Hello! Would appreciate any basic explanation on how airconditioners work. Mine just got busted (and I’m from a very hot, tropical country!). I’m tempted to just call the maintenance guy, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to first learn about it before spending some dough. I’ll be using A/C units all my life anyway.
Been watching some YT videos but once terms like “latent heat vaporization” are mentioned, my mind just shuts off. Many thanks to all the articulate and patient folks out there!
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So you know how when you spray deodorant the can gets cold and the spray itself is cold? That’s because you’re taking a gas that’s stored at a higher pressure and releasing the pressure when you spray it.
An air conditioner unit has two sides:
A compressor side where the gas in the system is compressed. Compressing the gas creates heat, which is cooled by a heat exchanger outside (basically a radiator with a fan) so your room doesn’t get hotter.
On the other side is where the gas pressure is released, just like the gas from your deodorant can but within a sealed system) and the cold gas is fed through another heat exchanger to distribute the cold air to the room. The gas itself stays in the system but by cooling another radiator the air around it is cooled and this cool air is blown around the room.
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