Measured Impacts of Air Conditioner Condenser Shading

A study has been conducted by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) to examine if space cooling energy savings can be achieved from shading of residential air conditioning (AC) condenser units. The investigation consisted of before-and-after experiments conducted on three homes over a two year period. A recent EPA study recommends shading of exterior AC condensers, using landscaping or other means, as a method to reduce space cooling energy use (Akbari et al., 1992)