Exercising your a/c

[FatBuoy]

Hi all-

My understanding, from a maintenance perspective, is to not only exercise your generator, but also your a/c unit. I plan to do both monthly, as I can do both at the same time considering you need to run the generator under a load.

Here's my question: is running the heat pump the same as running the a/c as far as keeping the rooftop unit exercised? I'm not familiar with the mechanics of how a heat pump works, so am unsure. This way I could exercise the generator and roof unit with the heat pump in the winter, and generator and roof unit with a/c in the Summer. Windows wide open so the unit stays running in either scenario.

[chin_k]

The only difference between running it in heat pump mode and AC mode is a valve that reverse the flow of the refrigerant. So yes, it is the same.