Yes. My hvac guy said not to. So it’s definitely a good idea.

The issue is restricting the airflow around the unit, causing the fan to work harder. But surely you could shade an AC unit in a way that doesn't affect the air flow.

@@jeremyh9033 I think so as well, I also think you could put a "Slat" roof on as well, that would allow unrestricted airflow from the fan and give it shade!

@@America-First2024 lol.... 🤣

@@jeremyh9033 There's plenty of air flow. It's not like the board was directly up against the unit

It does look like a very gimmicky and temporary solution to a bigger problem. With my water, those nozzles would be plugged within 1 day if I didn't provide it with an aggressive pre-filtration system... Not too mention any water sediment buildup on the coil will become an issue for dissipating heat from the condenser. Providing a form of shade for a the condenser is the best approach. They are made to work in direct sunlight since many systems are rooftop units on buildings that are in sun all day long, but shade will keep discharge pressures down, which also keeps compressor happier and amperages lower.

Coach, I live in an area (farms) with massive winds on 4 out of 7 days. That cool and save unit wouldn't last a week here. When I went to the site, I lmao at the price. I hope a TEMU knock off specialist comes up with a beefed up unit for 25 bucks, I'll buy a few. I'm sorry yours didn't work out, but I appreciate you telling me what i suspected the minute I saw the unit.Our winds howl at 30 to 50 fairly regularly. so I don't even know if a beefed up unit would do the trick.

​@Jason-wc3fh Sounds like you need a 1 micron whole house water filter with clear housing so you can see to change. I installed one in 1992 and saved $$ bc the refrigerator filters will function for several years and may never need replacing as I've never witnessed any difference in flow or water quality before/after changing them.

I buy the filters by the case and save 50% - only $5/filter and typically change them twice/year. I also installed pre&post filter pressure gages so I know the filter is needing change when static pressure drop is 3 or 4psi.

sad to see this guy shilling this junk to his viewers

@Blakehx using city water increase estimate of $50.00 / monthly that would be water running continuously 24h/ day. If you add shutoff valve and temperature control for temperature over 85 degrees only. These should reduce water use dramatically. I am only suggesting . I do know the addition of water drop current pull 2 Amp

@@1frd1smth1 I am getting near a 5amp cut across both units.

depends. extreme heat waves, location the AC unit was placed with regards to the sun/shade. Also your units inside furnace coils could become partially clogged. Also in high temps your local grid will be under a lot of stress. reducing that saves you money and may prevent a blackout/brownout, this also reduces how hard your AC unit has to work so that's less chance of breakage or wear. really I don't know why its not required to do this very cheap and simple stuff like shade when they all claim to care and energy efficiency and the environment. doing this to large commercial roof mounted AC units etc would save a ton of grid load during peak hours!

@@keith3761 been in the HVAC service industry for 30 years

Bro starting the video with a 13 degree split 💀

@@yinggamer7762 Yeah the split wasn't good to begin with. Should probably make sure everything is clean, charged correctly and airflow set up correctly too. Alot of people don't know how any of this stuff works and will likely use products like this even when it's not that hot because they like there homes freezing cold and in the low 60's to high 50's all the time. Then they will wonder why their coil is frozen or compressor went out. Showing people how to artificially raise the subcooling can cause more problems in the long run if they don't know what they are doing.

@davidherrera2859 I do believe size could have a lot to with problems.. found a lot of ducks leaking and insulation that was removed from behind the unit installed in my house.

The problem with using water to cool down the condenser coil is the buildup of scale (minerals from the evaporating water will cover the coils). The scale will act as an insulator, making it more difficult to reject the heat in the coil. Your system will end up being less efficient and may cause damage to your compressor.

@@theotheleo6830 I don't have hard water and have been doing it for years and my coils look brand new. It depends on where you live if you have lots of salt or other minerals in your water. I never had a problem with scale but I get your point.

