The weather is reaching record figures across the country and many homes are utilizing some kind of air conditioner to beat the seasonal heat. While we are all appreciative that your air conditioner is functioning, the team at Mayeuxs AC & Heating in Norco and St. Charles Parish would like to tell you how it works.
The Basics
There’s plenty of science regarding keeping your home cooler. Your air conditioner operates in a comparable way to your refrigerator, of course your air conditioner has a more difficult job to handle. Both your fridge and AC cool with a reoccurring loop of refrigerant, however with the air conditioner this refrigerant loops from inside to the outdoors. This refrigerant easily converts from a liquid to gas and back to a liquid again. It flows into your home as a sub-cooled liquid and as it evaporates it absorbs heat from your indoor air and turns back into vapor. This vapor then transfers back to your outdoor unit where the heat is released and is then condensed back into a sub-cooled liquid.
Four Components
There are 4 core components to your cooling system: a compressor, an evaporator coil, the condensing coil and an expansion valve.
The evaporator coil is the location your refrigerant evaporates from a sub-cooled liquid into a super-heated vapor. This component can be located inside your home, in your garage or even in your attic. Warm air moves through the cold evaporator coil and the heat is removed from the air. This cooled air is then released throughout your home.
Your compressor resides in your outdoor condensing unit. The super-heated vapor from your evaporator coil goes into the compressor which increases the pressure of the vapor until it is changed into hot, high pressure vapor. The hot vapor then enters back into the condenser coil where less hot outdoor air runs across the coil, heat is released outdoors and the refrigerant is changed back into a sub-cooled liquid. This sub-cooled liquid is then returned to the indoor evaporator coil via an expansion valve or metering device. This continues repeatedly throughout the process.
That concludes your physics lesson of the day…your air conditioner runs on an endless loop of science. We understand that it’s not as crucial to you how it works, but just the fact it’s running. If you’d like to chat about staying cool and comfortable in Norco and St. Charles Parish you can reach us at (985) 764-2426. You’ll be able to get through this hot weather thanks to science and the support from our experts.