4 Critical Parts of an Air Conditioning Unit

[wpseo_breadcrumb] Your air conditioning unit is made up of numerous components working together to give your home the cooling comfort during the dog days in Northwest Arkansas. Four of which are obviously more important as they are the center of your system’s operation. Here are the four critical parts of your air conditioning unit that you should know:

1. Evaporator

The evaporator functions on the cold side of the air conditioning unit. Its main purpose is to turn the liquid refrigerants into gas. The gas then absorbs all the heat from the air and delivers them to the condenser, leaving the air cooled and dehumidified. The evaporator is paired with a fan responsible for blowing hot air to the chilled coils. Once the temperature of the air cools down, the fan will then blow the cold air back to the room.

2. Condenser

The condenser is an important component of the heat transfer process and is the counterpart of the evaporator. It is responsible for eliminating the extracted heat from the gas inside the unit. When the heat escapes, the temperature of the gas goes down and turns back to its liquid form. The process by which the condenser helps in converting the evaporated refrigerant back to its liquid form is called the “heat transfer”.

3. Compressor

The compressor assists the condenser on the hot side of the A/C in bringing back the refrigerant to its liquid form. It also works in the cooling process and is responsible for keeping the refrigerant cycling continuously. When the refrigerant gas enters the compressor, it is squeezed very tightly to increase pressure and temperature in the gas. When the pressure becomes too high, the gas becomes very hot and enters the condenser where it will be converted to liquid form.

4. Expansion Valve

The expansion valve helps in regulating the amount of liquid refrigerant that enters the evaporator coil. It is located between the evaporator and condenser coils and is also responsible for removing pressure in the liquid refrigerant that enters the evaporator, making it easy to convert the liquid refrigerant into gas. Familiarize yourself with these important parts and their functions to make it easy for you to identify problems in the future. If you have questions and concerns, feel free to call the professionals at Armor Heating and Air, LLC today!