7 Essential Air Conditioner Components

You rely on your air conditioner to keep your home comfortable during Orlando’s long, humid cooling season, but are you familiar with all the different parts that allow it to do its job? If not, here’s a primer on the essential air conditioner components that keep your home cool.

• Thermostat –  The thermostat that’s located in a central spot in your home is the vital command center that gives you control over your home’s comfort system.
• Evaporator coil  –Sitting inside the indoor air handler unit is a metal-finned coil of copper tubing known as the evaporator coil. As the cooling system pumps refrigerant through the coil, it converts from a liquid to a gas and absorbs heat and humidity from the indoor air in the process.
• Blower –  Another component in the air handler compartment is the blower fan. When triggered by the thermostat, the fan cycles on and draws warm air in through your return vents, pulls it over the evaporator coil, and then pushes cooled and dehumidified air out through the supply ducting for distribution.
• Air filter – Before warm air reaches the evaporator, it has to pass through an air filter that’s also situated inside the air handler unit. The filter catches potentially harmful dust and dirt particles to stop them from damaging sensitive system components.
• Compressor –  The compressor is one of the vital components located in the outdoor unit. The compressor’s role in home cooling is pressurizing heat-laden refrigerant arriving from the evaporator and pushing it on to the condenser that’s sitting adjacent.
• Condenser coil – The condenser is another coil of copper tubing, and it functions like the evaporator but in reverse. It takes in pressurized refrigerant from the compressor, which reverts to a gas and releases the heat it carries as it moves through the coil.
• Cooling fan – Above the compressor and condenser is a cooling fan to blow air over the coil and help it do its job of letting heat dissipate into the outdoor air.

To learn more about the essential air conditioner components that keep your home comfortable, contact Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions. We’ve proudly served the Orlando area since 1969.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about air conditioners and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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