Air Deflectors
How can Air Deflectors help save you money and improve your Air Conditioners performance?
Air Deflectors can help overcome issues with poor unit performance. If you outdoor unit is installed in a poor location, such as near a fence or close to another air conditioning unit, the unit performance can be greatly reduced.
Air conditioning unit too close to a fence
If your air conditioning unit is installed close to a fence, the air from the outdoor unit will hit the fence and then bounce back towards the air conditioning outdoor unit. This will then be sucked back into the unit and cause the unit to overheat in Summer and Freeze in Winter. The air needs to leave the unit and then allow fresh air to enter the back of the outdoor unit. If the fence is too close the fresh air is displaced by the hot or cold air from the unit, causing air re circulation. The unit performance can drop by up to 50% due to the unit being installed too close to a fence, especially with new inverter units which will ramp down (drop performance) without faulting.
A deflector can be utilised to blow air upwards away from the fence. This allow the air to escape away from the unit and not hit the fence and recirculate behind the unit. Square deflectors can also be installed to blow sideways which can help in certain situations, such as when the outdoor unit is installed close to the eve of your home. The air is better to be deflected sideways rather than upwards where the air can deflect off the eve's.
Air conditioning outdoor unit installed too close to another air conditioning unit
Another common outdoor airflow problem is when two air conditioning units are installed facing one another or one air conditioning outdoor unit blowing into the back of another air conditioning outdoor unit. This causes airflow re-circulation issues similar to the fence situation. With one air conditioner blowing how or cold air directly into the other air conditioning outdoor unit, this causes the unit to overheat in Summer and Freeze in Winter. If two air conditioning units are facing each other the air blowing towards each other is not a huge issue unless the units are offset. Even if the units are only half offset, the air from each unit will be sucked into the back of the other outdoor unit and cause air re-circulation issues. The unit performance can drop by 50% due to air re-circulation, especially with new inverter units which will ramp down (drop performance) without faulting.
An air deflector can be installed the front of both units to deflect the air upwards away from the other unit/s. Ensure a deflector is installed on both units if they are facing each other and offset. If only one deflector is installed, the other unit will see the benefit and not the unit with the deflector.
Outdoor unit installed on a balcony or within your entertaining area
If your air conditioning outdoor unit is installed on a balcony or within your entertaining area, the air expelled from the unit can be affect the use of the space. Hot air in Summer can blow on your outdoor setting and deter use of the area. In Winter the air is cold and makes the space in front of the outdoor unit unusable. If your air conditioning outdoor unit is installed close to the balcony railing or glass facade, the air can recirculate around the unit causing performance issues similar to that of the fence situation explained above.
A deflector can be utilised to blow the air from your air conditioning outdoor unit either sideways or upwards. Generally a sideways blowing deflector is the most useful for an entertaining area to get rid of the air without needing to relocate the outdoor unit. Near a fence or balustrade, an upwards blow deflector will remove the air from the unit and direct it over the fence line, preventing air re-circulation.