You put something on top of it, and then your pressure goes up. That fan is removing the heat from inside the house. If that cover is not like really high up there the hot air will just come back down overheating your compressor. That wood he put on the side of the condenser is also a no no. Air needs to flow that's why the fins are there. The best thing you can do is keep the condenser coil clean. By spraying it weekly. Have the unit where it receives the least amount of sun. If a tree is nearby, that provides some natural shade. Acs cool at 18-22 degrees. There is a txv valve that regulates the cooling to prevent freezing and proper operation. Hvac tech here trust me.

@@simonbelmont548 Oh believe me it's high enough. There's no way I would put something directly on top of something blowing air. I know more about A/C units than you think.

@kellyspann9845 According to the manufacturer, if you block airflow, you can damage the unit and also void the warranty

Fair and accurate

Or the cost of water… or… the ineffective evaporation in high humidity environments… or the headache of plugged nozzles… or the wasted water from failing shutoff wind flapper valve actuator… or the cost of scale damage to the coils. Don’t need a calculator - even - to immediately know this is just a REALLY BAD IDEA in practice.

@@MEMcAndrews Yep.....but I suppose you could mitigate the water cost by capturing rain/gutter water and using some sort of solar powered water pump. Maybe use some of that burlap cloth they use to protect evergreens in the winter as your shade material w/pounded down 2x2x8's as your stakes to staple it to. Obviously the AC unit shouldn't be located on the sunny side of the house to start with if that's possible.

I think the way to go with it is to "supplement" an undersized system when it's incredibly hot out

​@@443DMyup. A better design would allow it to come one when the outdoor temlerture is above 90-95°F or if the outdoor coil temp gets above a certain temperature. Obviously, it is meant to be a super easy DIY product, but there is a much better way ro implement the concept than the chinsy flapper. My thought has always been that this is a good idea as an assist on the few hottest days (or even hottest parts of a day really) not so much an efficiency booster.

Obviously, all cooling on a roof does not make it into the house. The roof is the hottest part of a house. One can also spray down siding, bricks, windows and more. This method will not make the house "cool," but it will make it less hot.

On one of our trips to New Orleans, the wife and I took a "Swamp Boat Tour" and the medium sized boat was captained by a guy that grew up out there. Halfway throught the tour we were brought to a little, nearly flat-roofed building that was a restaurant. There were sprinklers running on the roof and water dripping off the edges. I asked the captain what that was all about and he said "Cajun air conditioning!" 🤣

@@freespirit1975 Interesting. Great story! I can totally see where that could work, especially with a large supply of free water that is relatively cool.

Get yourself an attic fan, Or those whirlybirds if you don’t mind holes in your roof, they help a ton. Air flow is key to get the heat out. Also, another good reason to point out the engineering errors of the HVAC world and running ductwork or putting units in the attc is a big no no ! As well as the ductwork never being properly sealed, should never be ran through an attic either.

I remember seeing on t.v. What they called “Submarine Houses.” They were in the California desert between maybe Riverside and the Colorado River. I didn’t see the whole program but the houses were sunken down in the earth. Not buried, just like set down in a hole, down to roof level. Then they used some kind of drip or spray setup to circulate the water around the outside. I’m afraid I missed the most important part, but people seemed to like it. Dunno why they disappeared though, just that there were only a few left around. The narrator was Huell Howser. Just FYI…

From looking at comments and yours I agree, waste of money. You wouldn't ever notice a difference on the inside temperature because your thermostat is set to your preference. I think the idea is the house would cool a bit faster since there is a lower temperature coming out of the vents. Then the AC doesn't run as much and therefore lower your electric bill. Now, if you're talking about temperature coming out of the vent made no change and was the same. The product is even more of a waste of money.

@@HerrMal Your comment actually does make sense, I guess my point was that I didn't really notice any change in climate "behavior". When you live in a house as long as I have you tend to notice its "personality" if you will. For me nothing seemed to change except the puddle of water outside by the AC unit.

