Friday, December 25, 2009

Filters in Air Conditioners

Generally, all the air-conditioning systems have a filter towards the source of the evaporator or indoor coil. They commonly located in special slots in the duct system and look like a folded paper. The filter removes pollen or dust particles from the indoor air stream and also keeps the air conditioning system clean.

In this process of collecting more and more dust particles the filter gets loaded. This increases resistance and reducing the airflow of the air conditioner. This is the time when you have to change the filter. The duration of the filter getting dirty depends upon the size of the filter.

The system will not perform well and the airflow will reduce if don’t change the filter. Apart from that, the filter acts as a source or air pollution itself when the filter is too dirty.

You can avoid this problem by completely removing the filter, but the dust particles will start to go directly into the system and get deposited on the indoor or evaporator coil. It may lead to the failure of the coil. Therefore, it is better to change the filter, as it is lot cheaper compared to the evaporator coil.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recommends a filter with Minimum Efficiency Rating Value of MERV 6 or more.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Know how an Air Conditioner Works

Many homes in warm climates use air conditioners. For them, it may not be a luxury, but it is a necessity. There are many benefits of air conditioning like cooling, heating, ventilation and disinfecting your home. But do you know how an air conditioner works? Read through to know how this amazing system works!

Air conditioner at your home transfers heat from inside to outside the home. In this process, air conditioners provide cool air into your home by pulling the heat out of that air. Blowing it over a set of cold pipes called an evaporator coil cools the air. The evaporator coil is filled with a liquid called as ‘refrigerant’. It changes into a gas from a liquid as it absorbs heat from the air. This refrigerant is then pumped to another coil outside the house. There it expels its heat and changes back into liquid form. The coil outside the home is called as condenser as it condenses the refrigerant from a gaseous state back to a fluid. A pump is used to move the refrigerant between the indoor (evaporator) and outdoor coils (condenser). This pump is called a compressor. It also helps to change the pressure of the refrigerant so that the refrigerant evaporates or condenses in the respective coils.