How Air Conditioning Works

 outdoor ac unit

You might be wondering how air conditioners work:

There are numerous cheap air cooling units available on the market that sometimes pose as air conditioning. The general operation of these systems is by passing air variously through damp charcoal panels, water sprays, or even wet cloth filters to give a small cooling effect. These systems however, whilst cheap, are not real direct expansion air conditioning and will certainly not effectively maintain any desired room cooling conditions.



What's the bottom line?

The savings of these systems against the cost of real air conditioning is considerable, but, in our opinion, the money spent on them would be better off remaining in your pocket.

So what's a proper system?

Real air conditioning systems operate very similar to an ordinary domestic refrigerator. The air cooling section of an air conditioning system contains an evaporation coil that is the same in principal as the refrigerator's ice tray.

The domestic refrigerator has a small compressor usually at the bottom rear of the fridge cabinet. This related section of an air conditioning system is the section usually fitted within a separate weatherproof casing, and installed in an outside location to aid the heat exchange.

The inside and outside units of an air conditioning system are interconnected by refrigerant pipework and control wiring. This type of separated system is called a split air conditioning unit.

The alternative fully integrated air conditioning units that contain everything within a single case are generally styled as window/wall units, and affectionately known in the trade as window rattlers.

The size of air conditioning systems can vary from tiny wall mounted units designed for bedrooms or other small domestic use. To huge systems designed to serve large office blocks and which can accommodate service engineers working within their chambers and ducts.

We will however cover the smaller end of the air conditioning spectrum that would normally be installed in homes, offices, shops or small factories.

Here's the deal:

Our hope is, that with the fullest understanding of our products, you will be in a far better position to appreciate the value and quality of the items we have for sale. You will also appreciate the improvement and quality the product will bring to your own environment.

Some Questions and Answers

How low will the temperature go?
The limit with most air conditioning units is 19deg C, but a setting of 21 degs C is the most acceptable for comfort. Also, any lower than 19deg C will more than likely result in the air handling unit starting to freeze up.
How do I work out the size of Air Conditioning Unit I need?
Measure up the room you want to air condition and refer to the chart given on this page
what is a heat pump air conditioning system?
It is a standard cooling air conditioning system but additional controls and valves allow the normal cooling operation to completely reverse on demand. This makes the normal indoor cooling section a very powerful, safe and economical heater, and the outside section that would have dissipated the heat becomes the cooling section. A totally ideal arrangement that allows the air conditioning to act as both cooler or heater and therefore allows the systems full use throughout the year. A fact worth noting however is that the heat given out when the systems are used as heat pumps does vary according to the outside ambient conditions. Due to the fact that the outside unit becomes the cooler in heat pump mode, it obviously will have difficulty in clearing it's cold coils when the outside temperature is freezing or very cold. This results in the systems having to frequently reverse cycle to defrost, which reduces the amount of operating time in the heating mode.
what is the most common fault with air conditioning?
Without a doubt it is blocked drains and consequently dripping water. The amount of moisture removal that air conditioning units can accomplish in our very damp climate is incredible - very many buckets full a day. As there is no force behind these condensate drains they easily block after a few months or they may even be restricted or going a little up hill. Most are a very simple matter to clear and then flush through with a bit of detergent. Household bleach is an excellent cleaner, in diluted form, to flush the drains and condensate tray with.

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