The weather is hitting record highs around the states and the majority of homes are using some type of air conditioner to combat the summer heat. Though we are all grateful that your air conditioner runs, the team at GV Heating & Air in Crystal and Twin Cities would like to inform you how it works.
The Basics
There’s a plethora of science regarding keeping your home at a comfortable temperature. Your air conditioner operates in a comparable way to your refrigerator, however your cooling system has a more difficult job to manage. Both your fridge and AC cool with a constant loop of refrigerant, with your AC this refrigerant loops from inside to the outdoors. This refrigerant quickly alters from a liquid to gas and back to a liquid again. It goes into your house as a sub-cooled liquid and as it evaporates it absorbs heat from your indoor air and reverts back into vapor. This vapor then transfers back to the unit located outdoors where the heat is let go and is then condensed back into a sub-cooled liquid.
Four Components
There are 4 main elements to your AC system: a compressor, an evaporator coil, the condensing coil and an expansion valve.
The evaporator coil is where your refrigerant evaporates from a sub-cooled liquid into a super-heated vapor. This component can be found indoors, in your garage or possibly in your attic. Warm air transports throughout the cold evaporator coil and the heat is taken from the air. This cooled air is then sent throughout your home.
Your compressor sits in your outdoor condensing unit. The super-heated vapor from your evaporator coil flows into the compressor which raises the pressure of the vapor until it is converted into hot, high pressure vapor. The hot vapor then enters back into the condenser coil where less hot outdoor air runs across the coil, heat is pushed outdoors and the refrigerant is changed back into a sub-cooled liquid. The sub-cooled liquid then goes back to the indoor evaporator coil by an expansion valve or metering device. This process is continually repeated.
That completes your physics lesson of the day…your air conditioner operates on an relentless loop of science. We know that it’s not as important to you how it works, but that it’s working. If you’d like to discuss staying cool and comfortable in Crystal and Twin Cities give us a call at 763-535-2000. Thanks to science and our pros, you’ll get through this hot summer.