Superheat & Subcooling Calculator
Superheat is the temperature rise of refrigerant vapor above saturation at the evaporator outlet; subcooling is the temperature drop of liquid below saturation at the condenser outlet. Both shift where the cycle operates on the P-h diagram — too little superheat risks liquid slugging the compressor, too much wastes evaporator capacity.
Enter your evaporating and condensing temperatures below and the engine (CoolProp, the same reference library used in engineering practice) will compute the complete vapor-compression cycle: COP, cooling capacity, discharge temperature and mass flow.
Powered by the real CoolProp thermodynamic engine. Free plan: 20 calculations/month — sign up for unlimited Pro.
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal superheat for an R410A system?
Typical fixed-orifice TXV systems run 8–12°C (15–20°F) superheat at the evaporator outlet. Below ~4°C risks liquid return to the compressor.
Why does subcooling matter?
Subcooling guarantees liquid at the expansion valve inlet. Without it, flash gas forms and the valve loses capacity control — the system's COP drops and superheat swings.
How does the calculator handle superheat and subcooling?
The cycle is computed with real refrigerant property data: compression is isentropic-efficiency corrected, expansion is isenthalpic, and the evaporator/condenser outlet states are fixed by your superheat and subcooling inputs.
Need the full engineering suite?
P-h diagrams, cascade cycles, refrigerant comparison, PDF reports, AI troubleshooting and unlimited calculations — Pro is $59/month for the first 100 engineers.
Start free — 20 calculations, no card