How Does an Air Conditioner Work?

How does an air conditioner work so tirelessly to maintain our comfort? We rarely stop to notice things that we rely on every day and ask how it works or how to fix it should it break. Usually, we wait until something breaks and then we call someone who knows how to fix it. Understanding how an air conditioner works not only gives you a new appreciation for what it does, but it also can help provide insight for whether a professional technician is actually needed in the event of failure.

Of course, not all air conditioners are the same. Window units are very different from central air conditioning. The same basic principle is involved but the operations of each can be quite polar. The cool air you feel is not coming from the outside. It's actually the coming from inside your home. That is the air that is cooled. If you consider how hot it tends to remain outside when air conditioning is needed, you can see how economical it is that the indoor air is cooled. This is also why it takes more energy to cool a home after the air conditioning has been turned off for several days versus the energy used over those few days if the air conditioner stays on.

The main idea is that an air conditioner is very much like a refrigerator. Instead of cooling an insulated closed space, the cool air is pushed back into the home. This is done through the use of Freon. Freon starts off hot, not cold. It runs through a compressor to eliminate the heat through evaporation. As the Freon continues to evaporate what remains is simply the gas, which is cold. This gas is directed through more coils and the air that surrounds it is then cooled through the heat absorption process of the gas.

Freon gas has been deemed unsafe for the environment. However, it is necessary to note that not all Freon is the same. There are forms of the gas which is vitally damaging to the environment and then there are forms that are much, much less hazardous. These are the gasses that are used today.

As the air cools it is then pushed back out into the room or through ducts that lead to the various rooms of the house. The cold air cools the warm air that has been left behind by absorbing its heat as well. Then, the process starts all over again and you have a continuing cycle of cooling for your home's comfort.