Outlet at the AC Condenser?

K

KennyMike

Member
Location
CT
Occupation
Electrician
OK, 210.63 (A) Says I need an outlet. The Exception says I do not need the outlet for 1 and 2 family houses and is for "Evaporative Coolers".

Is a condenser considered an Evaporative Cooler or not? If not what is an Evaporative Cooler and where are they used?
I was under the impression that I did not need to install an outlet for AC units at a house because they already have outdoor outlets.

Thank You
KennyMike
 
Existing outlets can be used for an AC condenser but I think there is a maximum distance requirement. You would have to check the code book as mine is not handy at the moment.

Evaporative coolers do not use refrigerant like an ac condenser does. You would only find them in hot climate with low humidity like AZ, CA etc.
They just evaporate water. Some refer to them as swamp coolers.
 
Welcome to the forum.

KennyMike said:
Is a condenser considered an Evaporative Cooler or not? If not what is an Evaporative Cooler and where are they used?
Click to expand...
No, an evaporative cooler draws air through a medium that cools the air through evaporation of water.

KennyMike said:
I was under the impression that I did not need to install an outlet for AC units at a house because they already have outdoor outlets.
Click to expand...
Yes, an existing receptacle may suffice if it meets the distance and barrier requirements.
 
I hardly ever use an extension cord, because outlets are hard to find on the job site. I always use an adapter cord with "alligator clips" to connect to the disconnect for power.
 
Came across this the other day. Would you say this meets code requirement for the HVAC service receptacle? Also would this 20A receptacle and the 240 30A for the HVAC need to have a handle tie in the breaker box?
1744638713374.png
 
Eddie702 said:
Existing outlets can be used for an AC condenser but I think there is a maximum distance requirement. You would have to check the code book as mine is not handy at the moment.

Evaporative coolers do not use refrigerant like an ac condenser does. You would only find them in hot climate with low humidity like AZ, CA etc.
They just evaporate water. Some refer to them as swamp coolers.
Click to expand...
You find them here in NE where humidity does get high. Mostly found on agricultural buildings though.

In AZ and CA it might actually be nice to add a little bit of humidity to the inside of a building at times?
 
Fred B said:
Came across this the other day. Would you say this meets code requirement for the HVAC service receptacle? Also would this 20A receptacle and the 240 30A for the HVAC need to have a handle tie in the breaker box?
View attachment 2576791
Click to expand...
When I put one in 20 years ago, the 240V and 120V were on non-tied breakers.
A label clearly stating the breakers might be appropriate.
 
Fred B said:
Came across this the other day. Would you say this meets code requirement for the HVAC service receptacle? Also would this 20A receptacle and the 240 30A for the HVAC need to have a handle tie in the breaker box?
View attachment 2576791
Click to expand...
No. Nothing wrong with multiple circuits supplying items in an enclosure unless mentioned in some article that applies to specific applications.

Possibly not a bad idea to label it stating there is multiple sources of supply in there, but also not required.
 
Grew up with an evaporative swamp cooler. What we called a water cooler.
We would stick it in the window of the living room and prop it up on concrete blocks each spring, and, it was my job to crawl under the house to connect the 1/4" water line that went to it.
It had a float valve and would hold about 3 inches of water in the bottom of it.
It had a pump that sat in the bottom that would pump the water up to the top and out to the sides, then, the water would trickle down and soak the baffles that were in each side of the unit.
The fan blew across the water soaked baffles to cool the air.
The switch had 3 positions, off, fan, and fan with pump which was hand written on the front.
The pump position for pumping the water from the bottom up to the top (when it actually worked) was reserved for special occasions. :)
The best thing was when no one else was around you could point all the fins on the front of it in your direction to get the full effect.
Nothing like it, but, I have to say, the first time I stayed at my Unlce's house with air conditioning, I didn't want to leave. :)

Jap>
 
At a mfg plant I worked at, the plant manager decided he wanted a swamp cooler, or a version of it. He had the maint. dept run air lines that had mister heads similar to sprinkler heads. Then there was a tank, similar to a toilet tank, that had a float valve. The air forced the water out in a mist. The thought was the mist would evaporate and cool the area. The problem was, the humidity is very high here most of the time. All we got was wet!
It was like when rain showers happen and then the sun comes out right after. It makes it feel hotter than it was before the rain.

Everyone tried to tell the plant mgr it wouldn't work here, but he was very hard headed and insisted that it would work. It only took a year or so to convince him it wasn't working. We had trouble with all kinds of the machinery as the wet environment caused rust. Also, some of the product was damaged.
 
Fred B said:
Came across this the other day. Would you say this meets code requirement for the HVAC service receptacle? Also would this 20A receptacle and the 240 30A for the HVAC need to have a handle tie in the breaker box?
View attachment 2576791
Click to expand...
Second question: If the MOCP for the HVAC unit is 15 or 20A, could you run a 14/3 or 12/3 cable and use it for both the HVAC unit and the service receptacle?
 
winnie said:
Second question: If the MOCP for the HVAC unit is 15 or 20A, could you run a 14/3 or 12/3 cable and use it for both the HVAC unit and the service receptacle?
Click to expand...
No, unless you want to run it as a feeder. You need one 240v circuit and one 120v circuit.
 
Little Bill said:
At a mfg plant I worked at, the plant manager decided he wanted a swamp cooler, or a version of it. He had the maint. dept run air lines that had mister heads similar to sprinkler heads. Then there was a tank, similar to a toilet tank, that had a float valve. The air forced the water out in a mist. The thought was the mist would evaporate and cool the area. The problem was, the humidity is very high here most of the time. All we got was wet!
It was like when rain showers happen and then the sun comes out right after. It makes it feel hotter than it was before the rain.

Everyone tried to tell the plant mgr it wouldn't work here, but he was very hard headed and insisted that it would work. It only took a year or so to convince him it wasn't working. We had trouble with all kinds of the machinery as the wet environment caused rust. Also, some of the product was damaged.
Click to expand...
😄
 
LarryFine said:
Welcome to the forum.


No, an evaporative cooler draws air through a medium that cools the air through evaporation of water.


Yes, an existing receptacle may suffice if it meets the distance and barrier requirements.
Click to expand...
Thank You
 
Here's the a diagram showing the comparison between an A/C and an evaporative cooler, for cooling from 35C to 25C, to approximate human comfort humidity.

Evaporative cooling follows up-left diagonals only. Air conditioning follows flat lines while in either pure heating or cooling, and follows the curved saturation line when condensing water during cooling processes.

The A/C has control over both temperature and humidity, by applying cooling and reheating independently. It can start with humid air, or it can start with dry air. Although you may need to add humidity if you start with too dry of air. The evaporative cooler however, while less power-intensive, only has control over the temperature, and has a limit for how much cooling it can produce (wet bulb temperature). It's ineffective to use evaporative cooling on air that starts humid, but it's great for air that starts dry.

1744686618000.png
 
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