Roof over my heat pump?

[clemsonfor]

It this worth my time? My thoughs is yes it will keep it cooler her in the SC summers and help with condensing in the summer by keeping it in the shade? But is this worth my time for the good of my unit. It is almost 2 yrs old and not been covered to date i have had other projects going. But my real question is, and the reason i have not built one yet is that the distance its out from the house and there is a window over it so i cant built the structure to high or i will see tin roof when you look out of the window; any way back to the question, it exhausts up so how much clearance do i need to leave above the unit to not interfere with air flow through the unit. Structure i build will be lean too type with the house side conected to the house with a ledger board and sloping down away from the house and covered with a tin roof, and if i do it probly will put that blue foam boad over it to keep the sun temps down since it will be such a small area to cover in foam.

Any HVAC guys GC's , Eddie , got any ideas?

 

[winston1]

Hey, I'm interested in this answer!

 

[SuperCobra]

I wanted to put a deck over mine but was told not to because of the upward exhaust and the fact it would cut down airflow but I'd like to hear other opinions.

 

[weldingisfun]

I am definitely no expert on the subject, but you would think that if heat pumps were supposed to have protective roofing, the manufacturers and installers would be putting them on. Don't you think?

 

[MarkV]

Mine is under a deck at our weekend home, with a lot of clearance, and ask the installers about it when we built. They thought it was good because they lose compressors when there are ice storms that freeze up the fan. This is in N. Georgia and just their opinion. I can see where a solid roof without much clearance could be a problem with the exhaust.

MarkV

 

[Mousefield]

We have had our heat pump for 10 years and it sits out in the open, about 3 feet from the house. Fan vents up so if you put a roof on it you need to figure out where is the exhaust air, and water vapor when it de-ices is going to go. If you build a roof then you need to keep the exhaust air from your house so you may also need a wall/vapor barrier. Our concern in the winter is to remember to go out and brush the snow off the top of it. In the winter when ours de-ices there is a lot of water vapor pushed upward out of it.

 

[drg1]

If you get fairly cool weather , no only snow but frost, the unit goes into a defrost cycle ever so often in cold temps. The defrost cycle melts any frozen particles inside the unit the unit , and then it is blown up the top. With a cover over the top you would hamper the capabllilty of the unit to get rid of the cold moisture inside the housing and surrounding area. Also in summer it might restrict the abllilty to get rid of the nasty hot air that keeps us all nice and cool...I live in Mo., and we have a unit here that has been about 12 years old, never seen a roof over it...

 

[Gem99ultra]

I pondered the same question about covering a central a/c unit. Was told by the HVAC guy to keep the cover at least 3' above the fan. Slat top seemed to provide the answer to shade but yet let the hot air out. Definitely increased the efficiency of the unit though.

 

[txdon]

I also just got a heat pump in the fall. It is on the west side of the house with no windows near. To help it in the Summer I was going to put a wood slat wall angled so the afternoon sun does not hit it.

Wroughn-harv did a simular cover (but larger for a patio) in this thread.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/106122-just-little-update-my-pwrl.html

With this type of covering the air flow would be unobstructed and the sun would not summer heat up the heat-pump. I'll make it a wall maybe with a slanted area also so that from 1:00 P. M. on it will be shaded.

I could also remove the slats in the winter so the sun can warm the unit.

Any cons on this Idea? Thanks!

 

[CurlyDave]

My HVAC installers specifically warned me against putting any kind of roof over the unit.

The one big negative I can see is that it might void the warranty. Wait until the warranty is up.