Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Jan 26, 2010 10:18 pm dear all, we have a split sytem unit that was installed a few years ago. we had a techie drop by as we were not usre if it was working up to scratch. Checked gas and evap unit inside etc etc. he advised that the condensor assy was located in a very poor locating being exposed to direct sunlight all day. we were informed these need to be installed in a shaded area. can anyone offer advise as how i could insulated the condensor unit, keeping in mid it requres air flow. I was thinking of making a steel frame clad in aluminium sheeting with some sort of foil covered batts inside to surround it with a sloping roof much the same. your thoughts? Re: advise on insulating outside condensor unit for split system 3Jan 28, 2010 11:16 pm I've been wondering about this exact problem as the only suitable R/C outdoor unit locations for our new house is on the roof. Looking around I've noticed plenty of these units on roofs (many on commercial buildings) that sit in the sun all day with no protection. If necessary I was hoping a low structure of angled fixed slats would keep the sun off our units but still let enough air through for cooling. If your unit is located at ground level is it getting enough air movement past the unit to allow for sufficient cooling? If it's located in a semi enclosed area (I've seen units installed inside almost fully enclosed carports???) the unit will have to work harder because the ambient air temperature in that location gets hotter and hotter. Re: advise on insulating outside condensor unit for split system 4Jan 29, 2010 11:17 am peterjt dear all, we have a split sytem unit that was installed a few years ago. we had a techie drop by as we were not usre if it was working up to scratch. Checked gas and evap unit inside etc etc. he advised that the condensor assy was located in a very poor locating being exposed to direct sunlight all day. we were informed these need to be installed in a shaded area. can anyone offer advise as how i could insulated the condensor unit, keeping in mid it requres air flow. I was thinking of making a steel frame clad in aluminium sheeting with some sort of foil covered batts inside to surround it with a sloping roof much the same. your thoughts? If the sun gets to the coil at the back it will affect the efficiency of the unit... you really want it to be facing N or NW... it doesn't need to be in the shade - look at the number of CDU's on roofs... does need to have adequate airflow though... Re: advise on insulating outside condensor unit for split system 5Jan 29, 2010 11:39 am IceMan peterjt dear all, we have a split sytem unit that was installed a few years ago. we had a techie drop by as we were not usre if it was working up to scratch. Checked gas and evap unit inside etc etc. he advised that the condensor assy was located in a very poor locating being exposed to direct sunlight all day. we were informed these need to be installed in a shaded area. can anyone offer advise as how i could insulated the condensor unit, keeping in mid it requres air flow. I was thinking of making a steel frame clad in aluminium sheeting with some sort of foil covered batts inside to surround it with a sloping roof much the same. your thoughts? If the sun gets to the coil at the back it will affect the efficiency of the unit... you really want it to be facing N or NW... it doesn't need to be in the shade - look at the number of CDU's on roofs... does need to have adequate airflow though... sorry but if the unit is faceing N or NW would that mean it will get more sun than if it was on the south or east side of the house. or do you mean the front of the unit should be facing north so the coil on the back doesnt have sun on it?? Re: advise on insulating outside condensor unit for split system 7Feb 02, 2010 9:20 pm thanks for the imput one and all. our unit is actually mounted at ground level with the coil(condenser)facing away from direct sunlight. it is positioned in a NW location and has direct sunlight all day! we had the AC unit checked as i mentioned and the biggest concern was the fact it would be soaking up heat all day because of its position. I will make a smll metal frame of 25mm SHS steel with a louvered top upon it, my concern is the type of insulated panels to be used. your thoughts ? Re: advise on insulating outside condensor unit for split system 8Feb 02, 2010 10:25 pm peterjt thanks for the imput one and all. our unit is actually mounted at ground level with the coil(condenser)facing away from direct sunlight. it is positioned in a NW location and has direct sunlight all day! we had the AC unit checked as i mentioned and the biggest concern was the fact it would be soaking up heat all day because of its position. I will make a smll metal frame of 25mm SHS steel with a louvered top upon it, my concern is the type of insulated panels to be used. your thoughts ? You certainly don't want to insulate the outside unit by building a box around it unless it is very well ventilated. In cooling mode the system is drawing heat from inside the house and expelling it outside. If you start restricting the airflow around/though the unit it isn't going to be able to clear this heat fast enough and will probably fail. Again, a lot of split systems are installed on roofs and walls where they sit in the sun all day and still operate very well. I would try shading the unit temporarily making sure it still has sufficient airflow around/through and see how it goes before building anything more permanent. Re: advise on insulating outside condensor unit for split system 9Feb 03, 2010 4:57 pm I can't find the link at the moment but I've seen a product that was just what you described but I don't think it's main objective was for shade, rather for looks. Was pretty much a steel framed box with merbau slats on the sides and top, like a decking with about a 1 inch gap between the slats so it wouldn't impair air flow. Move your linen into laundry and access laundry from your present linen space 1 8007 I had an old shower unit that broke on me and when I took it off, there were only 2 water pipes, instead of the normal 2 water pipes and a shower head pipe. 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