We tend to use our air conditioning systems a lot in Central Florida to fend off the high temperatures and muggy summer air. It’s hardly surprising then that our ACs endure a significant amount of wear and tear during the cooling season. Your AC is a complex machine, comprised of various components and mechanisms all of which must work together in order to remove the heat from your indoor air and provide adequate cooling. Whether you have central AC, a heat pump, or a ductless mini split, your air conditioning abides by fundamental processes of thermal energy transfer. In today’s post, we’d like to offer a brief review of how a basic AC works. While various types and brands operate differently, this will give you a good idea of the basics. Call Downtown Air and Heat for all of your air conditioning needs.
Let’s begin with the compressor since it’s the engine of what’s known as the refrigerant cycle. The compressor functions like any other: it compresses the low-pressure, gaseous refrigerant arriving from the evaporator coil and turns it into a high-pressure and high-temperature gas. The temperature is much higher than that found outside on even the most brutal summer afternoon. In fact, the cycle relies on the ability of the condenser coil to cool the gas into a hot liquid (hence its name) by means of an exhaust fan.
However, the liquid refrigerant cannot yet be used to cool your indoor air. In order to drop the temperature further, the refrigerant needs to be depressurized. A thermal expansion valve does just that. By metering the flow of refrigerant, the temperature is thereby reduced and is now ready to provide cooling for your air. In the air handler, the evaporator coil circulates cool, liquid refrigerant that comes into contact with your warm indoor air. This thermal exchange evaporates the refrigerant while it cools the air. You now have cool air being redistributed through the ductwork, and the cycle continues.
Call Downtown Air and Heat today for professional air conditioning services in the Orlando, FL area.
