The price of energy has almost doubled since this page was originally written.

There are many things that you can do to your system that will help its performance, some more than others. One of the most important things you can do with your air conditioner or heat pump that will reduce energy consumption is to make sure that you have the right amount of refrigerant in the system and to make sure the refrigerant is metered where in needs to go at the correct rate. If you have a system that has fixed metering i.e. capillary tubes or a fixed orifice then it will never work as well as it will if it has a thermostatic expansion valve. Most new systems will have thermostatic expansion valves on them and they can be added to many older systems with modifications and in many cases giving the system performance that it never had. The following material is somewhat controversial as in many contractors would like me to go away. There are many who would like to make sure that the average homeowner will never work on their own equipment and the industry has gone to great lengths to get the government to regulate the use of refrigerants by the average person. In short blame the last person that you voted for who got elected to office. If you want to learn more about law here is a good fun place to start. I will not discuss the legality of handling refrigerants please take that up with the appropriate authorities if you can figure out who they are. I will simply be telling you how to know if your system needs refrigerant and how to know how much to put in. ut surf!ice it to say that there is a correct amount of refrigerant that should be in your system and adding any more will not make it work any better but will cause damage. On a showing of "Dateline NBC" several years ago they set up # companies in the $ouston Texas area. %fter checking out this Trane system thoroughly they let each company look at it and every one either added & pounds of '&& or said it needed & pounds. by the time they were done this system had over ( pounds )that is what they reported it could be more* of excess refrigerant in addition to what was already in there. I can understand the first charge but after that the head pressure on that system must have been over +,, psi and by the end of the show the system must have been over (,, )the compressor should have gone off on internal relief*. I am guessing that is why they chose to use a Trane or %merican -tandard system. That .ust goes to show how crooked this trade has become. /ust about every one is familiar with a gauge manifold, it is those two gauges that have hoses coming out that everyone who has ever done any refrigeration work has. There are two gauges on that manifold one for low pressure )also known as suction* one for high pressure )also known as head*. y using these gauges you can tell a lot about how your system is working but the gauges will not tell all you need to interpret them as well as monitor other things like the temperature of the refrigerant lines. The -uction pressure is a reflection of how well the evaporator portion is picking up heat )higher* and how well the compressor is removing it )lower*. The $ead pressure is a reflection of how well the condensing coil is getting rid of the heat )lower* and how much load the system is putting on it )higher*. It may sound like a contradiction but high or low pressure is a good thing depending on what is causing it. In general you want the suction pressure to be as high as possible without it being caused by an over charged condition and the head pressure to be as low as possible and still maintain a full liquid line. $igh efficiency units will have higher suction pressure and lower head pressure than an older unit depending on the si0e of the

coil and the airflow. If you get a steady ready of 1,!2,, psi suction then you may have a compressor that is not pumping properly. It will act like a system with an open T34 or a missing metering device. -imply put what makes one unit more efficient than another is bigger coils in relation to the compressor capacity. This is the dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about. ecause if they did talk about it then it wouldn5t be a secret.

6ant a really efficient system add a second compressor that is half the system rating )picture added soon*, %merican -tandard7Trane has one that is a ( ton system with & & ton compressors, or a 8ennox )9opeland* Two -peed or the ristol "Twin -ingle" )T7-* if you can find one. :pdate I have found one and it is installed in a ; ton 'heem system in <ort 6ashington Maryland )should ring some bells*. It is currently working in high mode only while I order the start components. 6hen this system is finished I will write a full report on it. If you want to buy a -ystem using this compressor you can order it in the "=ork -tealth" heat pump or one made by 9arrier and a >round source system made by 6ater <urnace. If you want one of these systems new, you will pay about +!; times what I would charge on a bad day to engineer you a &!stage system or with some fancy electronics? a true variable speed system. 3nough of my rant now back to the sub.ect at hand. Definitions: To be added... <rom all my experience I can tell you that an air conditioning system is correctly charged when the liquid line leaving the condenser is full of liquid refrigerant. %dding more refrigerant will simply waste space in the condenser and reduce efficiency and raise the head pressure. The other issue is how well the refrigerant is being fed into the indoor coil. Most older residential systems use capillary tubes, newer equipment uses a drilled piece of metal called an accurator, piston or orifice, real systems use a thermostatic expansion valve )T34* to regulate refrigerant flow. %s far as I am concerned your system is not working correctly unless it has a thermostatic expansion valve. The difference is that mechanical restriction works only for certain conditions but a T34. will deliver the right amount of refrigerant no matter what the head pressure is and allow a perfect charge )full liquid line without a drop more*. 6ithout this device you will have situations where you have to add excess refrigerant )full liquid line and a filling condenser* to raise the head pressure to push the refrigerant through the coil or the restriction )or a lack there of* lets too much refrigerant through and you have a liquid line that has hot gas mixed in with it and does what is called "flooding" or "slugging" the compressor )a bad situation*. In either case the system is not working correctly and there is no "right" amount of charge that will make it work right. If you have restricted capillaries like we have seen on too many 'heem7'uud units the coil will turn to a block of ice )cooling mode* and the compressor will run very hot no matter how much refrigerant you add to run up

