The temperatures are reaching record figures across the states and most homes are running some variety of air conditioner to beat the seasonal heat. Although we are all thankful that your air conditioner runs, the professionals at Heartland Heating & Cooling in Des Moines would like to tell you how it works.
The Basics
There’s a lot of science involved in keeping your home at a comfortable temperature. Your air conditioner runs in a parallel way to your refrigerator, however your AC has a bigger task to handle. Both your fridge and AC cool with a constant loop of refrigerant, in your air conditioner this refrigerant loops from inside to the outdoors. This refrigerant effortlessly changes from a liquid to gas and back to a liquid again. It enters your residence as a sub-cooled liquid and as it evaporates it absorbs heat from inside the home and expands back into vapor. This vapor then moves back to the unit outside where the heat is released and is then condensed back into a sub-cooled liquid.
Four Components
There are 4 central sections to your
air conditioner unit: a compressor, an evaporator coil, the condensing coil and an expansion valve.
The evaporator coil is the place your refrigerant evaporates from a sub-cooled liquid into a super-heated vapor. This component can be located in the home, in your garage or sometimes in your attic. Warm air moves through the cold evaporator coil and the heat is removed from the air. This cooled air is then transferred throughout the space inside your home.
Your compressor resides in your outdoor condensing unit. The super-heated vapor from your evaporator coil goes into the compressor which surges 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 moves across the coil, heat is moved outdoors and the refrigerant is changed back into a sub-cooled liquid. The sub-cooled liquid returns to the indoor evaporator coil through an expansion valve or metering device. This process is continually repeated.
That completes your physics lesson for now…your air conditioner runs on an endless loop of science. We understand 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 Des Moines give us a call at 515-344-3579. With the help of our team and science we’re going to make it through this sweltering summer.