A quick flip of the thermostat switch will fill your home with cool, air-conditioned air, keeping you comfortable indoors during the hot summer months. However, most people don’t give any thought to how their air conditioner works—until something goes wrong. It’s extremely important to understand the mechanics of your AC unit so that you’re familiar with the basic process. This way, you’ll be comfortable talking about your system with your cooling repair technician when it comes time to service your unit.
Basic Principal of Air Conditioners
All air conditioners work on the same principal: taking heat from inside your home and transferring (removing) it outdoors. Once the transfer is complete, you’re left with cool, comfortable air. In a nutshell, an air conditioner works by decreasing hot air, not increasing cold air.
To create this heat transfer, an air conditioner uses 2 major components: the indoor unit and the outdoor unit.
Indoor Unit- Evaporator
An evaporator is the part of your air conditioning system located inside your home and usually found near the furnace. Inside the evaporator are coils filled with a cooling chemical that changes from liquid to gas—absorbing heat in the process.
Outdoor Unit – Compressor, Condenser Coil, Fan
Once heat is absorbed into the cooling chemical inside, it’s pumped outdoors to the compressor. The gas refrigerant travels from the compressor to the condenser and the fan quickly cools the coils, returning the refrigerant back to liquid. The process is completed when the indoor heat is exhausted outside and the liquid refrigerant is pumped back to the evaporator.
Taking the time to understand how air conditioners work is important, but it’s also vital to schedule yearly maintenance for your AC system. There are many different parts that work together to keep your home cool, and any one can malfunction and cause a complete breakdown. A professional air conditioner technician can spot problems before they turn into an expensive air conditioning repair bill.
We are currently offering a special tune up promotion price of $149, but only until May 30, 2017!
Weiss-Johnson Heating, Air Conditioning & Home Comfort has been proudly serving the Edmonton area since 1977.
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The Weiss-Johnson Blog Team
We are the Weiss-Johnson Blog Team! All blog posts are written by a collective of WJ employees. Each one of our articles is designed to inform our customers of all the happenings in the world of home comfort! Thanks for reading!