Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by RayCJ
If there is adequate airflow over the condenser, humid outside air or rainy conditions can improve efficiency.
Rain can cool a hot condensor and improve efficiency.
Please explain how humid outside air can improve condensor efficiency, especially given the facts I stated above.
And for simplicity, let's assume the A/C is running in a normal mode with sufficient airflow inside and out, and the only variable is humidity.
First: Hmmmm... 1 sentence from my explanation is expounded upon without the support of the sentences around it; then, a pointed question is asked with multiple caveats, conditions and exceptions designed to regulate the answer. In short, I provided a general answer; 1 sentence was picked-out and that 1 sentence is then expected to unlock the mysteries of the universe. Hmmmm....
So, all things being fair, lets NOT for simplicity, assume the A/C is running in a normal mode with sufficient airflow inside and out, and the only variable is humidity. Let's instead look at a general case of a hot fluid running through some pipes and also assume that moist air is traversing across the outside of those pipes. At this stage, we know nothing about the relative temperatures of the elements in question. We know however that in some circumstances, moisture from the air will be near (and/or make contact with) the external surface of the pipes and that moisture might evaporate. -And I say "Might" evaporate because I've said nothing about the relative temperatures involved. In the cases when the conditions cause the moisture to evaporate, an endothermic process takes place; meaning, it takes energy from somewhere (the hot pipes) to bump the energy in the external moisture to the evaporation point. (Believe it or not, the moisture does not even need to make direct contact with the surface of the external pipes for the evaporation to happen). In this example, if there were no moisture involved, there would be no endothermic reaction and the pipes would not lose as much heat.
THIS (without caveats) is how humidity can improve the condenser efficiency.