Cohousing-L Mailing List: What is a "scrolling compressor" on heat pump?

[Bob Morrison (morrison]

On Mon, 9 Mar 1998 13:20:29 EST,  Dahako <Dahako [at] aol.com> wrote:

> Our [geothermal heat pump] systems at Eno Commons are "Cadillacs".  They 
> include a scrolling compressor for slowly ramping on and off - with the 
> result that they are very quiet and can maintain house temperature within 

  What is a "scrolling compressor"? Does this design avoid the loud "clunk"
that one normally hears when an air conditioning compressor cycles on? To
me, this clunk is far more annoying than the "white noise" of the unit.
  This sounds like a very ingenious idea. Might this technology eventually
appear in more commonly available systems?
  I have decided to post this to the list because some other readers might
be curious about this too.

Bob Morrison
Groton, MA