Air Conditioning 101 - How Central Air Conditioning Systems Work

Posted by Stucker on April 18th, 2021

Can you picture life without a/c? Sweltering heat waves that can melt the rubber on your shoes, prepare an egg on the control panel of your automobile, and make it almost difficult to have an excellent night's rest-- sounds unpleasant!

Let's face it, life without A/C wouldn't be the exact same. Did you understand, that prior to the 20th century, ice was actually harvested for refrigeration? It was cut into 1-ton blocks, delivered throughout the nation and utilized in 'ice-boxes' to keep food fresh. Fortunately today, refrigeration has been drastically enhanced considering that its intro in 1834.

By understanding how your house's A/C system works, you'll be able to make it run better and longer, and if it should break during the pet days of summertime, more positive finding a replacement.

What is Central Air Conditioning?

Because the 1960s, central air conditioning systems have been the most common design of cooling in America.

Best characterized by the condenser unit outside and ducts bring cool air throughout the house, a main air conditioning is often referred to as a "split-system" since the indoor and outside parts are separated.

How It Works

Comparable to how a sponge soaks up water, central air conditioners take in the heat from inside the house and eject it outside through a procedure called "the refrigeration cycle."

It's simple to comprehend how an a/c works as soon as you see how the parts operate together.

Parts of a Cooling System

Split into 2 parts; a system will include an outside condenser unit (listed below) and a coil housed on top of the heating system or inside air handler. The outside condenser, which does many of the work, runs in tandem with the air handler/furnace that distributes the conditioned air into rooms of your house.

The Refrigeration Cycle

The cooling procedure starts when the thermostat finds the interior temperature has actually increased above the setpoint. It signifies the air conditioning maintenance edmonton control panel in the air handler and goes into action.

1) The internal blower attracts the hot, moist indoor air from the return ducts into the air handler/furnace cabinet to be conditioned.

2) Unclean air getting in the cabinet initially goes through an air filter that traps dirt and particles.

3) The tidy air then goes through the evaporator coil. Utilizing metal fins to increase its surface location, the evaporator coil extracts heat and moisture from the warm air as the air goes through it. The tidy, cool air is flowed throughout the house.

4) A pair of copper tubes including refrigerant, called a Line Set, connect the indoor coil with the outside condenser.

5) The condenser dissipates the heat caught inside the line coming from the evaporator coil by cycling it through its coils where a fan at the top presses air to speed up the process. The refrigerant is then compressed and travels back to the indoor evaporator coil, where the cooling process continues.

A/C Cheat Sheet

It's a great concept to familiarize yourself with the technical language utilized by A/C professionals to comprehend your system when it comes to making repair work or buying a new system.

HEATING AND COOLING - Stands for heating, ventilation, and cooling. This acronym is utilized to classify all devices utilized to control air temperature, humidity, and air quality.

Split-System - In recommendation to parts of the system operating both inside your home and outdoors. In a split system, the condensing system is discovered outside.

BTU - British Thermal Systems - a measurement of just how much heat energy can be eliminated from the air in an hour.

Lot - A measurement that refers to the cooling capacity your system can supply under regular conditions. 1 Ton is equal to around 12,000 BTU's. Loads are often used when sizing an unit for your house, which can be identified based upon the square footage needed to be cooled or warmed.

Unmatched Competence

Conveniently, the heater, a/c, and electrical systems all work instantly, without us needing to fumble around in the basement or worse, a hot attic. Up until something goes wrong.

Learning about your a/c system might appear overwhelming at initially, once you have the fundamentals down, you'll have the ability to comprehend not only how your system works, however also understand lingo to make purchasing a replacement simple.