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How Air Conditioners Work

Outdoor condenser units, sometimes called an outdoor coil, are seen in this photo. Courtesy of Smiths Services Brisbane Air conditioners employ the same operating principles and basic components as your home refrigerator. An air conditioner cools your home with a cold indoor coil called the evaporator. The condenser, a hot outdoor coil, releases the collected heat outside. The evaporator and condenser coils are serpentine tubing surrounded by aluminum fins. This tubing is usually made of copper.

A pump, called the compressor, moves a heat transfer fluid (or refrigerant) between the evaporator and the condenser. The pump forces the refrigerant through the circuit of tubing and fins in the coils. The liquid refrigerant evaporates in the indoor evaporator coil, pulling heat out of indoor air and thereby cooling your home or small business.

The hot refrigerant gas is pumped outdoors into the condenser where it reverts back to a liquid, giving up its heat to the air flowing over the condenser's metal tubing and fins. Fact Sheet

What type of Coolant should I look for?

Cross sectional schematic of a window unit, showing the inner workings of this Air Conditioner Most air-conditioners and heat pumps sold around the world use a refrigerant called R-22. Emissions of R-22 are considered by some experts to be a significant factor in depleting the ozone layer that protects animals and people from harmful rays from the sun. Families now have the choice to ask for an air-conditioner or heat pump that uses a more efficient and environmentally friendlier refrigerant called 410A or R-410 when buying a new system for their home. .Fact Sheet

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