How do ac units work

While in the compressor, the refrigerant turns into a gas. Once the gaseous refrigerant is hotter than the outdoor climate, it can dispense heat outside. The condenser coil receives that hot, pressurized gaseous refrigerant from the compressor.

The condenser coil is designed to release the heat the refrigerant is carrying outside. This cools the refrigerant down and turns it back into a liquid, ready to absorb more heat from your home.

So, the expansion valve works by decreasing the pressure of the refrigerant and cooling it back down even more. The expansion valve sends the cold refrigerant back into the evaporator coil, where it picks up more heat from the air inside your home and the process repeats itself.

Central air conditioning works by moving around air in your home until it reaches your desired temperature. Central air systems pull hot air from your home, work to cool it down by releasing its heat outside, then distribute the newly-cooled air through a system of ducts in your home.

That way, every room is reaching the ideal temperature. Ductless air conditioners work to cool just one room at a time. Unlike central air conditioning, which cools your entire home via a system of ducts, ductless air conditioning directly releases cool air into a single room. As we mentioned earlier, ductless systems require one outdoor unit and at least one indoor unit. If you want to cool more than just one room but still use ductless air conditioning, you can install up to five indoor units that will all work at the same time together with the singular outdoor unit.

Air conditioners take heat and humidity out of the air inside your home, then distribute that heat and humidity outside while returning the newly cooled air back to the house. Air conditioners never take air from outside and put it in your home.

Air conditioners can improve air quality. After heat and humidity are absorbed from the air inside your home, the air is filtered for dust, lint, and debris. The heat gets moved outside, but the air that remains and goes back into your home is cleaner than before, resulting in better air quality.

You can close and confirm your location on the form or view all dealers in your area. Find a Local Dealer. Call to speak with a dealer. Tap to Call a Dealer. Find a Local Dealer Language. Before You Buy. Existing Trane Owners. HVAC A fan blows the cold air into air ducts that distribute it throughout your home.

As the refrigerant absorbs the heat from the passing air, it changes from a liquid state to a gaseous state and continues to travel along the loop system toward the compressor. Usually this is done by squeezing the gas tightly between two solid objects.

This raises the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant, preparing it for the condensing process. The refrigerant, now a superheated vapor, reaches the condenser which is located outdoors and is exposed to the outside air. The outside air absorbs the heat from the refrigerant, lowering the temperature of the refrigerant and changing the state from a gas back into a liquid.

Once the heat from the refrigerant is removed to the outdoors, the cold refrigerant travels back indoors to the evaporator to repeat the process over again. The process continues until the inside temperature of your home reaches your desired level.

In the air conditioning system, the refrigerant is then forced to return to being a liquid causing it to expel the heat outside, and back it goes into the house to grab more heat to remove. To cool off the inside of our homes or buildings the heat inside needs to go outside.

Seems simple. And in some ways it is. This is the job of the blower and evaporator. As the warm air from your home is blown across the evaporator coils the refrigerant in the coil absorbs the heat turning it from a cold liquid to a hot vapor.

This whole process happens quickly, cooling the air in your home while the hot vaporized refrigerant dumps the absorbed heat outside through the efforts of the compressor and condenser. The hot pressurized gas then is sent to flow through the condenser where condensation occurs. The heat dissipates into the air, often with the help of a fan, and the refrigerant gas is condensed back into a liquid state to start the whole process over again.

Thermostats in our home are the central brain of the operation, telling the system when the temperature needs to be raised or lowered. When the thermostat senses that the room air temperature is too high it sends a message to the system to start the cooling process. A fan pulls the hot air into air ducts where it is passed through a filter system that removes airborne particles like dust and lint. The warm filtered air then flows over the evaporator coil where the refrigerant absorbs the heat and the indoor air is cooled.

A fan then pumps the cooled air back through the ductwork into the various rooms. Meanwhile, the refrigerant has been converted to a gas and travels outside where the compressor pressurizes the gas and sends it to the condenser coil. Here the outdoor fan disperses the heat into the outdoor air and the refrigerant becomes a liquid and goes back through the cycle again. The reason Willis Carrier invented air conditioning was to control humidity.

Carrier was given the challenge to find a solution to humidity problems plaguing a New York printer. Humidity was causing poor production quality, lost production days, and threatening their production schedule.

Modern air conditioners come in a variety of shapes and sizes to help regulate both humidity and heat in your home or business to keep everyone cool and comfortable. The type of air conditioner that is right for you and your home depends on a variety of factors — size, physical location, and the way you use it are the main considerations. As the most common type of systems in the United States, central air conditioners are good for those who have larger homes and want to cool multiple rooms at once.

A duct system throughout the home keeps the entire house consistent with no warm or cold spots. This system also uses air filters to improve indoor air quality and remove dust, pollen, and airborne particles.

Central air conditioners work in conjunction with existing furnace systems — no need for new ductwork. Central air conditioners are more efficient and quieter than room air conditioners. Because they take up less room and are, well — centralized — in an out of the way space, central air conditioning systems keep your house decor clean. Ductless mini-split systems work exactly like the central system but without the ducts. Split systems have two units — one on the outside of the home and one inside the room.

Because there are no ducts each unit must be installed in individual rooms. When considering a system for your home the deciding factor often is the need for ductwork. These ductless air conditioning systems tend to be more energy-efficient and are easier to add to older or smaller homes that do not have the space for ductwork.