Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education

Scientific Research Al-Mustansiriyah University

College of Engineering Mechanical Engineering

Dept .

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Is It Awful if My Evaporator Curls and Condenser Loops Don't Match?

‫ مهند محسن مخيلف‬-: ‫االسم‬

‫ميكانيك عام‬
 Is It Awful if My Evaporator Curls and Condenser Loops Don't Match?

Yes, it’s bad if your evaporator coils are sized bigger or smaller than your condenser coils.
In fact, if the size of your evaporator and condenser coils don’t match, it can result in:

Higher monthly energy costs

Reduced unit lifespan

Decreased comfort

Warranty violations

We’ll take a closer look at how mismatched coils cause these 4 problems. But first, let’s
look at how your evaporator and condenser coils work together to cool your home

How your evaporator & condenser coils work

together
First off, a little geography lesson:
Evaporator coils sit inside your AC’s indoor unit

Condenser coils are located at the outdoor unit

Manufacturers purposely design both sets of coils to work in tandem to remove heat and
moisture from your home.
How it works:
1. Your evaporator coils absorb heat from the air inside your home
2. The heat travels along refrigerant lines until it reaches the condenser coils
3. The condenser coils dump the heat into the outdoor air
In an ideal AC unit, the two sets of coils are designed to match in capacity. In other
words, the evaporator should be sized perfectly to soak up only as much heat as the
condenser coils can dump into the outdoor air during one cooling cycle.
1: Higher monthly energy bills

When your evaporator and condenser coils are mismatched in size, the smaller sized coils
won’t be able to keep up with the capacity of the larger sized coils, which forces the entire
system to run longer. And the longer your system runs, the more energy it eats up.
For example, if your evaporator coils are sized at 3 tons but your condenser coils are sized
at 2 tons, your condenser will struggle to release all the heat it receives from the indoor
unit. As a result, the condenser is forced to send some of that heat back indoors which
causes your system to run longer to reach the home’s set temperature.

2: Reduced lifespan

According to the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, when AC coils are
improperly matched, “the efficiency and longevity of these systems are significantly
compromised”.
You see, mismatched coils put extra stress on your AC system. For example, if one set of
coils is continually working harder to keep up with the other, it will eventually lead to
expensive repairs and possibly early failure.

3: Decreased comfort
If your condenser and evaporator coils don’t match in size, it could lead to higher
temperatures and humidity levels in the home.
For example, an evaporator coil that is smaller than the condenser coils might, in some
cases, provide better dehumidification but it can’t cool the home as well. On the other
hand, an evaporator coil that’s larger than the condenser coils will cool the home well but
will remove little to no moisture from the air.

4: Warranty violations
Most manufacturers specify that if you replace either the evaporator coil or condenser coil,
it must be the same size (and SEER rating). Otherwise, they’ll void any remaining time on
the warranty.
This is because manufacturers specifically design both coils to work synergistically. And if
one is replaced with a different size, manufacturers know that repairs and possible system
failure is inevitable.