The central air conditioning system in your Rockford home is vital to keeping your residence comfortable during the summer cooling season. Since you rely so heavily on this cooling system, it pays to know some basics about how the equipment works.
Here’s a brief overview of central air conditioning that will help you understand the system and its function.
Maintaining Temperatures Throughout Your Home
Central air conditioners produce cooling using processes that involve removing heat from indoor areas and producing cool air for temperature control. Unlike window air conditioners, which are most effective in only one small area, central A/C models can produce enough cool air to maintain temperatures throughout an area the size of an entire home.
Your central air conditioner consists of two individual units: an indoor unit that contains the evaporator and the air distribution equipment, and an outdoor unit that contains a compressor, condenser and other important parts.
Your Central Air Conditioner: How It Works
Inside your home, liquid refrigerant in the A/C unit evaporates from a liquid to a gas. As it does so, it absorbs heat, cooling the evaporator coil.
The air handler blows air over this coil, which produces cool air. The conditioned air is forced into the ductwork, the system of pipes that carries cool air to all points in your home. The air travels through the ductwork and exits from vents in the floor or walls, cooling indoor spaces. Expended air returns to the system where it’s filtered, cooled and distributed again.
Next, the gaseous refrigerant moves through the system to the outside unit, where it’s compressed and condenses back to liquid form. As the refrigerant changes state again, it releases the heat it contains. This is why you can sometimes see waves of heat coming off the outside unit. The refrigerant then cycles back indoors, where the process begins again.
The Value of Preventative Maintenance for Your A/C Unit
Obviously, this is a very complicated process that necessitates a lot of moving parts. To ensure your system continues to operate at optimal efficiency throughout the summer, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting regular preventative maintenance for your unit, at least on an annual basis.
Axberg is a premier provider of air conditioning services to customers in Belvidere, Byron, Caledonia, Cherry Valley, Davis Junction, Durand, Loves Park, Machesney Park, Rockford, and more. Contact us today for more information on central air conditioning or to learn more about the full array of air conditioning solutions we offer.
