When the indoor temperature increases, what generally happens to the superheat (SH)?

When the indoor temperature increases, the superheat (SH) typically increases as well. Superheat refers to the temperature of a vapor above its saturation temperature at a given pressure. In a refrigeration cycle, when the indoor temperature rises, the refrigerant absorbs more heat, which causes it to evaporate more completely and raises its temperature beyond the saturation point. This results in an increase in superheat.

In a system designed to maintain a certain temperature, as the indoor environment gets warmer, the compressor has to work harder to remove the added heat. Consequently, the more the refrigerant is heated due to this increased indoor load, the higher the superheat becomes, as it reflects the additional energy that the refrigerant has absorbed as it transitions from liquid to vapor before entering the compressor.

Therefore, recognizing that the thermodynamic properties of the refrigerant are affected by changes in temperature explains why superheat would increase with an increase in indoor temperature.