Air Conditioning

We are pleased to present information that we hope you will find useful in selecting and maintaining your central air conditioning system.

How Does It Work?: The Mysteries of Central Air Revealed

Central air conditioning is becoming an integral part of the American homeowner's lifestyle. Yet how many homeowners or prospective owners of central air conditioners know how the system works?

According to a study by the Trane Home Comfort Institute, a consumer information service on heating and cooling, not that many. To help you understand how this integral part of your home operates, the institute offers this simplified explanation:

A central air conditioning system essentially consists of two halves: the coil, which extracts unwanted heat and humidity from your home, and the condenser, which discharges the unwanted heat to the outdoors.

Most residential air conditioners are split systems, meaning that the coil is located inside and the condenser outside. In a split system, two copper tubes called refrigerant lines connect the indoor coil and the outdoor condenser.

These lines are filled with a chemical refrigerant that travels in a closed loop between the coil and the condenser.

The loop begins as the liquid refrigerant passes through the coil, which is a network of tubes located on top of the furnace. As the refrigerant travels through the coil, it changes from a liquid to a vapor, absorbing heat from the air passing around the coil. The furnace blower distributes the cooled air through ducts to the interior of the house.

Meanwhile, the vaporized refrigerant moves through the loop to a compressor in the outdoor unit. The compressor compacts the vapor and then moves the hot refrigerant gas under pressure through the condenser, which is a network of tubes exposed to the outside air.

As the refrigerant travels through these tubes, it cools and turns back into a liquid. The heat released during the condensation process is dispersed into the outdoor air by a fan.

The refrigerant then flows through the loop from the condenser back to the coil inside the house, and the cycle begins again.

The compressor is considered "the heart of the system" because it is the pump that circulates the refrigerant through the loop. Because of its importance, Trane experts recommend that consumers look carefully at the compressor's reputation and warranty when selecting a system.

They also advise buyers to compare the reliability and durability features of the equipment they select to get the most for their money. A new central air conditioning system should operate for a long time.

Air Conditioning Contractors of America - Dayton Chapter (ACCA-Dayton),
Ann Detmer, Executive Director
P.O. Box 49646, Dayton, OH 45449
Telephone (937) 237-9074

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