A/C Condenser Unit in Attic?

[Ben Flink]

Well, I havent been given access to the attic yet, and all utilities are turned off at the moment. I found a thermostat inside the residence, but no sign of an A/C condenser outside. Only thing I saw was a weird metal hood on the exterior coming from the attic and what looks to be cooling fins. I havent seen this setup before...any thoughts would be appreciated! House is located in Southeast Florida, and built in 1963. No other history has been given or known at this point and the owner has recently passed away and was the original owner of the property since new.33489

[Jerry Peck]

Duplicate post - duplicate posts should be avoided.

All responses need to be to the same post - see my response to your post under attic.

[Alton Darty]

It is possible, I have seen a couple of systems that had the compressor mounted in the attic. Not exactly an ideal location, and I would think any manufacturer would have issues with that location...

Any geothermal heat pump setups that you know of in the area? On the geothermal there is no compressor outdoors, the ground loop or piping acts as a heat exchanger and there is often just a pump located near the air handler to recirculate the liquid through the system.33490

[Ben Flink]

Interesting. Couldn't say for sure if other geothermal setups are in the area. Home is a one owner residence, build in 63'. Were geothermal setups commonly used back then?




It is possible, I have seen a couple of systems that had the compressor mounted in the attic. Not exactly an ideal location, and I would think any manufacturer would have issues with that location...

Any geothermal heat pump setups that you know of in the area? On the geothermal there is no compressor outdoors, the ground loop or piping acts as a heat exchanger and there is often just a pump located near the air handler to recirculate the liquid through the system.33490

[Alton Darty]

Probably not, but there are or were some oddball setups here & there. In my area at around that time frame ARK-LA was producing gas fired AC compressors. I remember seeing a lot of those when I was younger, have only seen two still operational since about 1980 or so...

[Rod Butler]

Homeowner: "I don't want that ugly condensing unit in my garden. It's loud and takes up space."

Contractor: "I've got an idea . . ." :)

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Duplicate post - duplicate posts should be avoided.

All responses need to be to the same post - see my response to your post under attic.

Agree mostly Jerry. But for me I would have never seen this post in "attic". I log on and head straight to plumbing and HVAC.

[Dirk Jeanis]

Interesting. Couldn't say for sure if other geothermal setups are in the area. Home is a one owner residence, build in 63'. Were geothermal setups commonly used back then?

Actually, In Clearwater FL I have seen two geothermal systems that era.We have very mild winters and need AC, if there is a stream or underground river or large bodies of water below it is at constant temperatures. This means that pumping water up and then returning it is all that is necessary. I am unsure of how efficient they are (realtively) due to technology now. One only has to circulate the water and exchange heat and deliver by some means...a pump and a fan with a heat exchanger and drill two wells..one up and one down!

I am unsure if such a system would be legal today as it returns water to the origin..could be a contaminant! As long as the system is not replaced it would be grandfathered anyway.

The ones I have seen were over 200 ft deep wells and into a flowing underground source or actually potable water.