How Air Conditioners Work

How Does an Air Conditioner Work?
The literal meaning of air conditioning is the conditioning of air by cooling it, heating it, cleaning it, and controlling its moisture level in order to meet the demands of both people and machines.

An air conditioner transfers heat from the inside of a room or building, where it is not wanted, either to the outside of the room or to the outside of the building. The laws of physics tell us that we cannot create or destroy energy (in this case heat) but can only transform it from one form to another. This is the reason why we can’t make the heat from a contained space magically disappear using a totally self contained box. An air conditioning system containing refrigerant must be used to capture the heat and then transfer it either to air (creating warm air) or to water (creating warm water) which is then released elsewhere. While there are many different physical configurations possible for air conditioning systems, only “packaged portable units” or units that are contained in one box will be described here.

Dehumidification and Condensation
A natural byproduct of the air conditioning process, both water cooled and air cooled, is the collection of condensation which is the result of the removal of moisture from the air being cooled. This results in a drop in the humidity level in the space. This condensation is collected by the air conditioning unit in a tray. In most portable systems the condensation that is collected is either contained in a bucket to be emptied manually, or is pumped through a hose to a drain.

Air Conditioning versus Refrigeration
Air conditioning units will reduce the temperature of air in a contained space to no lower than 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 16 degrees Celsius which is the lowest level of comfort cooling. Reducing the temperature of air in a space lower than 16 degrees Celsius would require a refrigeration unit. Cool Air Rentals Ltd does not rent refrigeration equipment.