COMPONENTS
Air Handling Unit. Suck air from the rooms and let it pass through air filters then
discharging the cooled air back to the rooms.
Air filter. Trap any pollen, pet dancer, dust or other particles from being recirculated..
Blower fan. Moves the warm indoor air over the chilled evaporator apparatus as the
exterior exhaust fan moves hot air away from the heated condenser coils.
Lineset. Copper lines the run between outdoor and indoor portions of the unit. Used
to transport either liquid and gas refrigerant from one component to the next in cycle.
Condenser. Responsible for releasing the heat that refrigerant has absorbed from
the atmosphere.
Condenser Coils. Network of tubes filled with refrigerant the removes heat from the
heated gas refrigerant and convert the refrigerant into a liquid form again.
Thermostat. Monitors the temperature in your home and either sustains from or sets
the cooling process in motion
Evaporator. Cooler,liquid refrigerant enters the evaporator from the condenser (via
lineset) and is met with lower pressure.
Evaporator Coils. Network of tubes filled with refrigerant the removes heat and
moisture from the air as the refrigerant evaporates into a gas again
Expansion valve. Assists the evaporator. Serve to lessen the pressure of the liquid
refrigerant so that it can turn back into a gas inside of the evaporator.
Refrigerant circulates through copper tubing that runs between the evaporator and
the condenser. This refrigerant receives and releases heat as it raises and lowers in
temperature, changing from liquid to gas and then back to liquid. The refrigerant is
especially cold when it begins to circulate through the indoor coil.
As the air handler pushes warm air across the coil, the refrigerant absorbs so much
heat from the air that it turns into vapor. As a vapor, it travels to the outdoor
compressor, which pressurizes it and moves it through the outdoor coil. There it
jettisons the heat through coils or thin metal “fins.” A fan in the compressor also
helps to dissipate the heat. The refrigerant then passes through an expansion device
that converts it to a low-pressure, low-temperature liquid, which returns to the indoor
coil.
Most people think that an air conditioner functions by pumping cool air into their
home but air conditioner actually removes warm air and recirculates it as cool air. An
air conditioner is basically a refrigerator. It uses the evaporation of a refrigerant, like
Freon, to provide cooling. An central air conditioning system includes both the
cooling and heating of air and cleans the air as well as controls the moisture level.
Heat pumps and geothermal systems are other options for cooling your home. The
basic principle of removing warm air and replacing it with cool air applies to these
systems as well.
So those are the basics of your cooling system, the thermostat for control, the central
air conditioning unit to remove warm air in order to create cool air, and a duct
system to move the air through your home. And that how your central air
conditioning system keeps you cool!