Essential Components of an Air Conditioner
Your air conditioner has numerous parts that work together to cool your home, reduce indoor humidity, and maintain good indoor air quality. When your air conditioner functions properly, you likely don’t give a second thought to its different components. It’s when your AC begins to fail that knowing each part can help.
When a malfunction jeopardises your comfort, understanding the individual components of an air conditioner and their roles might allow you to quickly diagnose the problem. You’ll be able to tell whether it’s a simple fix or a more complex issue that requires professional assistance.
We’ll discuss the essential components of an air conditioner to ensure you’re ready to act. To learn more about maximising your AC’s efficiency, or to schedule professional AC service, call PSB Air Conditioning today at 0402 684 317.
How Does an Air Conditioner Work?
To understand why there are so many components of an air conditioner, it’s crucial to first understand what an air conditioner does and how it works. While cooling is its first priority, an air conditioner’s responsibilities go beyond that. As it lowers the indoor temperature, your air conditioner also works to reduce humidity and clean the air you breathe.
An air conditioner has separate components for each job. For example, it has pans and drains that help reduce humidity levels in your home or business. In addition, it uses an air filter to remove contaminants, pollutants, and allergens from your indoor air and produce a healthier environment.
Because an air conditioner’s main focus is cooling, it has several components, both indoors and outdoors, that allow you to regulate temperature. The refrigerant absorbs excess heat from inside your home or business, and the system then pumps it to an outside coil. The system uses a fan to transfer the heat into the outdoor air, cools and condenses the refrigerant, and sends it back inside.
Essential Components of an Air Conditioner and Their Roles
There are a few parts of an air conditioner that are especially important. The following four are responsible for transferring heat indoors and outdoors in order to regulate temperature and produce a cool and comfortable environment.
Evaporator
An AC system has an evaporator in the indoor unit or air handler. As part of the AC’s cooling system, the evaporator’s main responsibilities are to extract heat, cool the air inside your AC system, and convert liquid refrigerant into gas.
After the air conditioner collects hot air, it blows over the cold evaporator coils. The converted refrigerant gas absorbs heat and takes it into the condenser. A fan then blows the remaining cooled and dehumidified air back indoors.
Condenser
The condenser is in the air conditioner’s outdoor unit. Unlike the evaporator, which works to send cool air back into your home, the condenser’s role is to expel heat outside. Condenser coils extract heat from the refrigerant vapour, turning the refrigerant back into a liquid, and a fan then blows the heat into the outdoors.
Compressor
The air conditioner’s compressor is also located in the outdoor or “hot” unit. One of the most vital parts of an air conditioner, the compressor works to pressurise or compress refrigerant gas in order to revert it into a liquid. The compressor is a sizable electrical pump that accounts for a large portion of an air conditioner’s energy consumption.
Expansion Valve
While the compressor assists the condenser, the expansion valve assists the evaporator. Located in between the evaporator and condenser coils, the expansion valve helps regulate the flow of liquid refrigerant into the evaporator. As it does so, it removes some pressure from the refrigerant and allows the evaporator to turn the refrigerant into gas.
Other AC Components
While the four components of an air conditioner listed above are the most crucial to AC operations, there are several other ones that play important roles. These include:
• Refrigerant: Refrigerant travels throughout a set of tubes within the air conditioner, repeatedly transitioning from liquid to gas and back again. As the refrigerant changes state, it absorbs and releases heat in order to cool different rooms.
• Air filter: The air filter traps airborne particles, preventing them from flowing through the air conditioner and into the air you breathe.
• Fan: An air conditioner requires a fan to move air around and into your rooms.
• Thermostat: The thermostat acts as a control panel and a sensor, allowing you to control the temperature throughout your home or business.
Keep Your Air Conditioner in Shape with Professional AC Services
Knowing the different components of an air conditioner and their pivotal roles can help you quickly diagnose different AC problems. If you can’t locate the issue, or if the issue requires professional attention, contact your trusted HVAC technicians at PSB Air Conditioning. Call today at 0402 684 317 to schedule timely AC maintenance and repairs.