It's a poor design for sure. I can think of numerous DIY options that would be more reliable.

you could hook up a solenoid to accomplish the same thing and hook that up to the fans relay, but that would require mild electrical skill most people dont have. Also If you KNEW what the problem was why did you not solve it by slightly increasing the weight of the FLAP????!!!

You should turn the water off in the evening since the AC won't be running all the time at night

semper fi carry on

But I wonder if your radiant barrier is now "baking" your tar based shingles/drying them out and causing another headache.......

Who puts a condenser unit inside the house? You want the heat moved out the house not inside. You are right about the minerals being deposited on the unit. I would love to see where they put condenser units inside the house. Maybe somewhere where it's extremely cold.

@@Moseeplo @NackDSP was not recommending to put the condenser unit inside the house. When he said "N side" he meant the "North side" of the house, not the "Inside" of the house. He was suggesting the north side has more shade. Thanks.

@@brucebillst Gotcha, Thx.

Very good info. I'll try the radiant barrier maybe this year or next. We have lots of tree shade, but one side is exposed.

Can you share your design?

Maybe he will when it's for sale! It would be interesting to use rain water collected but that may not last long if there is a heat wave.

I use patio umbrella to shade my 15 year old trane in hot days not sure it helps but trying to squeeze a few more years out of the unit. I do have a mini split for lanai. It may take some of the load off the main central unit.

Have you ever thought about it? we extend the eves of our roof out past the house so the rain water will not damage the house, such as the foundation or building. And now we have ac units. 1) The very best spot for ac units is on the shaded side of the property near the building . 2) gutters are most likely close bye. 3) Place a storm water collection tank near the eve close to ac unit, allowing gravity feed of rain water directly to the unit to cool the ac units. Filter water going into tank 4) Electric valve to control water out put..thermostat and ac operation would control the valve. Please understand water cooler units. Not ac units were used in some SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA homes in 1970's I personally know this because I installed catv at this time. The use of the water cooling units was stopped not because they didn't work well at less cost, but lack of fresh water. That is how I decided water would be excellent to cool my ac unit . I live in York, PA now. We normally do NOT have a shortage of rain water.. Copper works the best for supply pipe..

@@erojohn2 see below

Rheem needed it back in 57 but todays compressors are mainly scroll and not piston like the old days, and work perfectly fine under even the extremist conditions. If shading or misting worked, and it does not, you would see it on rooftop units in cities in the south-west where temps are consistently over 100 degrees and no cloud cover, and you do not see any units using that strategy to save power or increase cooling. AC just does not work that way.

Which flapper did you use, would you please share a link or pic?

Pilotrserra: where did you get a flapper? or?

@@57jnvc use their flapper but go to plumbing supply and purchase a metal rocker valve. Plumbing supply counter will help you find correct valve to fit flapper. You may need to attach small manifold to valve for the lines. Attach rocker valve to their flapper with cotter pin. I then mounted valve and flapper to small piece on stainless steel with 4 holes to zip tie to top of AC. It does not move and valve is 200% better than the junk they sell. I only used their flapper but I’m trying to find a replacement. Their flapper works good because light weight

I agree with you and almost wrote the exact same reply. The only thing is shading has no effect on system performance. This guy is a nice guy but he is not a schooled HVAC mechanic, and I've seen him make beginner mistake after mistake watching his videos. Like many others on KZfaq, it's about selling a product for the "small" commission they get on each sale and they don't have the expertise or experience to really know what they're talking about. Recently one tuber showed how to apply Triazicide, said he doesn't measure quantity but just "goes" with the spreader setting. Well he went with 10 lbs of product when to properly apply it he needed 130 lbs of product. But guess what? He didn't forget the link to buy Triazicide on his video!

