AC Question

[Brett Proctor]

This is for all the HVAC experts out there

From my limited understanding of AC systems, a heat pump reverses the flow of freon and brings heat from the outside to the inside.

With these electric powered DC compressors that are available today for cars, couldn't you reverse the electrical connections on the compressor and that would do the same??

I did a search on the web and they say its possible with a houses HVAC unit. So couldn't you do that with these electric AC kits for cars??
Seems like it would be possible. the home and car systems have the same working concept.

 

[Brett Proctor]

Did a little more research on this and there's stuff on the web dating back to the 1960's of how to convert the AC to a heat pump in RV's

Also in more recent posts there is info on how electric cars are using heat pumps.

So I guess this is very doable.

Tried to find detailed instructions of how to convert over to a heat pump but all I found was basic pictures of the system.
No legends (listings) of what parts are needed either.

Some pictures show the use of a reversing valve to reverse the flow.

This would make for a very compact system since the two are combined into one

 

[farfegnubbin]

From the standpoint of laying things out/making them fit I can see what you’re saying. I do like when things are simple and compact.

From an efficiency standpoint I don’t know how it would fall. Conventional wisdom is that heat pumps in general are often more efficient than other options. On the other hand, on the heating side of things the heat is already “free” from internal combustion engines whereas some additional energy must be used to push the fluids around in a heat pump. Granted, I know none of us care about a few percentage points of efficiency on a kit car. If a heat pump was a smaller, simpler installation it might really be worth it.

On the new car I’m thinking of using conventional “off the shelf” systems from Vintage Air just to stick with a known solution. But that step is quite a while away and could change.

 

[Brett Proctor]

Just throwing out a "what if " idea
I have no idea if it actually can be done and work. My knowledge of these things is very limited. Just seems like it has potential.
Even if it could be done I doubt if anyone will put the effort and time putting a system like this together.
From my experience (Not just this) if it gets to hard or becomes more work than they want to do, most people lose interest and give up.