What is the purpose of an air conditioning condenser?

Answer 1

To turn the refrigerant from a vapor back into a liquid by increasing the pressure.

This phase change (from vapor to solid) releases the latent heat that the vapor was carrying, so that it can be blown out of the A/C by the cooling fan.

Answer 2

The condenser allows the hot high pressure refrigerant gas from the discharge side of the compressor, to lose heat and become a high pressure liquid. This high pressure liquid then travels to the metering device where the amount allowed through has been engineered to provide the best amount of liquid to flow to the evaporator where it will turn into a low pressure gas, absorbing heat as it does so. From the evaporator the gas returns to the compressor where the cycle is repeated. It is a very good idea to keep the condenser reasonably cool so that the high pressure gas gives up as much heat as is possible. The reason is that at the metering device, some of the high pressure gas will flash off as a vapor to cool the rest of the liquid down as the system requires it to be. The lees liquid lost to this process the better for the best efficiency of the system.

Answer 3

I agree with Kerry. In summary, the heat in the space being cooled is absorbed by the refrigerant in the evaporator and that heat plus the heat from the compressor is then rejected in the condenser.

Answer 4

Humidity control is one reason for a condenser. Reducing the temperature of the air in a room without removing water from the air raises the humidity. The condenser eliminates some of the water in the air.