Roof over my heat pump?

[AHNC]

I represent a manuf of HP's in New England. The manuf says to try to locate the condensing unit out of direct summer sunlight. I only need 4" off the wall, but these are side discharge units.

ONe important consideration in areas where it freezes is to elevate the condensing unit. Mine is side wall mounted with angle brackets (www.slim duct.com). This allows me to mow under it, blow leaves without impacting the coil and it clears the condensate in the defrost mode.

Given you have a window above and a top discharge can you place some shrubs to shield the cond. unit? A small section of picket fence with the slats tipped to allow air flow but shield the coil maybe?

 

[clemsonfor]

Yea i was thinking the same as some of you i replace 14 yr old units that were in the same spot uncovered and 99% sit uncovered and given i have a window above them i dont think i could get more than 24" above the top of the unit due to the window above them. I had forgotton about the defrost cycle and the moisture that is discharged yea that would form ice in the cool days on the roof and i would loose the sun heating the unit in the winter and fear that i would be recycling the discharged air off of the roof. I had though about setting up a mister on the unit then saw it offered in a catolouge. Good point on the water deposits.

My unit is a three sided cooling fin model, its a package unit so the coils do not vent all the way around.
Yes im in a freezing area not as much as some and more so this year it seems, january was the coldest january we have had in thiry years i think and this most recent storm left 95% of the state under at least 4" of snow. This was the biggest snow in 9-10+ years and probly looking at the quantity across the state probly the most in a lot longer than that probly more like 20, i remember a good snow back in 89 the winter after hugo, but i wasnt even 10 years old back then.

I think i will use my tin i had set aside for that for another project, hey well house you want a tin roof?

 

[jinman]

My HP unit sits on the east side of my house and away from afternoon sun. However, this last year we built a deck along the 2nd floor of house about 5-1/2' above the HP. I believe we have enough room for airflow to never be a problem and I expect even better performance during the summer. During our last snow of over a foot, it was nice to see the heat pump only got water dripping on it from the deck above as the snow melted.

 

[TrafficCopSmith]

If you do end up covering, please let us know how it worked out.

 

[Matt_Jr]

If the heat pump is running, how would snow accumulate inside? It's been snowing like crazy here and we never get snow inside the unit. On top sure but not inside or above fan.

While clearing the almost 40" of snow here during this last snow, my wife and I took turns digging out our heat pump. When I went out to do it, I noticed it was filled up inside almost halfway. Yikes! It doesn't run all of the time. When the fireplace warms up the house some, the heat pump shuts off.

I decided that the next time I have room outside to work, I'm gonna build a temporary roof for mine. I'll remove it in the summer, but in the winter I'll leave it on.

I think what's most important is making sure you have proper airflow, and limit the use to the heating season. Using any kind of cover during the months when A/C is needed could cause increased pressures in the system leading to seal failures or excessive wear on the system because of the increased pressures caused by the heat. If a roof is used during the winter worse case scenario is increased run time of the heat pump. The defrost cycle will reduce the risk of freezing up, and the roof will reduce the risk of freezing rain and snow accumulation inside the unit. You'll still have to clear the sides, but at least it won't freeze up and cause the fan motor to burn up because of the fan being stuck in place from freezing rain or snow accumulation.