@@Kevin-mm6xm Makes no sense, The shading would HAVE to have a effect, as if its condenser is cooler it has to work far less hard to condense the refrigerant and would be able to run a shorter cycle to reach the same level of indoor cooling. There are a few DIY videos on youtube where people have build their own misters and shown that it results in a drop of about 2.5 amps in draw and saves about 0.5 KwH and about 10$ a month. Internal house temperature would be reached sooner thus reducing total runtime of the condenser/fan/compressor.

@@keith3761 You don't do HVAC work. If you did, you would know that there is a specific subcooling temperature exiting the condenser that needs to be set, typically 8 to 12 degrees, depending on the manufacturer. This is the temperature of the liquid R410a going to your indoor coil. Changing the outdoor temperature doesn't change the subcooling of the refrigerant. High side pressures do increase as outdoor temps get higher, but your subcooling stays the same. You set subcooling by adding or subtracting refrigerant according to system pressure and coolant temperature. This is why it's total BS about misters or shade. Look online at commercial rooftop units and you will see zero shading, especially in Las Vegas and eastern California where the outdoor temps hit 110 degrees. It's a nice idea, but shading does nothing to your AC unit.

​@@Kevin-mm6xm what your saying makes no thermodynamic sense. If it's HOTTER on the condenser the refrigerant will have a harder and longer time pushing that heat OUT of it as the coils and into surrounding air will be less willing to take the extra energy. As for saying that X is not done in Las Vegas and California. There are plenty of things that are NOT done that should be. And If you DO install HVAC units what does the manufactures installation manual say? That is right it says to install it on the shadiest part of the house. If what your saying is true and thermoclime did not matter there would no need to clean the condenser and keep it free of debris because it could push out as much heat as it wanted no matter the resistance! so Yes you should clean your condenser coils! WHY? so that the unit can push out heat into the air! Now what type of air transfers/accepts heat the easiest?! dense air! what air is most dense?! cold air! Your unit will have to run for less time to transfer the same amount of energy to the air thus saving you money by reducing run time. So misting the air and making it dense would make a difference as well as having your unit in the shade thus making it cooler at start up. Now yes once your unit is running and hits its peak temperatures the shade will no longer matter much at all, but on start up your unit will have started much cooler than one directly in the sun.

​@@keith3761dude, you just don't know. The guy you responding to is correct . If you spent 40 plus years like us in the desert heat up to 117 degrees working on hundreds and thousands of units of all types in all situations, in shade out of shade etcetera, you would understand The condenser Works off of airflow and it carries very little if the sun is shining on it or not. In fact if the condenser has a louvered cover over the coil it's not getting any direct sunlight anyway and if it did it would make virtually no difference And the air temperature is the air temperature whether it's in the Sun or the shade do you understand that? The problem is people think about these issues emotionally as a human being. They walk out into the sunlight and summer and they feel the hot heat of the sun shining on their body and then they walk in the shade and they feel cooler. And they think an air conditioner works like that. I had one customer who destroyed his brand new air conditioner who thought like you did and built a shade cover over the top. What ended up happening is the hot are being deflected off of the shade cover back into the coil recirculating making it hotter blowing out which hit the shade cover and got hotter air blowing into the coil which heated it up and blew out and got hotter back into the coil Etc like a vicious cycle. But it sure did look like it was cute and effective and it emotionally seemed like a good idea in like what a good guy he was But his ignorance and emotional thinking, ruined his air conditioner, all the while he was convinced he was using common sense, understanding the physics and doing the right thing As a professional, it gets frustrating and tiresome dealing with people who make confident assertions about things they know little or nothing about, have not tested their theories and recorded the data If they did they would discover that they're wrong

There are a couple reasons this is a "bad idea". 1. It blocks the flow of air leaving the condenser, so that reduces the air going over the condenser coil. This can increase the refrigerant temperature going to the txv, as well as reduce the level of subcooling (i.e more likely to have no subcool at the metering device.) 2. The blockage over the unit tends to reintroduce the outgoing hot air back into the coil. It pushes the air out to the sides and then gets drawn back into the coil. Instead of taking in "fresh cool" air, you get a mix of fresh and recycled hot air. The outcome is the same as #1. Recommendations for surfaces above the fan are generally 4 feet.

