Like most homeowners, you may not give much thought to your residential air conditioning system and how it works, especially if it’s working right and keeping you cool. However, knowing what components make up your air conditioner could help you when things go wrong. So, if you’re unaware of these components that make up an air conditioner, our home cooling experts at Bridgetown Heating & Cooling help explain each piece and why they are essential to the function of your home cooling system.
Evaporator Coil
Evaporator Coils are an essential component of your air conditioner, mainly since it collects all the heat from inside your home. The evaporator coil’s copper tubes collect depressurized, liquid refrigerant from the expansion valve. As a result, the heat from your home will absorb as the indoor air blows over the cold coils. Just as condenser coils need the condenser fan to assist heat transfer, the indoor air handlers are what the evaporator coils rely on for blowing air over their coils. As the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air inside your home, it begins to evaporate and form into a vapor.
Compressor
The role your air conditioner’s compressor plays are pressurizing the refrigerant and raising its temperature. As a result of the combined gas law, which is a combination of Charles’s Law, Boyle’s Law, and Gay-Lusaac’s Law, when you compress refrigerant, it will heat up. Refrigerant is heated up to push higher temperatures in the household outdoors. To distribute the heat outdoors, the refrigerant must be hotter than the air outside; that is why we need the compressor to increase pressure, thus increasing the temperature of the refrigerant.
Condenser Coil
Typically, the condenser coils job is the opposite of how an evaporator coil works and is located on the outdoor air conditioner unit. While the evaporator stores cold refrigerant, the condenser coils carry the hot refrigerant. Condenser coils are intended to assist with heat transfer to the outdoors. With the help of a condenser fan that blows air over the coils, the refrigerant releases heat energy into the outdoor environment. After removing the heat, the refrigerant turns into liquid form and flows to the expansion valve.
Expansion Valve
As the refrigerant exits the condenser in a liquid state, the heat has been sent out, but the refrigerant is still way too hot to enter the evaporator coils and needs to be cooled down. This is where the expansion valve comes into play, located between the evaporator and condenser. The expansion valve is used to depressurize the refrigerant to cool it down. Removing the pressure from the refrigerant allows it to change from a liquid to a gas in the evaporator.
Air Filter
Your air conditioner’s air filters can be found in the indoor half of your unit and play an important role in removing dirt, pathogens, dust, and more from the air inside your home. Air filters should be changed every 1 to 3 months, and there are a variety of air filters you can choose for your home depending on whether you want to preserve your system or would also like to improve your home’s indoor air quality.
Refrigerant
Because we have discussed a few times above, you’re probably curious as to what refrigerant is if you’re not already familiar with it. Refrigerant is a substance that is an essential fluid to air conditioning technology by carrying heat from the inside of your home to the outdoors. This substance is used because it shifts forms from liquid to vapor at suitable temperatures for refrigeration.
The refrigerant passes through your home cooling system’s tubes and copper coils, linking the inside and outdoor units. Heat is absorbed from the indoor unit, changing the refrigerant’s state from a gas to a liquid, then pushing the heat outdoors to release it from inside your home. When the heat is sent outdoors, the refrigerant will return to a gaseous state and travel back into your home. Now that the refrigerant is cool again, an indoor fan blows air over the cold coils and then circulates the cold air around your home. As long as your air conditioner is on, this cycle will repeat to keep your home feeling comfortable and cool.
Thermostat
The role your thermostat plays in your air conditioner is the control center primarily because it is used to control your home’s ideal comfort levels and temperature. Based on your settings, your thermostat will prompt your air conditioner to operate by comparing the temperature in your home with the set temperature you’re trying to achieve with your air conditioner. Because thermostats have sensitive temperature and humidity sensors, it is crucial to set the location of your equipment in a shaded area of your home.
Now that you have a better insight into the components that run an air conditioner and how they work, understanding your home cooling equipment is easier than ever! However, if you still have issues and require professional assistance, our HVAC experts at Bridgetown Heating & Cooling have you covered! Call us today at (513) 273-1335, or schedule an appointment online now by clicking here!