the head pressure. The solution to this is to replace the indoor coil with one that has a T34. and a larger capacity and watch the system work better than when it was new. I have recently added a T347T@4 to two system that made them work better than the day that they were installed. One was a >3 heat pump located in %nnapolis Maryland that is over &, years old. The owners claims that it is colder now )with the T347T@4* than it was when it was installed &, years ago. The other one was a =ork heat pump in <T. 6ashington Maryland )not the one with the ristol Twin -ingle* and the owner claims that it is colder now than it was 2; years ago when it was new. In short adding a thermostatic expansion valve to a system that uses and orifice7piston system can make it work for the first time. I have since had many experiences where simply adding a T347T@4 makes all the difference in the world. If you are having problems with your system performing and you do not have a T347T@4 then add one )if you have an orifice system* before wasting any more time trying to make it work.

Image of 'heem7'uud heat pump indoor coil with thermostatic expansion valve )cooling mode*. % system that doesn5t have one of these inside )cooling* and out )heating* cannot be the best that it can possibly be.

Note: This 3 ton coil had a leak and was replaced in the late 90s. It has since been repaired and donated to a needy family along with a Carrier 5 ton o tdoor coil !no compressor at the time" and a #.5 ton $otore% rotary compressor in a ho se that had a & ton gas air conditioner and all the s rro nding ho ses ha'e & or 5 ton systems( this one cools ) st fine. No wonder the other contractors hate me* 9hanging the indoor coil to one like this can bring new life to an older malfunctioning system and it can work better than a new one that doesn5t have this feature. 6e have found that most cooling problems start with a dirty or undersi0ed indoor coil that you can5t see than the outdoor unit that you can see. My partner >erald had a flattened stack of indoor coils piled to the ceiling of the garage but no replaced outdoor units. In the last + years we have replaced no outdoor units but have a pile of leaking or very dirty indoor coils. 6hat does that tell youA

This image of a heat pump T347T@4 scheme was donated by (B;%=. The only technical change would be the connection on the left should look like the connection on the right and there would usually be a i!flow )heat pump* <ilter Cryer to the left of the sight glass not individual dryers. The suction pressures shown are for cooling mode. $eating mode will be lower. $ead or high pressures will be similar from heating to cooling. One of the methods of charging that I have read about that seems to make sense when explained properly is to add charge as long as the suction line keeps getting colder as soon as it starts to show low super heat )I will explain that later* then there is too much refrigerantD you don5t want to flood the compressor or run the head pressure to high. 6hat I usually do on a system that is not a T347T@4. is to charge until the suction pressure gets above ;;!E, psi then add more until the suction line starts to get cold.

remember more efficient systems will have higher suction pressures )#, psi is not uncommon*. I also watch my head pressure to make sure there isn5t other problems )2F;!&&; is good depending on the condition of the outdoor coil, anything above &;, is cause for concern*. If the pressure is above +,, then there is definitely something wrong like a very dirty coil or the system is simply overcharged. The compressor )hermetics GpistonH not scrolls or rotary* will have a ball of sweat around where the suction line enters, what Mr. <orest >rauel calls a "happy compressor". If the compressor becomes a ball of sweat then the system is feeding too much refrigerant into the indoor coil. If it is dry then there is a restriction )suction pressure will usually be lowD below ;, psi cooling mode and ice will start to grow*.

Image of a sporlan sight glass connected to a filter dryer after a liquid line solenoid valve. 6hen the sight glass is clear like this the system is fully charged. %dding any additional refrigerant will .ust back up into the condensing coil )outdoor in cooling mode, indoor in heating mode* If the suction pressure is still low and the refrigerant is not feeding properly then you have a problem with the metering devices. %dding this device is the easiest way to diagnose a problem system. If your system has the refrigerant out for any reasonD add one of these before charging. =ou will thank yourself 2,, times over.

