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  • April 26, 2018

JJ Smith Heating & Cooling

Cincinnati Heating & Cooling

You are here: Home / Cooling / Air conditioners

Air conditioners

Air conditioners use refrigeration to chill indoor air, taking advantage of a remarkable physical law: When a liquid converts to a gas (in a process called phase conversion), it absorbs heat. Air conditioners exploit this feature of phase conversion by forcing special chemical compounds to evaporate and condense over and over again in a closed system of coils.

The compounds involved are refrigerants that have properties enabling them to change at relatively low temperatures. Air conditioners also contain fans that move warm interior air over these cold, refrigerant-filled coils. In fact, central air conditioners have a whole system of ducts designed to funnel air to and from these serpentine, air-chilling coils.

When hot air flows over the cold, low-pressure evaporator coils, the refrigerant inside absorbs heat as it changes from a liquid to a gaseous state. To keep cooling efficiently, the air conditioner has to convert the refrigerant gas back to a liquid again. To do that, a compressor puts the gas under high pressure, a process that creates unwanted heat. All the extra heat created by compressing the gas is then evacuated to the outdoors with the help of a second set of coils called condenser coils, and a second fan. As the gas cools, it changes back to a liquid, and the process starts all over again. Think of it as an endless, elegant cycle: liquid refrigerant, phase conversion to a gas/ heat absorption, compression and phase transition back to a liquid again.

It’s easy to see that there are two distinct things going on in an air conditioner. Refrigerant is chilling the indoor air, and the resulting gas is being continually compressed and cooled for conversion back to a liquid again. On the next page, we’ll look at how the different parts of an air conditioner work to make all that possible.

Furnace repairs

Whether you’re looking for air filtration for a residence or an entire office building, count on us for honest, professional and competitively-priced service.  For more information or to receive a free estimate for replacement equipment, please contact us today.

Air Quality

When you need any service for your Heating, Ventilation or Air Conditioning Systems, you can count on J.J. Smith Heating & Cooling to get the job done right. Our highly experienced, licensed contractors provide free consultation to help you decide on the best system for you, and we supervise the project along every phase of […]

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