How Does Air Conditioning Work?

So how does air conditioning work?

Here is a guide to the seven processes of any air conditioning system;

• Warm air will be sucked in from the room, through a grille at the base of the air conditioning unit
• This warm air will flow over chiller pipes in the unit. It's in this area that a coolant fluid is circulating. Essentially, this part of the machine works just like a chiller cabinet would in a refrigerator. It will cool down the incoming warm air and a dehumidifier also removes any excess moisture.
• The air will then flow over a heating element (similar to one in a fan heater). On a cold day, however, this part of the air conditioning unit can be turned up so that the system works as a heater.
• A fan at the top of the unit will then blast the air back through another grille into the room. If the heating element is turned down, in the summer for example, the air re-entering the room will be much cooler. This then leads to a much cooler room.

• At the same time, coolant will flow through the chiller pipes. As it does this, it will pick up heat from the air blowing past the pipes and then evaporate. This will turn from a cool liquid into a hotter gas. This will carry the heat from inside the room to the outside of the building, where it gives up its heat to the outside air. Just like in a refrigerator, this coolant will flow through a compressor unit and some condensing pipes. This turns it back into a cool liquid ready to cycle round the loop again and again.
• In the unit situated outside the building, there are lots of metal plates that are ready to dissipate the heat to the atmosphere. An electric fan will then blow the air past them to accelerate the process.
• Gradually, the heat inside the building will gradually pump away into the outside air.