Ilease also -ee the page on icing. 6hich is closely relatedJJJ What is "Super heat"? =ou will hear and see this term all the time in reference to refrigeration. -imply put it is the difference between the temperature of a vapor line in relation to the temperature scale on a pressure gauge for a particular refrigerant or how much liquid is feeding the evaporator in relation to how fast it is being boiled off. for example )'&&* if the suction gauge reads F, psig then the evaporating temperature is (2 degrees but if the tubing is ;2 degrees then you have 2, degrees of -uperheat. % typical range for residential air conditioning is #!2# degrees with some error based on extreme conditions. Once you understand -uperheat you can diagnose obvious problems. <or example a system that is under charged or has a stuck )closed* metering device will have high super heat )over &, degrees* at the compressor and a system that is grossly overcharged or has a dirty indoor coil will have very low -uperheat about +!F degrees with low suction pressure and the suction line will be very cold. It is ok and quite normal for the -uperheat to change dynamically while the system is running, you will have to interpret what you are seeing. What is "Sub cooling"? -ub!cooling is similar to -uperheat but happens in the condensing portion. 'efrigerant when condensing will happen at a particular temperature which is very close to the temperature scale corresponding to head pressure for a given refrigerant. %fter the refrigerant is condensed it will try to assume ambient temperature but will never reach it. The difference between liquid line temperature and condensing saturation temperature is -ub!cooling and is a very good indication of "refrigerant level", but only when proper -uperheat is indicated or you could have a misleading indication. Typically &, degrees of -ub!cooling is desirable and the closer the liquid line temperature is to ambient the better )indicating an efficient system*. 9hecking -ubcooling in the heat mode of a heat pump has to be done carefully because you have influence of the space between the indoor coil and the point of measurement. <or best heating you will want most of the refrigerant to be condensing in indoor coil without backing it up with refrigerant. %s a general rule -ubcooling K 'efrigerant charge quantity, -uperheat K 'efrigerant cycle performance. 9heck bothJJJ The following conditions are for '&& in the cooling mode and relate to indoor coil problems which contrary to human nature we find to be #,L of the reason for poor cooling. $uman nature says that the Thermostat is "where is all comes from" and if you can .ust get a new enough outdoor unit with the right brand name everything will be ok, .-J I will have to make a chart for outdoor coil problems. The goal for outside is to get a full liquid line and the head pressure as low as possible. On a newer unit 21,!&&; I-I of head is normal, on some older units )&;M years* +,, I-I of head on a 1, degree day is not out of the question and be normal. %nything higher wash the coil and consider the unit may be overcharged. N6arning? There are situations where due to the conditions of you system you may have lower than normal suction pressure and7or higher than normal head

pressure. :sually lower than normal suction pressure due to low airflow )either intentional or due to restrictions* and any attempts to raise the suction pressure by overcharging will cause damage by flooding the compressor. The trick is to determine if this pressure is normal for this system, which is usually caused by airflow problems. <or example some systems ;,!;; I-I )+,!+; degree evaporating temperature* is normal. The secret to being a good mechanic it to determine if this is a normal pressure and leave it alone. -ee-uperheat above.

Oormal -uperheat Oormal suction pressure

-uction pressurePE;!1, psi ;!2; degrees superheat. depending on si0e of indoor coil, air flow and condition.N Iressure will track indoor conditions.

$ead pressureP21,!&;, on newer units, +,, not out of the question on an older unit on a 1,M degree day. N Iressure will be a function of outdoor temperature.

<ull liquid line, sight glass will be clear, compressor will draw near rated current )O343' charge by current draw*.

8ow super heat Cirty indoor coil, no low suction or poor air flow. pressure

9oil will ice up quickly. One ,!; degrees superheat suction of the most common pressure +;!(, psi -uction problemsJ line will free0e out to to the compressor. 9ompressor will be ruined because of oil dilution. 8ow super heat Over feeding If overfeeding head E;!#, psi ;!2, degrees higher than refrigerant or pressure will be slightly superheat. normal suction overcharged lower than normal if pressure overcharged head pressure can be sky high. $igh superheat 'efrigerant not 9ould be slightly (,!E, psi suction. &,!+, lower than feeding properly. undercharged or a problem degrees superheat. normal suction 9ompressor is being with the metering device. If pressure. destroyed by overcharged head pressure overheating. can be sky high. $igh superheat 'efrigerant not 9ould be almost out of &,!(, psi very low suction feeding at all refrigerant. compressor will 9ompressor will get very hot pressure. overheat and be destroyed. and shut off on internal protection.

8ow super heat, high suction pressure. 8ower than normal head pressure.

9ompressor is not pumping 'eplace compressor. properly. Or possibly metering 9heck for open device is missing or stuck open. metering device or % heat pump check valve )indoor blown check valve. coil* is blown.

9ompressor will be flooded. #,!2,, psi. Iressures will equali0e almost instantly

I 6ork very long days and sometimes I end up working on this stuff at + or ( am after having been up since 2, am. -o some of the information is incomplete and there are some errors here which I will try to correct when I get a moment to sit down and go through this. -o I will continue this page when I have more time but for now please follow the links below. If there are any volunteers out there who would like to help me write this please knock your self out. In a nut shell don5t over charge your system. <inal words? %s a general rule -ubcooling K 'efrigerant charge quantity, -uperheat K 'efrigerant cycle performance. 9heck bothJJJ