Many years
ago, having central air installed in a home was cost prohibitive for the
average family. Only very well-off
people could afford this luxury.
Advanced technology has made central air conditioning more affordable
and today this luxury is looked upon as a necessity.
Most people
just set their thermostat and take it for granted as they enjoy the cool air on
a hot day. Others wonder just how it
works. It’s easy to understand how the
furnace works by using energy to heat the air and then blowing it through the
duct work, but how do we make air cooler?
The answer
has to do with the concept of evaporation. When evaporated liquid turns into a
gas, it absorbs heat, sort of like when sweat evaporates on our body, taking
heat with it to cool us down.
With an air
conditioner the evaporation occurs when a refrigerant is converted from liquid
to gas and back to liquid in a continuing cycle. The chemical compound allows the refrigerant
to convert to gas at low temperatures, unlike water, which must be very hot to
convert to gas.
The outdoor
air conditioning unit works with the furnace to cool the air in the home. The cooling process takes place within the
main air handler unit, which houses the evaporator coil. The evaporator coil converts
the liquid refrigerant into a gas to create evaporation which removes heat. The central air handler blows over the
evaporator coil to cool it then sends it through the duct work to cool the
home.
Once it has
evaporated the refrigerant (in gas form) is moved through the system to the
outdoor air conditioning unit where the compressor squeezes the gas to convert
it back to a liquid, which allows it to cycle through the system again. While evaporation removes heat, compression
creates heat, so it makes sense that this part is outside where a fan expels
the heat into the air. Read AC and Heating Systems to learn more.
Appliance Parts Today has
been in business since March of 2003, providing area residents and service
technicians a full line of air
conditioning parts. While some AC parts suppliers will
only sell to licensed contractors, Appliance Parts Today specializes in serving
the DIY AC repair customer. The local
air conditioning parts store also carries Goodman air conditioning parts
and their friendly staff is happy to provide AC repair and maintenance advice
when needed.