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Heat Pumps and moisture

Yahoo Message Number: 567
Do heat pumps remove moisture from the air like the air conditioners? We're contemplating getting rid of our Sears dehumidifier to save space but will keep it if there is no other way to remove moisture from a closed coach.

Re: Heat Pumps and moisture

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 570
Yes, but not to any air that is useful to you. The heat pump is an air conditioner operating backwards in that it attempts to chill the great outdoors and transfer the heat gained into your coach. So moisture is "wrung out" of the outside air but this never was and never will be inside your coach.

So an air conditioner has the compressor outside and heats ambient outside air that is blown through it while the evaporator is inside and cools the internal air which is blown through it. Cooling the air like this creates condensation at the evaporator (like a cold drink on a summer day) and this water is collected and allowed to drip outside of the coach (newer coaches are now draining this water down concealed pipes in the walls which should eliminate those annoying run marks down the outside walls).
When the same equipment is run in "heat pump" mode the roles are simply reversed - the compressor is cooled by the interior coach air (thus heating it) and the evaporator draws heat out of the outside air and it is here that moisture may be condensed.

To an extent however, the whole question is somewhat moot. Heating an enclosure (running your heat pump) always reduces the relative humidity of the air in that enclosure and, rather than a need for dehumidification the need quickly arises (especially in northern latitudes) to humidify the air in the enclosure.

Peter

Britanniainc.com

Phone: 1-800-274-5245
Fax: 1-219-483-3653