Understand the Basic Operation of the Home Air Conditioning System
Air Conditioning is a process where heat is removed from an area that it is not wanted. To an area where it makes little or no difference to the user or homeowner. This article will breakdown the four basic components and explain how they work in conjunction with each other.
Steps
- Understand what the compressor does. The compressor is the heart of a basic home air and heat unit. It pumps vapor refrigerant through the system and maintains the internal pressure of your home unit based on the temperature of it surroundings.
- Understand the role of the condenser. This is where the refrigerant goes once it leaves the compressor. The gas refrigerant enters as a high pressure, superheated gas. As the gas works its way through the Condenser it begins to cool. (It cools from air being blown over the outside of the lines. From a fan that forces air that is cooler over the hot lines that the gas is running through. As the gas cools it starts to transform back into a liquid. By the time the refrigerant is leaving the condenser. it should about 100% liquid.
- Note the metering device. The next step of the refrigeration process where it passes through what is called a capillary tube, or a Thermostatic Expansion Valve (TXV). This device meters the amount of refrigerant going through the system, based on how much demand is placed on cooling or heating. Too much liquid, or too little liquid going through could result in damage to the system, or insufficient cooling or heating of the system. This is important because the liquid refrigerant leaving the Metering Device then goes to the Evaporator Coil.
- Understand the role of the evaporator coil. This is where the cooling inside the living area comes from. As the Liquid going through the Metering Device that we talked about in the last step enters it quickly undergoes a state of change back from a liquid to a gas. The transformation occurs from cool air being blown over the coils from the indoor unit. The air coming into contact with these coils cools the air as it passes through the system before being returned back into the area that is being cooled. The gas leaves the Evaporator as a low pressure, low temperature, and sub-cooled vapor. The vapor then returns back into the compressor to start the whole process over again.
Tips
- Make sure that the thermostat is set to what is being called for. Hard to cool the home when the thermostat is set to heat!
- All systems have a required range to how much refrigerant is needed to operate the system properly. The number one mistake of a homeowner is that the system is not cooling properly and needs more refrigerant. Simply adding refrigerant to a system may not be the fix. In fact it could cause more costly repairs and maintenance to the homeowner than originally needed.
Warnings
- All servicing and repairs need to be accomplished by a trained and/or certified company or individual.
- Never open refrigerant lines without the use of proper equipment and gear. (Gloves,Safety Glasses,Refrigerant Reclaim Tank, Manifold Gauges)
- It is a federal violation to purposely vent refrigerant gas into the atmosphere. Jail time and fines are possible if caught.
- Refrigerant is very dangerous to handle without proper storage and knowledge of how it works.
