Abstract: A heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a multi-path expansion device subsystem positioned between a condenser and an evaporator. The multi-path expansion device subsystem includes a flow selector operative to receive a refrigerant from the condenser and selectively deliver the same to a full-load pathway or to a partial-load pathway. The full-load pathway has a modulating valve and a fixed orifice sized for a full-load situation, and the partial-load pathway has a thermal expansion valve (TXV) sized for partial load operation. A controller uses an actuator of the flow selector to choose which pathway is authorized according to certain process logic. Other methods and systems are presented.