air cond.vs heat pump

[Gregory Hayes]

"for calif." Does anyone know a quick way of telling air cond. and heat pumps apart? Please keep in mind I'am new at this.

[Blaine Wiley]

Look for an accumulator and a reversing valve in the unit near the compressor.

[Gregory Hayes]

OK, got it blaine. Thank you so much!

[Gregory Hayes]

thanks Blaine!

[ROBERT W. NEWLAND, JR.]

Take a quick look at the thermostat inside and if you see an "emergeny heat" switch... that's a heat pump.

[Blaine Wiley]

Originally Posted by rnewland

Take a quick look at the thermostat inside and if you see an "emergeny heat" switch... that's a heat pump.

I have seen too many straight A/C units installed with heat pump thermostats to go by that rule!

[ROBERT W. NEWLAND, JR.]

I was thinking that as I was typing. Yes, it's a tip-off but you do need to look further for sure.

[Bobby Hamilton]

If I'm not mistaken, the AC will have a large and a small pipe, where the heat pump will have the same size pipes. I did find this site with some good diagrams. www.dhclimatecontrol.com/hp.htm

[David A. Andersen]

Turn on the heat and feel the big pipe.

If it's hot, it's a Heat Pump.