Air conditioning

Air conditioners cool, filter and dehumidify room air. There are two basic types: central air conditioning that cools an entire house and room air conditioners (shown here) that cool single rooms and small areas. A hybrid-the split system-cools different zones of a house, each controlled separately.

Air conditioners are powered by electricity; and a considerable amount is needed to run the equipment. They use a refrigerant such as freon to transfer heat from indoors to outdoors. This refrigerant circulates through a closed-circuit loop of copper tubing that runs between an outdoor coil, called a condenser, and an indoor coil, called an evaporator. The refrigerant raises and drops in temperature as it absorbs and gives off heat and it changes from liquid to gas and back to liquid as its temperature and pressure change.

When cold refrigerant circulates through the indoor coil, it absorbs heat from room air that is blown across the evaporator; this heat, carried by the refrigerant, is expelled outdoors through the condenser.

MORE ABOUT:
/ Forced-air heating / / Central air conditioning units / / Heat pumps / / Thermostats /

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