I've been making a similar point for years when this product comes into season. It really shouldn't be marketed as an efficiency booster, but as a cooling supplement. Unfortunately the way it is implemented with the chinsy flapper and all it is just not a good product. Now, if the misting could be controlled bassed on outdoor temp, or coil temps/sub cooling, tied to similar controls like the defrost cycle timer on a heat pump it could really be a big help during the few hottest days or hours, say 95°F+ ODT. This would largely mitigate (but not completely prevent) possible issues from mineral buildup and the like as well as reduce filter changes and water use over all. Unfortunately then, the only unique peice of this product that is not an off the shelf part (the flapper) is completely unnecessary and it becomes a much less accessible DIY product that costs $5 to make and sells for $120.

@@GimpGladly It's funny how polarizing a subject it is in the HVAC ""expert" community, with most saying there's absolutely no benefit and all risk. A 30% improvement in efficiency/capacity to _supplement_ your system in extreme weather is nothing to sneeze at. Yeah, the price is a bit shocking given other misting options, and the the niche is people desperately trying to squeeze more life/capacity out of an old or undersized unit. I just went outside and turned mine on and off, since we only have maybe 20 days out of the year which are over 90f. The doors to homemade tech have been thrown wide open in the last few years, maybe someone will come along with an accessible DIY project as you've described. I can't imagine the circuitry costing much more than $10, plus a solenoid, nozzles, filter, line. Nothing on SourceForge yet.

That's why you see evap misters installed on outdoor restaurants out west. I live in Florida (plenty of humidity) but for only $100 I still went with the CoolnSave so it may take a bit longer to payoff, but it does drop the temp a bit.

These things are a terrible idea in vegas. Lowe's used to sell them and I was about to warn them they need to pull it because it will ruin air conditioners, when they suddenly disappeared on their own The problem is the water is so hard here did the calcium deposits will build up on your condenser coil and completely ruin it. I saw one that had so much mineral deposits on it it was blocked You can see the same thing happening to swamp coolers here when they are not set up properly by people who don't know what they're doing but think that they do

@@7x779 Thats a water quality problem. Have the proper water softener and you wont have to deal with that.

Example. R22 takes away 70 BTU per pound of liquid turning to vapor. Spraying water on the condenser won't change that. Plus you'll lower the head pressure too much, liquid pressure is related to head pressure which means the evaporator will be getting less refrigerant, which actually lowers the BTU capacity of the system. I tried that in 1978. Then I learned how AC systems work. Bad advice

@@Bryan-Hensley If I understand correctly, I conclude Nothing helps

@@mybrotherkeeper1484 the refrigerant is in a delicate balance. It's designed to work within a certain head pressure. If it was designed to work with condenser water cooling, it could save a little bit of energy. Aka ground loop systems.

@@Bryan-Hensley 36 year HVAC vet and I couldn't agree more. Also it effects R410-A even more than R-22, and who knows what it will do to R454-B. But snake oil and snake oil salesmen will always be around.

That’s for sure! 😂

Maybe a vid on how to trick the manufacturer into warrantying a coil damaged by snake oil?

You don't get it clean again but hey who cares just make the video. Anybody I've ever seen that actually gets these to work a season or more coils are toast. Maybe just maybe in a extreme low humidity area these might be ok but certainly not where I live

Inline water filter

When putting a canopy over the condensing unit, make sure you don't restrict the airflow which would be counterproductive.

@@andreloudon8934 Oh yes. I understand. This I can stand under. Height is adjustable. It's meant to be taken to the beach or on a picnic for shade. Sells on Amazon. Folds up for non-summer.

