Most problems with air conditioners come down to one thing: a lack of cold air in your home. The more you understand about how air conditioning works, the easier it will be for you to identify and issues that crop up. Specifically, here is a simple explanation of how your AC cools the air in your home.
The process entails a circulating system of refrigerant gas. The gas begins by entering a compressor, which subjects it to a great deal of pressure and therefore increases the temperature. From there, it moves into a set of condenser coils, where the heat is dissapated into the outside air and the refrigerant condenses to a liquid. The high pressure liquid refrigerant then flows to the expansion valve.
The valve acts like the spray tip of an aerosol can, releasing a set amount of the liquefied refrigerant into the expansion coils. Inside those coils, the liquid evaporates and turns back into a gas. In the process, it absorbs heat from the air around the coils, cooling it. That cold air is then blown into your home with another fan: distributed through a series of ducts and lowering the temperature throughout your household.
Assuming this process is functioning correctly, it can’t do much wrong: as long as your system blows cold air properly, it’s doing its job. One exception occurs when the air conditioning unit is too large for its space, in which case it cools the air too quickly and cycles on and off too rapidly, costing you energy and causing unnecessary wear and tear on the system. In any case, if you experience a loss in cool air, or your system isn’t blowing the air sufficiently, it’s time to call in a repair service. The professionals at Ierna’s Heating & Cooling can get to the bottom of the problem with courtesy and professionalism. Call us today to set up an appointment.