How Does Your Air Conditioner Work?

air conditioning banner image featuring coolant measuring device
Almost everyone has an air conditioning system these days. However, most people who own an AC system don’t know how it functions. Moreover, knowing a little about how air conditioners work can help you know when to call the HVAC professionals for service, repair, or replacement work. So, how does your air conditioner work? Let’s explore just how your home air conditioning system keeps you cool all summer.

The Air Conditioning Process

The air conditioning process is relatively simple. Air conditioners pull the heat out to help cool a space. They do this in a two-cycle process. The two cycles of air conditioner functionality are:

  • Evaporation
  • Compression

The Evaporation Cycle in Modern Air Conditioning

The evaporation cycle in modern air conditioning systems is the cycle in which the air’s actual cooling occurs. To accomplish this, your air conditioner passes inside air through a coil filled with supercooled liquid refrigerant. The refrigerant pulls the heat from the air, and then fans distribute the air through your ductwork (or directly into your space if you have a ductless split air conditioning system). After cooling the air, your air conditioning system sends the now gaseous refrigerant to the compression side of the system.

The Compression Cycle in Modern Air Conditioning

Compression is the second primary operation cycle in modern air conditioning systems. It works in almost the exact opposite way that the evaporation cycle does.

During this cycle, two things happen. The first thing that happens is that your system will pull outside air through what is known as the condensing coil. This coil contains the gaseous refrigerant from the evaporation cycle. When the outside air is pulled through the ring, the heat from the gaseous refrigerant is transferred to the atmosphere. This begins transforming the gaseous refrigerant back to its original liquid form.

However, the coil itself is not enough to fully compress the refrigerant. That is why modern air conditioning systems also use a device known as a compressor to transform the coolant back to a supercooled liquid. Then, once the compression cycle is complete, the refrigerant is transported back to the evaporator side of the machine to start the process all over again.

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