2006-08-01 23:56:29 · 7 answers · asked by pretty_lesbiian 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
they use a compressed gas that has a high level of volatility
the compressor, squeezes this gas into a liquid, and when the compressed gas leaves the compressor, into the coil, it tries to get back to its natural gas state, but to become a gas again, it needs to get heated, so this compressed gas steals heat from around it, causing the air around it to be cold. this cold air is than blown by a fan.
when the compressed gas runs out, you need to refil your air conditioner
2006-08-02 00:48:37 · answer #1 · answered by Fowl Language 5 · 3⤊ 3⤋
The compressor squeezes the gas into a hot high pressure gas then the gas goes to the condenser where heat is removed and the gas becomes a liquid. After the warm high pressure liquid leaves the condenser, it goes to the metering device. This device regulates the flow of the refrigerant into the evaporator. At this point the line sizes change and along with the metering device causes a pressure drop. Because the pressure has dropped the refrigerant begins to boil. This is where the heat from the evaporator(inside coil) is absorbed by the refrigerant. What is actually happening is your unit is not blowing cold air, it is blowing air with the heat removed. As the low pressure liquid in the evaporator boils and absorbs heat, it eventually turns completely back into a gas. The gas is then pulled back to the compressor where the process starts over again.
This is the shortest answer I can give but I would like to add this.
Water boils at 212 degrees at sea level. As you go up in elevation the air pressure drops and the boiling point of water is less than 212 degrees. The same with refrigerant. When the pressure drops after the metering device the refrigerant begins to boil. The change from a liquid to a gas is where most of heat is absorbed. Your fan blows across the coil to continue to add heat to the refrigerant. The result is the cold air leaving the vents.
2006-08-02 02:12:31 · answer #2 · answered by foy_d 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Let me try to lay it out to make it very understandable. When I looked at the website suggested here, it still seemed somewhat confusing.
If you recall from science class, there are endothermic reactions, that take heat away, and exothermic reactions, that add heat. The gas used in air conditioning is very cool in that simply by changing it back and forth from a gas to liquid, you can add and remove heat. In the summer, it removes heat from the inside, and adds it back to the ouside. In the winter (with a heat pump) the same system takes heat from the outside and adds it back to the inside.
The compressor has a piston that compresses the gas into a liquid form. This operation takes a lot of energy, and is actually the biggest part of your utility bill. The cool liquid is sent to a radiator-like device in your inside unit, and air is drawn past it.
When the air comes in contact with the cool liquid refrigerant the temperature is reduced, and humidity condenses out of the air on the aluminum fins, where it runs out in a condensate drain.
Exposure to the warm air begins to change the refrigerant back into a gas (it has a very low boiling point). The gas is sent back to the outside unit, where it travels around the condensing unit in a system of tubes while air is drawn past it to remove the heat it picked up inside. If you hold your hand over the outside fan you can feel the heat being released. After it cools down a bit, it is ready to go back to the compressor and start the cycle again.
I can just hear the a/c pros laughing at my hokey explanation. I don't care, as long as you get it. Hope this helps!
2006-08-02 01:22:56 · answer #3 · answered by Elwood Blues 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both heating and air conditioning work on the principle that heat always moves from a warm object to a cooler one, just as water flows from a higher to a lower level. Furnaces and heaters put heat into the air to make your home warmer; air conditioners remove heat to make your home cooler.
When an air conditioner is turned on, electrical power is used to cool a gas in a coil to its liquid state. Warm air in your home is cooled by contact with the cooling coil, and this cooled air is channeled to the rooms of your home through ducts and out registers or -- in the case of room air conditioners -- directly from the unit itself.
2006-08-02 00:28:00 · answer #4 · answered by Ash 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mainly it have 4 components:
1- compresor 2- evaporator 3- condenser 4- expansion valve
also pipes , using refrigerating gases like freon
by compressing the gas it turns to liquid then goes to the expansion valve to be sprayed , then it cools down , went to the evaporator which becomes cool , a fan to blow cold air to the atmosphere , then it heats up , then it condenstes then back to the compressor again
2006-08-02 00:18:04 · answer #5 · answered by forex 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
see below link to ur answer
http://www.howstuffworks.com/ac.htm
2006-08-02 00:01:37 · answer #6 · answered by Abhijit D 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know, girl. I just know they keep you cool....thank God!
2006-08-02 00:00:11 · answer #7 · answered by Author Al 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