HVAC Central Systems & Condenser Unit Guide
What is a condenser?
The Condenser is an Air Cooling System .
A Condenser is air cooling system located outside residential are. condenserCondensing unit: The outdoor component of the a cooling system. It includes a compressor and condensing coil designed to give off heat.Condenser Component Parts are:Fig.1.1
- Condenser fan blade
- Condenser motor
- Condenser coils(fig.1.2)
- Air conditioner compressor is within the condenser unit, but it does not help with heat rejection!
The condenser fan is mounted with the air cooled condenser. The condenser fan primary purpose is to increase condenser unit’s capacity to reject heat.
Air cooled condenser come into two types:
- Fin and tube condensers
- Plate condensers
What’s inside
The below diagram is to provide an example of what the inside of a 2-stage condensing unit would look like. Specialty parts and features vary depending on make and model of the condenser, but their basic functions are the same. For more information on the different technologies available, please visit our manufacturer brand page by clicking · · here · ·. View the brands we carry and visit each of their websites to read more about the features unique to their products.
How coil works
During the cooling mode of the Air Conditioning system, a fan draws warm air from inside the home through a filter and the furnace and then over the evaporator coil (Fig 1.2) or evaporator slab coil (Fig 1.3). As the air passes over the coil, much of the moisture the air possesses is condensed and runs off into a drip pan where it is drained away through the drain lines. This process occurs because as the warm air passes over the coil, it is quickly cooled and can no longer hold the same amount of moisture as it did when it was warm. The refrigerant inside the evaporator coil enters as a liquid and once the warm, filtered air is passed over it, the temperature of the air is lowered. From here, the refrigerant carries the warm air as a gas to the outside compressor where the vapor is compressed and passed through the condenser coil (Fig 1.4). This process is much the same as what happens to a glass of cold water on a hot and humid day.
Air conditioner: How does it work?
An air conditioner cleans, circulates, cools and dehumidifies (removes undesirable moisture from) indoor air. A filter cleans the air by trapping dust and other small particles. An air handler (blower built into the system) circulates it, while the cooling and dehumidifying are accomplished by a process called refrigeration.
Refrigeration. Refrigeration cools a Business by transferring heat inside a Business to the outdoors. All central air conditioners employ two main units in this process – the indoor unit and the condensing unit.
The indoor unit. This unit removes undesirable indoor warmth and humidity. It includes the filter , the air handler and the evaporator coil (Fig 1.2). The air handler blows filtered air through the evaporator coil.
The evaporator coil is kept cold by the circulation of a substance called a refrigerant. Office air that travels across the evaporator coil gives up heat (the colder coil absorbs it) and humidity (moisture condenses upon contact with the cold surface of the coil).
The cooler, drier air that continues through the air ducts is vented throughout the office to maintain your desired comfort level. Depending on the structure of your business, the ductwork may be above the ceiling or below the floor.
The condensing unit. Outdoors, at the condensing unit, an air conditioner releases the heat that was captured indoors. The same refrigerant that absorbed the heat indoors at low pressure is now pressurized – by the compressor – and is circulated through another coil, the condensing coil (Fig 1.4).
In the condensing coil, under high pressure, the refrigerant releases its heat very quickly, making the coil itself hot. A fan blows across the coil, cooling its temperature down and transferring the heat to the outside air.
The refrigerant is returned indoors to the evaporator coil, chilled again by pressurization, and the heat transfer process continues.
How the furnace works
A furnace is a major piece of equipment, usually located in the attic that is permanently installed to provide heat to an indoor area. In most instances, the heat is generated by a natural gas or common fuel source, and in some situations electrical heating is used. These furnaces always need to be vented to the outside, and in the past this was usually accomplished through a chimney, which would sometimes expel as much of the heat produced as the exhaust. Today, many furnaces are up to 90% efficient and can be operated without a chimney. The small amount of waste gas and heat are mechanically ventilated through a small tube through the side or roof of the house.
