Everyone knows in a general sense what an air conditioner does — it keeps your home cool during a hot Utah summer season. But do you know how? Home comfort can really be boiled down to one task: moving heat energy. In the summer, heat energy is moved out of your home, and in the winter, it’s added back in. So how does an air conditioner move heat energy? Keep reading!
An air conditioner has one primary purpose, and that’s to compress a gas called refrigerant. When compressed, the gas condenses to a chilled liquid, and the heat energy that was in the gas is dispersed into the outside air. Once chilled, the refrigerant is pumped (by the air conditioner) inside the home to the indoor coil. The fan motor in the furnace (or air handler) turns on and pulls warm air from the home via return air ducts. The refrigerant absorbs heat energy from the air, which cools the it.
The efficiency of an air conditioner is measured with a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) rating. An 18 SEER air conditioner is more efficient than a 16 SEER model. However, overall air conditioning efficiency is about much more than the SEER rating. A quality design and installation are paramount to achieving manufacturer specs.
Call Brigham Heating and Cooling at (435) 723-2150 for exceptional air conditioning service for Utah. We offer maintenance, repair, replacement and new installation services.
