Alright writing this from the top of my head but heat pumps are neat and something I’m hoping to work on one day with the rest of the HVAC systems out there. First an overview on some stuff before I get to the why heat pumps are neat.
Refrigerants people know them as freon sometimes but that’s a brand refrigerants are the stuff in fridges that make it all work. They are categorized by toxicity and flammability and the reason they’re heavily regulated is because of the damage they do to the environment. The main part is the free chlorine that can go on to destroy the ozone layer but after a while that got phased out and now the main concern is their global warming potential. Still despite it all it’s their ability to remove heat from a system.
It starts in the compressor which can vary by type but the refrigerant enters it from the suction line as a cooled vapor (idealy only as vapor since liquid refrigerant can damage the compressor though through the use of crankcase heaters and accumulators this can be prevented). The compressor does it’s part and compress the low pressure vapor into a high pressure high temperature vapor and leaves out through the discharge line. Out it goes through the discharge line at an ideal higher tempature (not exceeding 225 F) towards the condenser. The condenser is usually known as the heat rejecting part of the refrigerant cycle. Subcooling occurs and turns the hot vapor into a hot liquid an important part for the next part. It leaves through the liquid line towards a metering device (these can vary from fixed to ones that regulate based on tempurature or other means. These regulate and help transfer the refrigerant towards the evaporator where it enters it in a state of vapor mixed with liquid. Here air from the supply side blows over it to cool it down transferring the heat from the air to the refrigerant. The refrigerant is then superheated and converted back into a low pressure low temperature vapor and goes through the suction line back towards the compressor to do it all over again.
Short of is fridge is cool inside because the hot air that leaves it at the bottom but what if we could use that hot air or make frige hot instead? Heat pumps can reverse the refrigerant making the heat rejecting part and heat absorbing parts reversed through the means of a reversing valve. This valve has one line in from the discharge line and three valves on the other side with the middle one always used for the suction line plus the other two outs depending on if it’s in heating or cooling mode. The condenser and evaporators no long have to be just outside and inside (another metering device maybe needed based on which unit is now acting as the heat absorbing part).
Heat pumps are ideal for saving energy heating a home since it takes heat outside and brings it in, even in colder climates since their is so much more outside than in it just keeps taking until it can’t. Heat pumps start to not work around 0 F so they are paired with other heat sources such as gas or electric in order to meet a homes needs. The balance point is the spot where the heat pump can’t meet the needs and switches over to a different source of heating.
The other thing that makes a heat pump different from AC is that the outside door unit is equipped with a defrost mode. Since these units can go below freezing point they do build up frost on the coils so a defrost is needed. These can be sensed from either a thermometer on the coils, be time set, or both. The out door fan will shut down, the compressor will go off and the temperature will go up until the frost is cleared.
On troubleshooting them there are a number of things that can go wrong from leaks to dirty indoor or outdoor units (condensers/evaporators for heating, evaporators/condesors for cooling), air supply issues (dirty filters or something blocking the returning air from going back) low charge to too much charge (refrigerant), electrical issues (contactors, tranformers, relays, capacitors, faulty thermostats) and compressor issues. It’s best to figure out what went wrong instead of just assuming you need a new unit or just more charge.
Yeah there’s more and this is what I want to make a career of, with a little hope and a lot of luck I’ll make it into the hvac system. Everything in hvac is just the refrigeration cycle over and over again so by studying this I hope I can make it and if not at least amused some of you.
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Even without e yet, just accepting I’m a girl has made me more comfortable in my body. I’m smiling a lot more, I like how I look in the mirror, I’m not repulsed by my closet I just try and look like a masc lesbian, I see potential where before it was just hopelessness and acceptance. My partner and I have been doing skincare and it really makes me feel and look better (shocker!). Being a girl is a lot of work, but I actually care about how I come across now, so I enjoy the effort rather than just ignoring taking care of myself entirely.
Now a question for the class: is there a point to starting on sublingual if I’m a large (6+ ft 200+ lbs) individual? I know everyone’s bodies are different and so far, I basically thought I would start on the pill. However, the shot propaganda has been working and even though I don’t want to rush the first years, I’m wondering if I’d be hampering my progress by starting on the pill
the specific Route Of Administrations isn´t important, your E and T levels are. Start with what you have, either 6mg oral + an antiandrogen or sublingual (1mg every 8 hours or 2mg every 12) either with or without an AA and test after a month. You want to test right before your next dose, T and E are important, depending on your AA maybe more.
Personally, I started with pills because I had lots of self-doubt and wanted something I could easily take, but knew I likely wanted to swap to injections. So that’s what I did and glad for it. The specific dose I started with wasn’t sufficient and requested to switch to injections, but if I started with injections, I wouldn’t have been able to do them.
helped a lot to read this.
I’m glad. I’ve been using the traaa mega as a journal of sorts, documenting my experience really early in transition, and I’ve hoped it can help/inspire people the way that posters before me did for me. What in particular helped you, I’m curious what stuck out?
idk, I’m used to trans doomerism so often that it’s actually strange to see positivity.
I’m sure some major difficulties will come eventually, I know some people say dysphoria gets worse the more feminine you look, I haven’t started presenting femme in public so that will bring its own challenges but I’m consciously trying to avoid the treadmill of “I’ll never look woman enough”. So yeah, so far I’ve had a really positive experience, my family are accepting (if blindsided and confused lol), even though it’s early days it feels really good. Trans joy is real, I’m spreading the gospel!!!
I’m already girlish, so that’s unfairly convenient for me.
It’s nice, isn’t it, the traits I was embarrassed of or covered up are now actually major Ws when I see myself as a girl
You’re not hampering your progress by starting with oral or sublingual. However, injections are convenient (only need to do them once a week), surprisingly cheap (~$100/year) and easy (as long as you aren’t scared of needles).
I’m over 6 ft, over 200 lb, and I just take pills (not even sublingual), and I have D tits and every other change I wanted. I’m afraid of needles, so that’s why I don’t do that.
Noted! Thanks, I have some trepidation with needles but I’m still in between so I appreciate the data point!
I’m a big girl on 6mg pills growing breasts and having my testosterone suppressed completely.
It doesn’t matter how you start. Your body will change on even a small dose of E, just more slowly. I started with 4mg on pills, then switched to patches, then injections. I moved up to a full dose after about 3 months.