The 5 Components That Make Central Air Conditioners Work

HVAC

You may take your air conditioner for granted until it breaks. When you need HVAC maintenance for your home, technicians arrive to assess where the problem lies. It may be as simple as needing to add more refrigerant, or one of the parts of your system could be broken or malfunctioning. Chances are, technicians are going to be looking at five basic components to see which of them aren’t functioning properly. Knowing those five components and how they work together can help you understand the fundamentals of how your central air conditioning works.

1. Air Conditioner Evaporator
The evaporator is part of the indoor air handler. It takes the heat from the area that needs cooling and brings it into the unit. It removes the heat from your indoor air.

2. Air Conditioner Condenser
The condenser is located on the outside unit. Since the heat that is gathered by the evaporator needs somewhere to go, that’s where the condenser comes in. It releases the heat into the outside air.

3. Air Conditioner Compressor
The compressor is the part that needs electricity to work. The HVAC maintenance technicians can usually tell right away if the compressor is the problem. Its function is to initiate the flow of the refrigerant.

4. Expansion Device
This device is located within the air handler itself. It provides a check for the compressor by restricting the refrigerant.

5. Copper Tubing
This tubing is the pathway through which the refrigerant flows between each of the components. It connects all the other parts and helps them work together.

Even if you have a basic understanding of how your central air conditioning system works, it is still advisable to have licensed HVAC maintenance professionals inspect your system when it doesn’t seem to be working right. Technicians can find the problem and fix it so that your home can start to cool off again.