The weather is reaching record figures throughout the U.S. and many homes are utilizing some variety of air conditioner to beat the seasonal heat. While we are all thankful that your air conditioner is functioning, the professionals at H&C Heating and Cooling in Laurel wants to give you a glimpse at just how an AC system works.
The Basics
There’s a lot of science involved in keeping your home cooler. Your air conditioner runs in a parallel way to your refrigerator, however your cooling system has a larger responsibility to handle. Both your fridge and AC cool with a reoccurring loop of refrigerant, in your air conditioner this refrigerant loops from inside to the outdoors. This refrigerant quickly converts from a liquid to gas and back to a liquid again. It enters your home as a sub-cooled liquid and as it evaporates it absorbs heat from inside the home and expands back into vapor. This vapor then travels back to your outdoor unit where the heat is let go and is then condensed back into a sub-cooled liquid.
Four Components
There are 4 core sections to your AC system: 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 found indoors, in your garage or possibly in your attic. Warm air moves throughout the cold evaporator coil and the heat is separated from the air. This cooled air is then sent throughout the space inside your home.
Your compressor sits 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 changed 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 moved outdoors and the refrigerant is changed back into a sub-cooled liquid. The sub-cooled liquid returns to the indoor evaporator coil by an expansion valve or metering device. This process is continually repeated.
That concludes your physics lesson for now…your air conditioner operates on an never-ending loop of science. We realize that it’s not as crucial to you how it works, but that it’s working. If you’d like to talk about staying cool and comfortable in Laurel you can reach us at 301-960-3247. You’ll be able to get through this hot weather thanks to science and the support from our experts.