How Does Air Conditioning Work?
As temperatures of 27° and higher become more frequent in the UK, more of us are turning to air conditioning units for our homes or workspaces. As they provide heating and cooling, these systems are becoming a go-to option for many. But how does air conditioning work?
The science and process behind air conditioning is quite simple, after all it is just cooling air down (or heating it if you have it in the heating setting). In this blog, we are going to take a deeper dive into the inner workings of your air conditioning systems.
Cooling Your Home With Air Conditioning
There are two parts to the question “how does air conditioning work?” The first part is that you are probably looking to understand how it cools air down.
The process, put simply, is that the air conditioning unit sucks warm air out of the room, cools it and then pushes out the cooler air. But how is the air cooled down?
There are several steps to this process, each one playing a pivotal role in the system.
Step 1: Evaporation
Air conditioning units use chemicals similar to those in your fridge. The chemicals convert from gas to liquid and back quickly, transferring the heat from the air inside to the outside.
Your air conditioning system has a fan inside, which draws the warm air from the room into the system. The fan directs the air to the evaporator coil, where the chemicals inside the coil cool the air down.
This happens thanks to the liquid chemicals absorbing the heat from the indoor air, which evaporates them into a low-pressure gas.
Step 2: Compression
Once the chemicals have warmed and turned into a gas, they move to the compressor. You will usually find this component in the unit fitted to the outside of the building.
As the name suggests, this part compresses the gas, significantly raising its pressure and temperature. This is in preparation for the gas to release the heat it absorbed earlier in the process to the outdoors.
Step 3: Condensation
Once the chemicals reach a certain temperature and pressure, they are pushed through to the condenser coils, which are also part of the outdoor unit.
A fan sucks in outside air over these coils, and the chemicals release the heat to the outdoors.
Through this process, the gas cools down and returns to its high-pressure liquid state.
Step 4: Expansion
The high-pressure liquid is pushed back to the indoor unit, passing the expansion valve or metering device. In doing this, the pressure is reduced further, which also cools the chemicals down more, preparing them to return to the evaporating coils to start the process again.
Step 5: Repetition
At the end of the process and once sufficiently cooled, the chemicals find themselves where they started, ready to go through the process again and again.
Getting The Cooler Air Into The Room
The second part of the question “how does air conditioning work?” centres around understanding how the cooled air gets into your room.
Getting the cooler air into the room is even simpler than the rest of the process.
Having been through every stage of the air conditioning unit, the air is simply pushed out through ducts into the room.
The process does differ slightly depending on the type of air conditioning you have installed.
In central air conditioning systems, the air goes through ducts and disperses into the room via supply vents or registers. However, if you have a split system, the air handler directly blows cooled air into the room.
Controlling The Temperature Of The Room
Of course, you need to be able to control the temperature of the room, otherwise you will all sit there shivering. Temperature control is a standard feature of any heating or cooling solution, which is why understanding this isn’t generally associated with the question “how does air conditioning work?”
It is an essential function of any air conditioning system though because without controlling the temperature, you will all sit there shivering. So we are quickly going to cover it.
Temperature control is done with a thermostat, which monitors the temperature of the room and switches the system on when the room starts to warm up or off once the room hits your set temperature.
Trust Meridian Cooling With Your Air Conditioning Needs
The team at Meridian Cooling have been working within the industry for over 30 years, providing HVAC solutions to commercial and residential properties across the South of England.
They understand how air conditioning works like the back of their hands and can use this knowledge to recommend air conditioning units that meet your needs.
Our team are fully accredited to provide a comprehensive service that includes advice and guidance, installation, maintenance and repairs. This end-to-end service means you never have to question who to turn to when you need air conditioning help.
Thanks to our long-standing relationships with some of the UK's leading air conditioning manufacturers, we can offer extensive parts warranties and manufacturers' warranties.
Contact our team today to book a free survey and discuss your air conditioning needs with our experts. Call us on 01202 658254 or complete our online enquiry form, and we will get in touch with you.
