How does an air conditioner work?

Name: How does an air conditioner work?
Brand: Frigotec
SKU: frigotec21439
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (25 reviews)

When it comes to cooling your home in summer, almost everyone relies on air conditioning! But that’s not all: an air conditioning system can also be used to heat rooms in winter, replacing traditional radiators, by opting for a reversible air conditioning system. Today, air conditioning is certainly an essential comfort feature when it comes to regulating indoor temperatures, but it also allows for significant energy savings.

But how does an air conditioner actually work? How does it produce cool air? Why can the same cooling device also be used as a heating device? How does reversible air conditioning work? What physical principle does air conditioning rely on? These are all questions that may arise whether or not you have an air conditioner, and even more so when you want to install an air conditioning system in your home.

In this article, we reveal everything you need to know about air conditioners: how air conditioning works, how an air conditioner can also produce heat, the different types of air conditioners, the components of an air conditioning system, and more. After all, when choosing or installing an air conditioning system, it is useful to understand how it works.

Our services as refrigeration engineers in Brussels

Do you have a refrigeration equipment installation project? Would you like more information about our services? Contact us, we will be happy to help!

[contact-form-7 id=”1086″ title=”Contact for a Quote”]

Our Office

Address:

Contact:

Emergency repair service:

Opening hours:

They're Talking About Us!

Hello, I called on Frigotech to install a cold room for my restaurant. Of all the companies I contacted, Frigotech offered the best value for money. Everything went smoothly, quickly, and efficiently. Thank you again!

Alain Van Wel

We would like to thank Frigotech for their professionalism. We called on their services to install an air-to-water heat pump. The technicians were patient and efficient in answering my countless questions 😊. Perfect work, completed on time.

Louise Martin

Frigotech installed our air conditioning system, and I was pleasantly surprised by their responsiveness, their attention to our needs, and their professionalism. The technicians explained every detail of the installation step by step. They are punctual and answer all of our questions. I highly recommend Frigotech!

Marianne & Bernard Laruelle-DeDecker

I found the perfect company to install a dual-flow ventilation system in my home! It feels so much better and the air is cleaner. Top-notch team and quick, clean installation.

Thibaut Lemaître-Maréchal

First of all, what is an air conditioner?

An air conditioning system is not an air cooler, and even less so a fan. An air conditioner is a climate control device used to maintain the air in a room, space or enclosed area at the required temperature and humidity levels. In general, air conditioner is the term associated with a device that produces cold and also heat in the case of a reversible air conditioner.

As a general rule, an air conditioner comprises a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator. It is all of these components together that enable the production of cold (or heat), according to a specific operating principle.

So, how does air conditioning work?

An air conditioner does not circulate air like a fan; the system cools it using a refrigerant that circulates in a closed circuit inside the unit and changes state. With the refrigerant, air conditioning works on the same principle as a refrigerator, but also like a heat pump, which transfers heat from point A to point B depending on cooling or heating requirements.

Thanks to the various components of the air conditioner, the refrigerant circulates in a closed circuit, capturing calories and therefore heat from the room in order to release them outside. The calories (hot air) from the room are drawn towards the evaporator located inside the air conditioner. These calories heat the refrigerant, which is still in a gaseous state in the evaporator. This gas then enters the compressor, which increases the pressure of the gas, heating it even more. When it reaches the condenser located in the outdoor unit of the air conditioner, a fan expels the heat stored by the gas, which at the same time turns into a liquid. The fluid then reaches the expansion valve, where the pressure drops, it returns to a gaseous state and its temperature drops even further. The cool gas finally returns to the evaporator, where it cools the surrounding air. It is blown into the room by a fan. This is how the cycle begins again, and now you have a general understanding of how an air conditioner works.

As for reversible air conditioners, the cycle is reversed when heating mode is activated. In other words, it captures heat from the indoor air and transfers it outside in summer, and in winter it captures heat from the outdoor air and distributes it indoors. The reversible system therefore allows cool air to be distributed in summer and warm air in winter.

How air conditioning works: the different types of air conditioners

In general, there are two main types of air conditioning systems: monobloc and split. These can be further subdivided into mobile monobloc air conditioners with an exhaust pipe or split, fixed split air conditioners (wall-mounted, cassette), multi-split central air conditioning systems, or reversible air conditioners.

In a monobloc air conditioner, the evaporator, compressor, condenser and expansion valve are all housed in the same unit. In split systems, the evaporator is located in the indoor units and the other components are located in the outdoor unit of your air conditioner. The operating principle is the same for both types of air conditioning system.

In any case, it is often essential to hire a professional to install an air conditioning system. Due to the presence of refrigerant and its handling, the expertise of a specialist is essential. Furthermore, even just the advice of an expert refrigeration engineer is always a great advantage when it comes to choosing the air conditioning system that best meets all your needs. All in all, at FrigoTech, we are always happy to respond to all your requests!

All products come with a 2-year warranty.

We guarantee that our products comply with your order and meet the normal expectations you may have, taking into account the product specifications. We also guarantee that our products comply with all laws in force at the time of your order.

This post is also available in: Dutch French

frigotec

NOTRE ZONE D'INTERVENTION