this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2024
318 points (99.1% liked)
Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.
5392 readers
173 users here now
Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.
As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades:
How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:
Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:
Anti-science, inactivism, and unsupported conspiracy theories are not ok here.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Can you convert an existing AC system to do both and save money on getting a whole new system installed?
It's probably not worth it. If you have a system more than 10 years old, then you're probably going to have to replace the accumulator as well if it uses a different kind of refrigerant. It's likely cheaper to buy a whole unit and furnace than messing with it.
What about a new system? Had the AC compressor replaced last year but not the gas fired furnace due to cost lol
You have a furnace that provides heat, air handler that moves the air, and compressor that forces heat in a certain direction (inside to outside in the case of AC) with coils in the air handler to make use of that (re)moved heat.
Heat pumps have several features that make them a bit more than backwards AC, like defrost systems, VFDs and often dual-fuel controls. If it snows where you are, you'll also want it off the ground. So, best to get a new system.
As another said, you might be able to reuse the coolant lines and coils in the air handler. It might not be a bad idea to keep the furnace for backup when it's extra cold.
I believe so but you need a new compressor - the heat exchanger in the house can stay the same I think.