Keeping your home or office cool is not just a luxury—it’s essential for preserving your belongings and creating comfortable, breathable air that’s healthy to breathe. And with the National Climatic Data Center reporting that 2015 was one of the hottest years on record, it’s more important than ever to have quality air conditioning working for you.
While there are many types of air conditioners on the market, most work on a similar principle using refrigerant to remove heat from indoor spaces and transfer it to outdoor environments. This process is made possible by a refrigeration cycle, which uses a chemical compound that can change from liquid to gas and back at varying temperatures and pressures.
An early version of this technology was used in the Middle East as far back as prehistory, where handheld fans were employed to move melted water droplets across surfaces to absorb and disperse heat from the air around them. More sophisticated versions arose in the early 1900s, with the first commercially air-conditioned building constructed in 1922 in Grauman’s Metropolitan Theatre in Los Angeles. By 1950, small portable air-conditioning units had become available.
The most common type of air conditioner is a self-contained unit that’s placed in a window or on a wall and connected to the interior space by copper tubing. This tubing also connects the air-conditioning system to the cooling compressor in an outdoor unit, which is often located on the roof of a building. Central air-conditioning systems are larger and more complex than these units, with a cooling compressor and evaporator paired together in a single unit that’s typically placed outside of a home or office.
These systems are more expensive than their simpler counterparts and require professional installation to ensure that ductwork is properly routed. The most sophisticated options feature a programmable thermostat and may be used to regulate temperature in multiple rooms at once.
As air-conditioning evolved, manufacturers sought to increase energy efficiency while lowering operating costs. This led to the development of new refrigerant gases that had low toxicity and environmental impact. Older refrigerants, including CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) that were phased out in the ’90s, released harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.
Air-conditioning experts now use a variety of technologies to control temperature, humidity and indoor air quality in order to maximize comfort while decreasing energy consumption and waste. The science behind these innovations is not only impressive but also fascinating.
Whether you choose a portable air conditioner, a ductless mini-split or a full-scale central air conditioning system, an HVAC professional can help you select the best model to suit your needs and budget. Be sure to take into account the size of your room and other factors that can influence power requirements, such as if you have many heat-generating appliances in the space. You’ll also want to be sure your window unit is properly secured in place and insulated to reduce noise and vibrations. Also, make sure to move any heat-generating objects like TVs away from the unit and install foam or weather stripping to help keep cold air in and hot air out.
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