All You need to know about Air Conditioners
By: John Garcia | Date Posted: December 22, 2021
Table of Contents
A central air conditioner cools your home by removing heat and humidity from the indoor air.
The air conditionerās various components must work together for this process to be completed. The cooling of a home can also be accomplished by a variety of systems, all of which work similarly.
What are the two main types of Air Conditioners?
A ducted central air conditioner and a ductless split air conditioner are the two Kinds of air conditioners. Despite the fact that they work together to cool your house, the two systems operate differently.
Using a Central Cooling System
Central air conditioners are designed to cool your entire home. The ducts are circulated throughout your home to distribute cool air during this process. Copper tubes connect the outdoor and indoor parts of a central air conditioner unless it is a packaged air conditioner that is entirely outside the house.
Air conditioner types
Understanding the different types of air conditioners can help you choose the right one for your home.
Central air conditioning
Air is distributed throughout your home via ductwork as central air conditioners do. The indoor and outdoor units of one of the most common types of air conditioners are attached. Indoor portions of these units can be hidden in basements or crawlspaces.
Purchasing a packaged air conditioner
Packaged air conditioners are another type of central air conditioner. A packaged system provides air throughout the home rather than a 1:1 indoor/outdoor split system. Package systems are dual-purpose devices that are located outside the home.
A central air conditioner is a perfect solution for homeowners without the room to store an indoor unit.
Dual Fuel System
Dual fuel systems can meet all of your heating and cooling requirements.
It consists of a furnace and a heat pump rather than an air conditioner during the spring and summer. Heat pumps provide heating in the winter, and furnaces provide cooling.
Depending on the situation, it can switch between heating and cooling, so a heat pump is versatile. It may be the right choice for you if you live somewhere that experiences changing temperatures. This type of system works best in mild to extremely cold climates.
Air conditioners for windows
Window air conditioners are, as their name suggests, air conditioners that are placed in windows. This type of air conditioner cools one room in your house similarly to ductless air conditioners. These are usually installed partially indoors and partially outdoors, like central air conditioning units. Installing and maintaining window air conditioners isnāt expensive, but theyāre noisy and unattractive.
Air conditioner components
Having learned about all the different air conditioners, letās examine their components.
Heater
Air conditioners are turned on by thermostats, which control HVAC systems. Thermostats can be electronic or electromechanical. A sensor measures the temperature on an electronic thermostat, while an electromechanical thermostat uses a metal strip and mercury to turn on the air conditioner.
Refrigerant
Air conditioners run on refrigerant ā without it, they couldnāt function. Your air conditioner uses different compounds to absorb and release heat to cool your home. A fan blows air into the evaporator coil in your air conditioner, and the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air.
Coil for evaporator
Evaporator coils absorb heat. As a fan blows hot air into the evaporator coils from your home, the cool liquid refrigerant absorbs the heat completely. In the air conditioner, the cool refrigerant keeps cooling the air.
Compressor
The refrigerant travels to the compressor after absorbing heat in the evaporator coil. When the pressure of the now hot refrigerant is increased, the temperature of the refrigerant rises even further, to a point where it is hotter than the outside temperature.
In the compressor, the refrigerant becomes gas. Once the outside air temperature exceeds the gaseous refrigerants, the heat can dissipate outdoors.
Coil for condenser
Condenser coils are filled with hot, pressurized refrigerant by compressors. Through the condenser coil, the refrigerant transports the heat outside. When you cool down the refrigerant, it turns back into a liquid that can absorb more heat from your home.
Valve for expansion
Even though most of the heat has been released to the outside, the refrigerant is still too hot to re-enter the evaporator coil after it leaves the condenser coil. As a result, the refrigerant will cool even more when the expansion valve is closed. By picking up heat from the air inside the evaporator coil, the refrigerant makes its way back to the expansion valve.
FAQs
What Is Central Air Conditioning?
You can adjust your homeās temperature by using a central air conditioner. Central air conditioning releases heat outside and then distributes the newly-cooled air through the ductwork by removing heat from your house. You can thus set the temperature in different rooms throughout the house.
What Is Ductless Air Conditioning?
With ductless air conditioners, you can cool one room at a time. Instead of cooling the entire house with ducts, the ductless air conditioning cools one room directly. As we mentioned earlier, ductless systems require at least two outdoor units and one indoor unit. You can cool more than one room simultaneously with ductless air conditioning when up to five indoor units work simultaneously.
Are air conditioners capable of bringing in outside air?
Unfortunately, no. Heat and humidity are removed from the air in your home by the air conditioner, then the air is distributed outside and returned into your home. There is no outside air entering your home from the air conditioner. Your a/c units serve the primary purpose of cooling down the air that has already been cooled.
Is it possible to improve the indoor air quality with an air conditioner?
Air conditioners can improve the quality of air. When heat and humidity inside your home absorb dust, lint, and debris from the air, they are filtered out. Your home is heated less, but the air that is left and enters your home is cleaner than before, which results in a more comfortable living environment.
Thank you for reading!
