Most homeowners consider installing an air conditioning system a significant financial commitment. This is something that you wish to prevent from happening and ensure that your AC unit runs as smoothly as possible. That brings us to the question of how to reduce the temperature around the outside air conditioner’s condenser unit, and a relatively easy method is to cover it.

Shading has the following impacts on your AC. To understand why shading of the exterior can have such a positive impact on your AC, there are some essential things that you need to know.

Improves Efficiency

The benefits of shading your AC condenser are best judged by the efficiency increase it provides.

Here’s why shade helps:

– Reduces Heat Exposure: This process causes the direct sun rays to heat the condenser unit. The more heat it manages to accumulate, the greater the effort the AC has to expend in order to reach the desired temperature in your home. Shade reduces heat, so your AC doesn’t have to work so hard, thus reducing the cost for you.

– Lowers Energy Use: Shade is beneficial because keeping your unit cooler means your unit can work more effectively. That means you can use less electricity to cool your home. This is especially so if you are in the AC season for many months or if you have people living in your house who are sensitive to high temperatures.

– Extends Equipment Life: High temperatures put a lot of stress on AC components such as the compressor and cooling coils. Shade keeps it cool and thus reduces the stress that it undergoes, hence wearing out less often than when it is exposed to heat. Extending the life span of your AC is always good as it means you are getting more years out of it.

Shade Options to Consider

If you decide shade is right for your outdoor AC unit, you have several options to accomplish it:

Trees and Shrubs

One simple, all-natural, and pleasantly aesthetic approach is to plant trees or shrubs around your condenser.

Aim for plants that:

– Grow to a size that it shall cast a shadow over the unit

– Should be shrubs or trees so as to provide a dense cover that can hinder light penetration.

– Will not drop some of its leaves, seeds, or saps on the equipment.

It is best to avoid planting too close to the AC unit and try to have no less than 2 ft of space between plantings and the equipment. This allows proper airflow. It is also essential to ensure that, as time passes, the landscaping items do not hinder airflow to the condenser.

Structures

You can also shade your AC unit with permanent or semi-permanent structures like:

– Patio cover

– Arbor

– Trellis

These should protrude out to the required extent to shade the condenser for most of the day. They appear more aesthetically pleasing than most short-term shade options. Nevertheless, structures that are permanent are often more costly to deploy in the field than their temporary counterparts.

Temporary Shade Solutions 

If you want shade but aren’t ready to invest in permanent landscaping or structures, temporary options like these could work:

– Patio Umbrella

– Freestanding awning

– Bamboo shade screen

Place the shade source as close to the west as possible that it would block the path of AC unit. This reduces exposure to the harshest of climates, which is in the late afternoon. Ensure that it is not located in a place that may hinder airflow from the condenser or place plants directly adjacent to the unit.

Also, consider aesthetics. It could work to cover your AC condenser, for instance, that is as large as a giant beach umbrella. But it may decrease the attractiveness of your home externally.

Is shading worth the cost and the effort to be put in?

For most use and owners of these house, the efficiency return that AC shade have brought about makes it well worthy. It is always cheaper in the long run because any amount spent initially on improving efficiency will lead to maximum savings on energy bills.

And where the need is just to block the sunlight, such as in landscaping, the effort is almost non-existent. There are other benefits besides AC efficiency that are afforded by even a permanent structure such as an arbor install.

Consult your HVAC contractor to determine if shade can be effective in cooling your equipment. Making proper changes to the shades can assist the efficient power usage of an AC unit and also help the unit to last longer. One of the simplest ways to maintain your condenser is to keep it shaded, which can significantly improve the efficiency of your system.