Air conditioners are often taken for granted. In fact, they were luxury items reserved for the rich, once upon a time. In modern times however, a cooling system is in around 97% of homes in the South and 65% of homes in the western United States. However, many do not know exactly how the air conditioners work. It’s important to know about its five main parts and what they do in order to understand how an air conditioner functions. Today, we at New York Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing would like to hare the primary parts of the air conditioner and a brief description on how they work.
Air Conditioner Refrigerant
A special fluid that is vital to cooling and freezing technology is known as refrigerant. From the inside of your building to the outside, it operates on a closed loop and carries heat. Because it changes states from liquid to vapor at convenient temperatures for the refrigeration cycle, tis is why refrigerant is used. Connecting the inside unit to the outside unit refrigerant moves through an air conditioner’s cooling tubes and copper coils. Changing states from gas to liquid it absorbs heat from your indoor air. The refrigerant travels to the outdoor unit where the heat is pushed outdoors after absorbing heat from the inside air. It changes back to its gaseous state and travels back indoors once the refrigerant has dispersed its heat outdoors. An indoor fan blows air over the cold coils and then circulates cold air through the home, once the refrigerant gets cold again. Every time your air conditioner is on, the cycle repeats.
AC Compressor
The temperature is raising when the job of the compressor is to pressurize the refrigerant. when you compress the refrigerant, it will heat up as it states that if pressure increases so does its temperature due to the combined gas law, a combination of Boyle’s Law, Charles’ Law, and Gay-Lussac’s Law. In order to get its temperature higher than the outdoor temperature, the refrigerant is heated up. In order to dispense heat outdoors, the refrigerant must be hotter than the air outdoors since heat naturally flows from a hotter to colder bodies. The compressor to increase its pressure and thus its temperature.
Air Conditioner Condenser Coil
In the outdoor air conditioning unit is the condenser coil. From the compressor, it receives the high pressure, high temperature refrigerant. The condenser coils contain hot refrigerant, the evaporator coils contain cold refrigerant. To facilitate heat transfer to the outdoor air is the design of the condenser coils. With the aid of the condenser fan, the refrigerant releases heat energy, which blows air over the coils. It turns back into a liquid where it then flows to the expansion valve as the heat leaves the refrigerant to the outside environment, which depressurizes the refrigerant and cools it down.
AC Expansion Valve
Though it is still too hot to enter the evaporator coils, the refrigerant leaves the condenser in its liquid state, it has dispersed heat. It must be cooled down before the refrigerant passes to the evaporator coils. Normally a thermostatic expansion valve, this is where the expansion valve, also known as a metering device, comes in. The expansion valve depressurizes the refrigerant and cools it down, as it states that when pressure decreases so does its temperature, again, using the principles behind the combined gas law. From liquid refrigerant allowing for the refrigerant to change from a liquid to a vapor/gas in the evaporator, an expansion valve removes pressure. The amount of refrigerant/voltage flow entering the evaporator is also controlled.
AC Evaporator Coil
For an air conditioner, evaporator coils are very important. This is where the air conditioner actually picks up the heat from inside your home. From the expansion valve, the copper tubes receive the depressurized, liquid refrigerant. The heat from inside the home gets absorbed when your indoor air blows over the cold coils. This is due the 2nd law of thermodynamics which states that heat flows naturally from hot to cold. The evaporator coils rely on the indoor air handler’s fan to blow air over the coils, just like the condenser coils need the help of the condenser fan to facilitate heat transfer. It begins to evaporate to form a vapor as the refrigerant absorbs heat from the indoor air.
Central Air Conditioning Maintenance, Repair, Replacement & More in Bedford Hills, Manhattan, Flushing, Queens, Brooklyn & The Bronx, New York
When your air conditioner isn’t cooling your home the way it should, New York Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing can meet all your air conditioning needs. Call us to schedule an appointment today!
