How Does an AC Cool My Home?

Air conditioners are pretty important in the summer heat we have here in Illinois. Have you ever really wondered how your air conditioner actually cools your home? The air conditioner doesn’t actually blow cold air into your home to cool it down, instead it removes heat. There’s a process the air conditioner goes through to make this happen. Your air conditioner uses something called refrigerant gas heat exchange. Your air conditioner has a precise refrigerant. If you have an older air conditioner you most likely have whats called R22. R22 is getting phased out because of its detrimental effects on our ozone layer. The newer air conditioners have whats called 410A in them. It is better for the environment and cheaper than R22. The refrigerant runs through a circuit that connects the outside and inside parts of the air conditioner. The process of changing a gas into a liquid is called phase conversion. Air conditioners do this by forcing the refrigerant to evaporate and condense over and over through coils. Warm air from your house is funneled and pushed over the cold evaporator coils. The refrigerant inside absorbs the heat from the warm air as its changing from liquid to a gaseous state. The compressor then puts the gas under an immense amount of pressure. This process creates unwanted heat that is taken outside by condenser coils and a fan located on the outside. The gas the cools and changes back into the liquid. This process is then repeated over and over again to continually cool your home. The cool air is then recycled back into your home.  Bartlett Heating and Air can answer any HVAC questions you may have so give us a call today!