Simple technology and energy efficiency make these products a trend for the future.
Over the past two years I've noted with considerable interest the race between compressor manufacturers to come up with new, inexpensive and reliable dual-capacity compressors. Oh, we've had many types of configurations over the years, such as the compressor with the two-speed motor and another with two compressors in tandem, but they were expensive and reliability was sometimes a problem. So, at last year's Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Exhibition, I was quite interested when I saw what two of these manufacturers were doing.
I'll have to admit that when I saw Copeland Corp.'s dual-capacity scroll, I thought I was looking at the true future of high-efficiency equipment in our industry. The company's idea of putting a valve in the middle of the scroll mechanism to allow the compressor to work at half capacity was simple and inexpensive. However, at this year's show in Atlanta it seemed the concept had been scrapped because the mechanism couldn't achieve a true 50% capacity reduction. But don't count Copeland's scrolls out yet; the company is still working on the concept.