So, your air conditioner is hard at work trying to cool your home down during these record-breaking hot temperatures. All of a sudden, you might realize that you don’t actually know how that cool air is produced from the system.
You’re smart enough to know that it’s not magic, but what if one of your kids asks you how the AC works? What are you supposed to tell them?
Well, we’re here to save the day! No matter if you’re a homeowner in desperate need for AC repair in Colorado Springs, CO, or if you’re just one of our regular readers trying to learn more, we’re going to help you figure this out.
Let’s talk about the cooling process–how it happens and how you know that something is wrong with it.
Heat and Lack of Heat
In the scientific world of thermodynamics, there’s no such thing as “cold.” Yeah, that might sound crazy, but it’s true! Here’s how.
In thermodynamics, heat relates to how fast particles in a given substance (like air or water) are vibrating. The more energy they have, the more the particles vibrate and the hotter the substance is. When a material has low energy and isn’t moving as much, it ends up being cooler. Our bodies can feel this ambient temperature difference, and we describe it as “cool” or “hot” in relation to how comfortable we feel.
Isn’t that cool? (No pun intended) Now let’s talk about how your air conditioner works to make things feel more comfortable.
Evaporation and Condensation
In order for your air conditioner to do something about the hot and stuffy air in your home, it needs to work through a different scientific process that affects the ambient temperature. This is evaporation and condensation.
By evaporating refrigerant inside the system, heat gets drawn into it. This lowers the ambient temperature around the refrigerant and allows your home’s indoor air to cool down. Then, the refrigerant condenses outside, releasing the heat where it is absorbed into the atmosphere.
This is mainly how your air conditioner differs from a fan or another conventional cooling method. It’s all science, and all of these components are required to work properly in order for your home to reach the setting listed on your thermostat.
When a Problem Occurs
So, now that you know how your air conditioner is supposed to work, it can be easier to detect when there’s a problem. For instance, if the system is running in normal cycles, but it’s only blowing luke-warm or room-temperature air into the rooms of your house, then there might be a refrigerant leak. How is the system supposed to cool the air if it doesn’t have refrigerant that’s designed to evaporate or condense?
Likewise, an AC isn’t supposed to make any noise, other than the gentle whir of it working properly. If it starts to make sounds that are loud or uncomfortable, then you’ll know something is clearly wrong and it needs to be repaired.
Contact SoCo Heating and Cooling today to schedule service. So Cool. So Cozy.