The temperatures are climbing to record highs around the country and many homes are utilizing some variety of air conditioner to beat the smoldering heat. Though we are all grateful that your air conditioner works, the team at Kohles & Bach Heating & Cooling in Des Moines would like to inform you how it works.
The Basics
There’s plenty of science regarding keeping your home at a comfortable temperature. Your air conditioner functions in a similar way to your refrigerator, however your cooling system has a bigger task to tackle. 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 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 takes in heat from inside the home and reverts back into vapor. This vapor then moves back to the unit located outdoors where the heat is freed and is then condensed back into a sub-cooled liquid.
Four Components
There are 4 main elements to your cooling system: a compressor, an evaporator coil, the condensing coil and an expansion valve.
The evaporator coil is the location your refrigerant evaporates from a sub-cooled liquid into a super-heated vapor. This component can be established in the home, in your garage or possibly in your attic. Warm air passes through the cold evaporator coil and the heat is taken from the air. This cooled air is then sent throughout the space inside your home.
Your compressor is located in your outdoor condensing unit. The super-heated vapor from your evaporator coil enters into the compressor which surges the pressure of the vapor until it is transformed 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. This sub-cooled liquid is then returned to the indoor evaporator coil through an expansion valve or metering device. The process is then repeated.
That concludes your physics lesson today…your air conditioner runs on an never-ending loop of science. We know 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 Des Moines contact us at 515-207-6569. Thanks to science and our pros, you’ll get through this hot summer.