The most effective means to escape heat in the summer, and in the winter to warm up in the room is a domestic air conditioner , but many, not knowing exactly how it works, do not buy it, because they are not confident in the ability of this device to create comfortable climatic conditions for human life or use it not at full strength.
Many townsfolk, having met the concepts of air conditioning and split-system, start to think that these are different devices for controlling the climate in the room, but this is not so. Both terms designate the equipment having the same principle of operation and function, only the air conditioner consists of one wall unit, and the split system consists of two (indoor and outdoor).
In this article you will learn the basic principles of operation of air conditioners (split-systems) in all temperature modes.
Air conditioning unit
The main part of the population uses the air conditioners of the split system to regulate the microclimate in their living and working areas, as they effectively cool and heat the air.
Such conditioners consist of two parts:
- the external unit consists of a fan, a compressor, a four-way valve (for changing the direction of Freon), a condenser, a filter and union connections;
- indoor unit - front panel, two filters, evaporator, condensate tray, display panel, fan, control board, choke connections.
One-block wall air conditioners for removing heat use air ducts, which are installed on the street.
How does the air conditioner work?
The entire process of the air conditioner is built on the basis of the property of a liquid (freon) to absorb and give off heat, with a change in temperature. Therefore, they say that they do not produce cold or heat, but simply transfer it from one place (room) to another (to the street).
How this happens can be seen in the following figure
- The cooling process begins in the outer unit, where Freon is in the gaseous state.
- Then it moves to the compressor, which increases the pressure, the gas is compressed and its temperature rises.
- Freon passes into a condenser (heat exchanger - consisting of copper tubes with thin aluminum plates), where the intake air blows through the fan with the help of a fan, while cooling, this leads to the fact that the gas transition to the liquid state occurs.
- Then it enters the thermoregulating valve (a thin copper tube in the form of a spiral), which reduces the pressure in the system, rather than lowers the boiling point of Freon. This provokes its boiling and the beginning of evaporation.
- Once in the evaporator (heat exchanger in the indoor unit), where Freon is blown with warm air from the room. Absorbing heat, it goes back to the gaseous state, and the cooled air exits the air conditioner through the grate into the room.
- Freon in the form of gas moves again to the external unit at the input of the compressor already at low pressure and the cycle of operation of the air conditioner is repeated.
Operation of the air conditioner in winter for heating the room
The same principle is used to heat the air in the room.
The difference between these processes is that due to the four-way valve installed in the external unit of the air conditioner, the gaseous refrigerant (i.e., freon) changes the direction of movement and the heat exchangers change places - the heat exchanger generates heat and the heat exchanger in the external heat exchanger.
It is necessary to use the air conditioner very carefully at low temperatures, since during operation liquid refrigerant may not have time to completely switch to a gaseous state (warm up) and a liquid will enter the compressor, which will lead to the breakdown of the entire device.