All you need to know about how air conditioners work

Tips from Jaric’s expert air con team

While you’re enjoying the comfortable cooling breeze at home or in the office, you may have thought to yourself: ‘How do air conditioners work anyway?’ What exactly is the science behind them? This week, we’ve handcrafted for you a guide to better understand man’s second best friend called…the air conditioner!

In Australia, air conditioning is one of the few things we don’t want to live without, especially during the summer months. Even the colder parts of the nation love using a good reverse-cycle model all year round. Let’s stop for a second and find out about the fascinating mechanism of an air conditioner.

The origins of air conditioners

The invention of air conditioning has to rank as one of the most remarkable engineering achievements of the 20th century. From the traditional cooling machines, people living in hot climates kept thinking about ways to survive high summer temperatures. Over the years, air conditioning has spread all around the world and today of course, many people successfully use air conditioners in residential, commercial and industrial environments all over Australia.

Air conditioning technical facts

In theory, the process air conditioners use to reduce the room air temperature relies on a relatively simple scientific principle. The rest is basically achieved with the application of a few clever mechanical techniques.

For a better understanding, air conditioners work similarly to refrigerators, another appliance that “moves” heat from inside out. When the air con is in cooling mode, it removes the heat from the room and pushes it outside through the refrigeration system. Similarly, if the unit can operate in “reverse” (called heating mode or reverse cycle), the process runs backwards, collecting the energy from outside and moving it inside your home.

Technically, air conditioners use refrigeration to chill indoor air, based on a remarkable physical law: when a liquid converts into a gas (in a process called phase conversion) it absorbs heat. Air conditioners too force special chemical compounds (refrigerants) to evaporate, then pumps out through a system of pipes to an outside coil. Next, a fan blows ambient air over this hot coil containing the refrigerant, transferring the heat from the refrigerant to the outdoor air.

Then, the refrigerant condenses while being pumped back indoors and the process begins all over again.

Smart air conditioners

Generally, all air con systems have the same working principles. However, if you want to take comfort to a whole new level, you may want to check out smart air conditioners. Unlike traditional units, they allow you to manage your entire building temperature with a simple touch of a button.

With a compatible mobile device and internet connection, you can cool and heat your home anytime, anywhere. It’s the perfect balance of time, cost, and energy efficiency.

Talk to us for expert advice about air conditioning

Now that you’ve learned the basics of air conditioning, you can leave the rest to our experienced air conditioning technicians. All our team at Jaric understand air conditioning and we provide our valued customers with exceptional service, quality repairs, and professional installation. Call us at 1300 452 742 and get personalised solutions for your home or business today!