Many people think that an air conditioner makes the outside air cold, then takes it inside your home, but that’s just about the opposite of the truth! Let us explain:
No, air conditioners don’t “add coldness”
In reality, they make a hot environment with high humidity less uncomfortable by REMOVING excess heat from your home or office, and providing you with cool dry air (that also has less allergens, bacteria and viruses).
But, how do air conditioners work by removing excess heat? Well, the indoor unit of your A/C actually starts the process by sucking in hot air from inside your home. The hot air passes over what’s called evaporator coils, but that doesn’t mean that your A/C is “adding coldness” to the hot air. Rather, the evaporator coils are absorbing heat and humidity. So, removing heat isn’t the same as adding coldness.
No, air conditioners don’t “suck in air from outside”
“Ok,” you might say next. “Where is the part where my outdoor A/C unit sucks in air from outside and brings it into my house?”
The answer is: never! Yep, except in very rare cases (like if you have an evaporative cooler), your A/C only brings in a small amount of fresh air from outside, for the sole purpose of being fresh. It isn’t constantly sucking in the air from outside and bringing it inside, like many people think. That’s another A/C myth, busted!
So if air isn’t being sucked in from outside to inside, then …
What’s happening? Well, the indoor unit of your air conditioner simply circulates the air, with the heat and humidity removed, back into your home. That’s it! The role of your outdoor air conditioner, then, has nothing to do with “sucking air inside.” It has everything to do with taking the refrigerant, which has just absorbed a bunch of heat and moisture, and causing the refrigerant to go through a compressor and a condenser in order to get that heat and moisture removed. Then, the refrigerant (returned to liquid form) can go back to your indoor unit and repeat the process again!
If you thought that air conditioners “add coldness” to outside air or suck the air in from outside, don’t feel bad! Most people don’t know how their air conditioner works and the process is shrouded in mystery – especially when something goes wrong! If the A/C in your Orange County home stops working or needs service, you can rely on the pros at Dial One Sonshine to have the knowledge to fix your air conditioning system. Just schedule an appointment online or give us a call: (714) 613-1016