Most of today’s furnaces use a fan to circulate air to the rooms of the house and pull cooler air back to the furnace for re-heating. While the furnace is a primary component in the heating system, it is actually used all year long as a means to propel both the heated and cooled air by use of a fan. This fan and blower capacity is extremely important to the operation of the system as is the type and design of the ductwork. Stronger capacity furnaces can often times overcome restrictions in the ductwork. In a modern application, separate ducts collect cool air to be returned to the furnace. Once at the furnace, the cool air passes through the furnace, through a filter (if installed), through the blower, through the heat exchanger, where it is finally blown through the building.
The air is propelled through the ductwork, which can be either hard pipe sheet metal or flex duct. Unless the ducts have been sealed using mastic, the ductwork can leak the heated or cooled air into unconditioned areas as it is pushed through.
What’s inside
The below diagram is to provide an example of what the inside of a 2-stage furnace would look like. Specialty parts and features vary depending on make and model of the furnace, but their basic functions are the same. For more information on the different technologies available, please visit our manufacturer brand page by clicking · · here · ·. View the brands we carry and visit each of their websites to read more about the features unique to their products.
Air handler
The outdoor unit, or condensing unit, is part of the air conditioning system and is there to provide your home with central air conditioning year-round. But the outdoor unit also has an indoor unit, called the air handler. It is usually used in place of a gas furnace and is just as cost efficient. The air handler is the unit that circulates all of that lovely air we crave in the summer and the heat that’s essential for those living in colder environments and it does so evenly throughout the home. One unit cannot work without the other, they work together to provide central air conditioning.
Air handlers operate in conjunction with an air conditioning or heat pump system, are simple to the naked eye and are generally used instead of a furnace. An air handler is a box made of sheet metal, with holes on each side and a fan that circulates the air. It also houses essential air conditioning parts, such as an evaporator coil and an air conditioning filter.
There are various sizes and efficiency ratings of air handlers , mainly due to the different air conditioning systems . Both are matched together to provide the very best central air conditioning for the size of the home or office building. Basically, it’s the part of the air conditioning system that solely focuses on the cooling of the house, while the condensing unit, or “outdoor unit,” focuses on the heating. Both have the same parts yet concentrate on different functions to provide both heating and air conditioning.
The air handler can also be referred to as an “indoor unit.” Whenever you have to replace the outdoor air conditioning unit, you also have to do the same with the air handler because both are designed to provide the very best air conditioning system . Not matching these two air condition parts can result in insufficient heating and air conditioning you come to expect of your central air conditioning.
Something not entirely new to the market but an added perk are variable speed air handlers , which pretty much operate the same as the standard but have an added bonus: a variable-speed blower that can cool (or heat depending on if you have an added heating coil) in varying speeds throughout the home instead of an on/off stronger flow that is expected of the standard air handler.
Duct work
The basic goal of any duct system is to provide an even temperature distribution throughout the house without any noticeable amount of stratification or noise. The size and design of the ductwork is just as important as the selection of the main components of the heating system, because, when it comes to airflow, the laws of physics apply; air follows the line of least resistance. Poorly designed ductwork can seriously curtail proper system performance. These factors usually show up in uneven temperatures through out the conditioned area. If a duct system is properly designed and installed, you can expect to have less infiltration of unprocessed air, because with a properly installed duct system, you will have less duct leaks. Duct leaks result in conditioned air loss, which in turn is replaced by unfiltered and unprocessed attic air. It brings in humidity and dirt and contaminates the air you breath. In many situations where ductwork has been installed improperly, leaking ductwork can account for 10-25 percent of total heating and cooling costs. This is because the system becomes less efficient if cooled air is allowed to escape into unconditioned spaces. When installing ductwork it is important to take into consideration the type of home you have along with the three major types of ductwork: Flex, Hard Pipe and Hybrid.