Finding a household in Arizona which doesn’t have an air conditioning system to cool it down during the sweltering summers is almost an impossible mission. However, despite AC units being so common, many people still aren’t sure how air conditioners actually work.
Luckily, the leading Scottsdale air conditioning service will gladly help its neighbors with any AC issues and questions they might have. Is it bad to sleep with the AC on? How was air conditioning invented? Should you leave the AC running all day? No matter what you want to know, we’re always here to give you any AC-related information you might need. Read on!
Does AC take air from outside?
Should you use your air conditioner if the air outside is polluted or is high in pollen? Does your AC even pull air from outside the house? A short answer to these common questions is: no. Most air conditioners don’t take air from outside in order to cool your house. So, how does an AC unit work then?
A typical air conditioner has an indoor and outdoor unit which are connected by refrigerant lines. These lines don’t bring in the air from outside but allow a cooling substance, i.e. the refrigerant to pass through them and transfer the heat from inside your home to the outside by converting from gas to liquid and back again.
But where does the air coming into your house come from? Well, your indoor unit has a conditioner air intake grille equipped with a filter which lets through air but keeps dirt, dust and debris out. The air from the inside of your house passes through the filter and over the cooling coils before being blown out the front. This means that your AC unit actually recycles and cools the air that is already in your home without bringing in the air from outside.
Is air conditioning just cold air?
Does this mean that the air coming from your AC is just cold air? Actually, as you probably know, the definition of cold is simply the absence or lack of heat. Thus, your air conditioner can’t actually create cool air but removes the heat from the warm air inside your home.
In order to effectively cool your home, your AC unit relies on its three most important components:
- The inside evaporator coil
- The compressor
- The outside condenser
The inside unit of your AC takes in the air from inside your home, passes it over the evaporator coil which removes the heat from the air by using the refrigerant. The cooling substance then flows through the condenser and into the compressor which compresses it and heats it to a higher temperature than the outside air.
This enables the refrigerant to cool down while it passes through the outdoor unit and flow back to the indoor unit to keep absorbing heat. This process repeats itself until the AC manages to reach your desired temperature inside your home.
Does my air conditioner purify air?
While we’ve established that your AC unit doesn’t bring in polluted air from outside, you might be surprised to find out that it can actually clean the air in your home. When the air flows through the filter, your unit keeps dust from returning into the inside space. That’s why cleaning or changing the filter regularly is essential if you want to enhance the efficiency of your unit and keep the air clean.
Not only that but your air conditioner can also help remove excess moisture. When hot air is blown over the evaporator coil, humidity from the air is captured on the coils and taken away through the drain lines leading out of your unit.
Hire the foremost Scottsdale air conditioning service
Now that you know how air conditioning works inside your home, you can sit back and enjoy your cool house with no worries. What’s more, understanding the way your AC functions enables you to prevent many common issues and avoid unnecessary repair costs.
In case you’re dealing with more serious AC-related problems or need someone to install your new AC unit, rely on the seasoned experts at Hughes Air to take care of it with utmost professionalism and expertise. Sit back and relax or go and explore Camelback Mountain while our experienced technicians do their magic. Reach out to us today!