heat exchange is passively done but it doesn't have to be. You could use a heat pump, like an air conditioner, to transfer even more heat... so why isn't this done?

The cost of manufacturing and operation would far exceed any recovery. But here is an idea for one of you guys,, just remember when you strike it rich to hire me or send me a check. A diode or transistor that transfers heat, like the coolers that can run Hot or Cold.

If you live in an apartment that's electrically heated, why wouldn't you heat your home with an air conditioner facing the opposite way?
Thank you...

Heat pumps are reversible air conditioners well that’s a little simple. The heat pump has a reversing valve that reverse the “Freon”
A/C units have two major Assemblies the Evaporator (inside unit) Condenser (outside unit)
In these are several basic items inside the assemblies:
Evaporator: a tubing coil, a blower, a metered orifice and a heat strip (for cold weather)
Condenser: a tubing coil, a blower, a pump and in the case of a heat pump a reversing valve.
The pump pumps Freon** to a high pressure gas which travels through the condenser where the gas condenses into a liquid and the heat is given off. The condensed liquid then to the evaporator thru a high pressure line thru the metered orifice at the evaporator coils where the Freon expands to a gas this reduction of pressure the Freon turns cold and absorb heat as it traveling through the Evaporator coil the cool Freon then returns via a low pressure line to the condenser as a low pressure gas and the process starts again.
The efficiency of Freon diminished as temperature drops somewhere around 30 degrees F. it becomes ineffective. There are more millions to be made find a gas that works at -30 F.
The heat pump has a reversing valve in the high and low pressure systems are now the gas expands outside picking up heat and condenses in the house.
** Freon generic term: Freon is Dichlorodifluoromethane (R-12), and was replaced by Chlorodifluoromethane Freon 22, which has been replaced by R-410A,




P.S. This is totally unrelated but I also noticed that the intake vent hardly sucked in any air while the outtake vent was blowing out a lot more. I wondered if this air was just being sucked in from the home but I now suspect that perhaps it just seems like a lot more air because it's that much warmer than the air being sucked in. Does this seem plausible?

Systems have to have balance, if you had more going out than coming in the windows in the house would suck in.

 

[Antiphon]

I'm picking a nit now.

Heat pumps are not air conditioners run in reverse; that would be a heat engine.

Air conditioners *turned around* are heat pumps.

 

[russ_watters]

In this case, the flow was simply reversed in a cheap window type ac unit, with the ac "cooling" the outside air, and the heat and much of the accumlated water vapor being directed. I assume there was a drip pan, but the amount of water being evaporated by the inwards flow was directing a lot of water vapor inside.

Window air conditioners don't typically bring in much if any outside air. That would be a big waste of energy. They just recirculate inside air.

 

[Dale]

I'm picking a nit now.

Heat pumps are not air conditioners run in reverse; that would be a heat engine.

Air conditioners *turned around* are heat pumps.

That is a well-picked nit . You are quite correct.

 

[Jocko Homo]

I'm picking a nit now.

Heat pumps are not air conditioners run in reverse; that would be a heat engine.

Air conditioners *turned around* are heat pumps.

That is a well-picked nit . You are quite correct.

Hey, you appreciate picked nits? How about this: air conditioners, even before they were turned around, are heat pumps... Okay, that wasn't quite as profound as Antiphon's nit but it's still true!


Okay, so what I've gathered is that are conditioners turned around are used to heat homes, which explains why I couldn't think of a reason why they wouldn't be. Thank you all for your participation!

I'm guessing they're not ubiquitous because the efficiency gain in harsh climates (like where I live) isn't enough to overcome the bother of the extra equipment needed...

 

[russ_watters]

I'm guessing they're not ubiquitous because the efficiency gain in harsh climates (like where I live) isn't enough to overcome the bother of the extra equipment needed...

That and natural gas is cheap. And the overall efficiency if you include the power plant isn't much better for a heat pump running on electricity (generated by a 40% efficient power plant, probably) than just burning natural gas is.

 

[pallidin]

Uh... wouldn't a simple electrical space heater be far more efficient than a reverse air-conditioner?

 

[russ_watters]

No, a half decent heat pump has a COP of about 3.5, that's 3.5x the heat output of an electric space heater for the same electrical input.

 

[OmCheeto]

I would ask the question; Why don't we heat our homes with our refrigerators?

Why do we dump all that energy out into our living areas, where it just rises to our ceilings, where it is doing no one any good(except for maybe warmth loving spiders).

Why don't we port all that hot air under our floors, to keep our http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=toesies" warm?

 

[TurtleMeister]

No, a half decent heat pump has a COP of about 3.5, that's 3.5x the heat output of an electric space heater for the same electrical input.

Heat pumps are more than 100% efficient?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_heating#Electrode_heater

For an electrical energy customer the efficiency of electric space heating can be 100% because all purchased energy is converted to building heat.

 

[russ_watters]

Heat pumps are more than 100% efficient?

"Efficiency" is not a concept properly applied to thermodynamic devices that move heat energy around, only to thermodynamic devices that convert one kind of energy into another. In an electric heater, energy is converted from electrical to heat. In a heat pump or air conditioner, energy is not converted, it is only moved from outside to inside a house (or vice versa). So the concept of "efficiency" doesn't really apply. The somewhat similar thermodynamic concept is coefficient of performance (COP):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coefficient_of_performance

 

[russ_watters]

I would ask the question; Why don't we heat our homes with our refrigerators?

Why do we dump all that energy out into our living areas, where it just rises to our ceilings, where it is doing no one any good(except for maybe warmth loving spiders).

Why don't we port all that hot air under our floors, to keep our http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=toesies" warm?

My refrigerator is on the first floor, so at worst it heats my second floor. Refrigerators put out a comparatively small amount of heat anyway.

 

[TurtleMeister]

"Efficiency" is not a concept properly applied to thermodynamic devices that move heat energy around, only to thermodynamic devices that convert one kind of energy into another. In an electric heater, energy is converted from electrical to heat. In a heat pump or air conditioner, energy is not converted, it is only moved from outside to inside a house (or vice versa). So the concept of "efficiency" doesn't really apply. The somewhat similar thermodynamic concept is coefficient of performance (COP):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coefficient_of_performance

So the heat pump operation is similar to physically moving an object from one place to another? Except in this case the "thing being moved" is not an object, but rather it is heat energy?

 

[russ_watters]

Exactly!

[...although actually it does move an "object": the refrigerant. It's just that we don't care about the mechanical work being done to move the refrigerant.]

 

[pallidin]

Turtle, I'm losing something here{not from you}
An electrical space heater is FAR MORE EFFECTIVE than a reverse air-conditoner.