With the increasing heat index today, you might not want to leave your home during summer and set your air conditioning unit at its maximum capacity to make you cool. But considering the scorching heat of the season, your heating and air conditioning unit might be worn out easily. But have no worries! 5 Star Air Pro has got you covered when something goes wrong with your ventilation system in the middle of summer.
We do know that the more we keep our AC running, the higher the electric bill. But how does hot weather affect the performance of your cooling system? Should you worry about it? Here are the facts that you need to know about the effects of sweltering heat on your AC unit!
Imagine your home without an air conditioning unit, and the temperature of the city where you are currently living reaches ninety-five degrees. Does it feel like you are exerting more energy to cool yourself because of the excess humidity? Of course! Almost all of us have felt the same way.
And the same is true for your cooling system at home. Heat and proper airflow have a great effect on your air conditioning unit to work hard in keeping your room cool during this season.
Air conditioners basically work as heat transfer with two heat exchangers that work with heat in two environments. One captures the heat from the warm air inside your home and sends it to the condensing unit outside. At the same time, the second exchanger releases the heat to the outside.
On very hot days, like summer, your cooling system works extra hard to make your indoor environment cool and give you comfort. It is also important to note that the bigger the temperature difference between the outdoors and your ideal temperature indoors, your AC will double its work to make your desired temperature happen. In fact, it is much easier for your unit to release cool air when the temperature outside your home is eighty degrees compared to when it’s ninety-five degrees.
Additionally, humidity is also a pivotal factor in how well your cooling unit performs during hot days. When the level of humidity is high, it means that your AC must work that much harder for you to get rid of the moist and clammy air. When your system does not have enough capacity to handle it, you might experience sweating, clammy skin, or frizzed-up hair.
Airflow is also one factor that affects how perfectly your air conditioning unit works. AC’s performance during hot summer is reliant on the proper air circulation throughout the unit. When the air is interrupted at some point, your AC will work harder to provide you with your ideal temperature. That is why it is important that you should always keep an eye on your AC to know what are the factors that affect its proper airflow.
However, you should not have to worry about your AC breaking down during the summer season, as it is designed to provide you comfort during this time, assuming that your air conditioner is well-maintained regularly to keep it in good working condition regardless of the weather situation.
How Does the Heating and Cooling System Work?
Understanding how heating and air conditioning systems work could be very challenging. That is why it is best for us to call experts or consult 5 Star Air Pro to learn more about it, so when the time comes that our HVAC units need to be maintained or require basic repairs, we have the basic knowledge to do it on our own.
Sometimes, most of us take heating and cooling units for granted because we do know their basic functions—to keep us warm during winter and keep us cool during summer.
When your home is freezing cold in winter or sweltering hot during summer, your natural reaction is to call an expert for professional service. However, there’s one life hack that could prevent you from spending too much on costly repair and maintenance services. And that is to know the basics about how your heating and cooling systems work.
HVAC systems have three basic components: (1) a source of warmed or cooled air, (2) a means of distributing the air to the rooms being heated or cooled, and (3) a control to regulate the system, basically known as the thermostat.
The Heating System
A heating system is used to keep the home atmosphere warm and comfortable during the cold seasons.
How the heating system works:
The heating systems work by drawing thermal energy or heat from the outside air and releasing it to the area where the heat is needed. Here’s how the heating system processes the temperature:
- The heating system’s refrigerant flows through the expansion valve to compress the fluid. The liquid fluid will then pass through the evaporator coil, and will function as a heat absorber from the outside air. As it absorbs heat, the fluid will boil and turn into vapor (gas).
- The vapor will then flow through a reversing valve to a component that collects the excess liquid (accumulator). This process then compresses the vapor, heating it.
- The compressed and heated gas is pumped into the condenser, extracting heat from the gas to the outside environment, turning the remaining refrigerant into its cooler, liquid form again, continuing the cycle.
The Cooling System
The cooling system helps keep the temperature cool in a room to combat the baking heat from the outside atmosphere. Homeowners turn to the HVAC cooling system during summer to keep themselves comfortably cool in their homes or offices.
How the cooling system works:
The cooling system draws heat from the internal atmosphere and releases it outside. While this is happening, the HVAC unit is circulating cold air into the room. Here’s how the cool air is processed:
- The liquid refrigerant flows through an expansion valve. It then flows to the evaporator. Here, the liquid refrigerant will process to absorb heat from the room until it boils to vaporize.
- The processed vapor will pass through a reversing valve to the HVAC system’s accumulator, which extracts the remaining liquid in the vapor, causing it to compress and heat up.
- Ultimately, the resulting hot gas will pass through an outdoor coil that condenses it. The heat is extracted to be released to the outdoor air. What remains is a condensed refrigerant in liquid form that returns to the expansion valve, maintaining the cool temperature in the room.
It is always important to keep your HVAC unit to be maintained or repaired before the peak season of winter or summer starts so you can drastically reduce your expenditures for services. Book with us early at 5 Air Pro, and let us keep your systems up and running year round!
