A smart and inexpensive way to improve air conditioner performance

The idea has long been circulating in the internet communities of motorists that by wrapping the pipes from the compressor and condenser to the evaporator with a layer of thermal insulation, you can significantly improve the cooling of the passenger compartment. The declared effect is an addition to “minus 3-4 ° C”, which is a lot.

It is believed that the air conditioner begins to better cool the interior of the car. It’s just strange that the car manufacturers themselves haven’t thought of this before.

Expert opinion

Alexey Revinexpert “Behind the wheel”:

– Anyone who watched the installation of a home air conditioner saw that the craftsmen carefully insulated the pipes connecting the outdoor and indoor units of the split system. Why are they doing this?

Since the distance between the units can be up to 15 meters, cold pipes that come into contact with the air in the room will be covered with condensation droplets. Moisture begins to collect in streams and flood the room. Therefore, the thermal insulation of the copper pipes of the house system is mandatory.

The situation is different in a car. The length of the pipes from the compressor and condenser to the evaporator is usually not more than 1.5 m. The pipes are made of aluminum, which is a protector against the steel body. That is, during electrochemical corrosion in a humid environment, aluminum will be destroyed, protecting the body material. That is why the tubes are mounted in plastic holders at a distance from the body parts. And due to good ventilation, these pipes always remain dry.

By wrapping them with a layer of thermal insulation, it will not work to improve the cooling of the cabin. Moreover, it is even harmful.

There are several reasons. First, aluminum pipes can begin to corrode in the thermal insulation layer, right down to through-holes. Secondly, wrapping with thermal insulation is quite difficult and inconvenient – you can not open them! And thirdly, due to the small length of the tubes, the effect will not be significant.

Condensation will accumulate under the insulation, which can not dry, and the aluminum pipe will oxidize

On expensive cars you can sometimes see thermal insulation on the air conditioning pipes, but there is a completely different production technology, which excludes the formation of condensate on aluminum.

Our verdict

Insulating the pipes does not yield much, but can cause corrosion. To improve the efficiency of the system, it is better to clean the condenser of the air conditioner from time to time. The better it cools the compressed freon, the more successfully the system works.