"Sounds like you are trying to find used units that are already exactly built and functioning for your purposes. Good trick if you can do it."
Not quite looking for 'exactly built' but after talking with a few HVAC techs, they've all told me that an air conditioner without a TXV makes a lousy heat pump. I don't think dehumidifiers and windows A/C's usually have a TXV and usually they are sized for the device. So making an efficient heat pump that doesn't frost up from its own inefficiency of using a capillary tube system where flow isn't well controlled could limit the end result of an efficient system. Fun to mess around with though.
What I'm really looking for is something that isn't oversized to the load, this is the difficult part because I'd be satisfied with 1.5 ton for my house, although 2 tons isn't oversized on a design day(95 outside and a constantly running 2 ton leaves the house between 76 and 78) so 2 tons is fine, when its 82 upstairs, I just go downstairs where its cooler and I prefer lower humidity for more comfort(smaller system needed for longer runtimes) and the only 1.5 ton systems are those usually used in small spaces like a 1200sq ft or smaller townhome or condo. In reality, a 5k to 12k BTU window air conditioner would be awesome to play with(if its reasonably efficient such as an energy star unit) because then I use the small one constantly and when it gets to be hotter than I can stand(mid 80's and up), I'd crank the old 8 SEER, which wouldn't be too often.
I like the HVAC tools I'm seeing, I've got myself a gauge set so I'll have to figure out how to use it but I'm not sure I will for my current equipment as I'd hate to create a leak and lose R22 and have to call a tech out to fix it.
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