How Does An Air Conditioner Actually Work

how_does_an_airconditioner_workIf you have an air conditioner in your house, you may wonder how it actually works. You know that you turn it on and it is able to blow cold air into your home. You may have a window based unit, or you may have a central heating and air system. Either way, they work in the same manner. Here is a quick overview of how an air conditioner works so that you can understand how it is able to provide you with cooler air when it is hot outside.

How Air Conditioners Work

An air conditioner consists of four specific components. There is the fan, condenser coil, the compressor, and the thermostat. All of these work together in order to produce the cold air. First of all, the condenser coil is going to take the existing air in the room, and extract the heat from it which is blown outside. This is made possible because of a refrigerant that is used within the coil. There is also a compressor that will compress the refrigerant allowing this process to occur. The fan works in two ways. In some cases, there is a fan that will blow the hot air out, and at the same time, there is another mechanism by which the cold air is blown into the home. Finally, the thermostat is typically on the window unit which can be adjusted with a knob, or you will actually have a full thermostat which you can adjust if you have an HVAC system.

Do All Air Conditioners Work The Same Way?

In most cases, air conditioners work in the same exact way. Therefore, if you have been AC unit in your car, home, or your office, they are going to provide the cool air using the same components. In each case, the heat energy will be blown out of the house, and the cool air that remains will be blown inward.

As this process is occurring, the refrigerant vapor which has been compressed will return to its liquid state. This will allow any of the heat in it to be removed. The fluid actually goes through what is called an evaporator, and in its low pressure gaseous state, it will recycle, allowing the process to happen again. You can find more elaborate information about the many components that are used, and the differences between basic units and those that are able to provide cool air for entire buildings. On a basic level, however, it’s all about extracting the heat from the air inside, blowing it out, and blowing in the cooler air.

# Thank you to Air Conditioning Geelong for this article