How Does a Central Air Conditioner Work?

When it comes to maintaining a cool and comfortable home year-round, it’s important to understand the role that your home’s HVAC system plays. When it comes to understanding how your central air conditioning system works to cool your home, the experts at Sitton Mechanical are here to help. We understand AC inside and out and how important it is when it comes to creating an oasis of comfort that you and your family can enjoy.

After all, no one enjoys suffering in a hot and stuffy home. That’s why with some basic understanding of how your home’s AC system works, you can avoid, recognize, and even diagnose common issues and problems that you may encounter with your central air conditioning system.

Understanding Your Home’s HVAC and Central AC System

When it comes to your central air conditioning, there are a variety of parts and components that need to work in sync to deliver the quality of cooling that you rely on to get you through the hot summers. While not all homes have the same air conditioning systems, there are a variety of things that remain the same or similar across the board when it comes to central air conditioning.

Some of the parts that make it possible to keep your home at that perfect temperature when the summer sun is blazing include:

  • Ductwork
  • Outside AC units
  • Compressors
  • Fans
  • Coils
  • Refrigerant
  • Vents and registers

So how does all of this come together to deliver cooling throughout your home? Let’s take a closer look at how a central air conditioning unit works and why you need to have a basic understanding of the cooling process that occurs within your home and air conditioning system.

Coils Absorb The Heat From Inside Your Home

Located inside of your home are your AC’s cold evaporator coils. These coils draw in the warm air from inside your home through your vents to absorb the heat from the air with the help of the refrigerant. This leaves you with a cooler and less stuffy home by simply eliminating the warmth and humidity within your home.

Your AC system then preps the warm air that it has absorbed so that it can move to the next step within the cooling process. Properly transferring and eliminating the built-up heat that has been absorbed from the air within your home.

Your Air Conditioners Compressor

Absorbing enough heat from within your home transforms your refrigerant from a liquid into a gas state. The compressor unit is then tasked with raising the temperature of your refrigerant even further so that it can make its way to the condenser unit located outside. This process is typically done by squeezing the gasses tightly between two solid objects that help get them to get ready for the condensing process and the dispersion of heat outdoors.

Pushing The Warm Air Out

As the refrigerant becomes a superheated vapor it makes its way to the condenser which is located within your outdoor AC unit. The superheated air is then exposed to the outdoor air and dispersed outside of your home until the refrigerant temperature lowers and once again becomes a liquid.

At this point, the heat from within your home has been properly displaced and pushed outdoors. This leaves you with a cooler and less humid home that makes enjoying a warm summer day manageable and more pleasant for everyone.

Repeating The Process

Once the refrigerant is cooled and returns to its liquid form, it returns to your evaporator coils inside and repeats the process once more. This process is repeated until your home reaches your desired indoor temperature, at which point your home’s thermostat will communicate with your AC unit to shut off and stop the process.

Your Friendly Central Air Conditioning Experts in Stillwater, OK

Here at Sitton Mechanical, our AC experts can help you diagnose, fix, install, or replace your home’s air conditioning system so that you have the cooling power that you need. By having a basic understanding of your home’s central air conditioning cooling process, you can help identify potential issues quickly.

This allows you to contact your local Stillwater professionals at Sitton Mechanical before smaller issues and problems become larger and potentially more costly repairs or replacements. No one likes suffering the summer’s heat in a stuffy and uncomfortable home, and that’s why our experts are always here for you if you have any questions, concerns, or need to schedule AC maintenance or services.

For more information on our HVAC services in Stillwater, OK, and the surrounding areas, or to schedule service with one of our professionals, contact us or give us a call at (405) 780-3034.