Agreed, I thought the industry had learned the lesson a long time ago that misters will in most cases cause mineral build up on the condenser coil. A sediment filter will do little to prevent this.

I disagree, he just proved otherwise. My A/C units are 13 years old and we get toms of summer rain and brutal winters. The fins are holding up perfectly well. Nowhow much longer will the units last??? I have a feeling we're near the end of life on both of them. LOL

I'm with you. Introducing more moisture into a system like that seems like bad juju. I was thinking that a small swamp cooler could be used to blow air at the a/c coils, but the extra energy/upkeep most certainly wouldn't be worth it.

@@TheRange7 believe me man, I've tried the same system with my old unit. After few weeks, scaling and erosion built up on most of the fins area, and the performance is worse. Now the design of the system is sound and physically feasible. But I am telling you right now that the source of water is important here, tap water is no where like rain water. Also, keep in mind that this system works in dry heat, not where the humidity is already high.

@@noblekitty bro, our tap water here is disgusting. Rain water has a fair amount of pollution and acid in it at times. Either way, I don't know enough about the science to debate it from a level of great knowledge, so I bow out. Enjoy the weekend my friend

@@TheRange7rain water isn’t exactly clean, but it’s not full of dissolved minerals that will build up and reduce the efficiency of your AC coils over time like most tap water will.

what happens when it rains and it's hot?

@@443DM I'm not sure... I am in California so that never happens.

That's what I would worry about: corrosion of the coils. I wonder what Goodman says about warranty coverage, when one of those mister / swamp cooler gadgets is installed?

get you three water hoses and side to side ocelaters and and keep water pressure on all three sides for good red neck misting system.workes for me.

Agreed. The mineral filter better do a great job, otherwise mineral deposits on the coils will make the unit VERY hard to keep clear.

Thanks for this! I will be doing a video on this soon. Best, Dave

Agree. If you spray a little tap water on your car windshield, it leaves water spots. Imagine doing this several times a day and you can never wash your windshield.

Agreed and don't forget it will make things rust faster

Isn’t that what the filter is for?

I was considering using the water coming from the unit inside which should be as clean as distilled water. Collect it and rig up a solar operated pump to spray. Probably wont have enough volume to make a difference, though.

I literally thought that exact same thing tds of that water is 28 and I’m sure none of that is from any sort of minerals. I think this system should be redone with using condensate water and should mist on timer , the lever should simply turn a solenoid on and off. It might be a lot more involved but would be a much better unit for the purpose.

Won’t work relative to the cost and damage.

Yes it decreases the condenser fan motor life. Do not forget the water bill. The trade off is not the best. I installed my new unit in the back of the house which is out of the Evening Sun. Shade plays a big part in the efficiency of an AC unit. Big part I do not see is getting a yearly cleaning of the condenser unit. Condenser coils should be cleaned yearly.

I was just thinking the same thing even though the coil copper is surrounded by aluminum it would speed up the corrosion process and also rust the housing.

yes the hard water will corrode the coil and add hard water deposits on your coil , you need to have the coil cleaned every season, the efficiency of this type of sys also depends on the humidity in the air, humidity above 20% is pointless, as this type of sys works off of evaporation,also the temperature in the house has an effect on the temperature coming out of the vents, the supply air is always going to be around a 20 to 25 degree split, so as the temp in the house drops the air supply coming out of the vents also drops......

Yes, I agree. More corrosion than rust. Also, is water free where you guys live?

@@unintentionalprovocateur2158 Maryland

🐕🏠

That underwire is a real bitch it gets caught up in the fan every time!

Of course it would. So, clean it regularly.

that's what windowshakers do: they have a drip tray and the condenser fan will hit the water and splash the coils. When it's really humid, the drip tray ends up overflowing and raining down on everything/everyone below.

Don’t do it. Read more comments before you waste a lot of money and risk damaging your system.