How Air Conditioners Work & How Water Affects Your AC System | Insight from Your Trusted Plano, TX Air Conditioning Service Provider
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One of the most valuable assets in your Plano, TX home is your air conditioner. The weather here in North Texas can get extreme, with temperatures over 100°F for several days in a row during a heat wave in summer and dropping well below freezing during wintertime. It’s important then to understand that your air conditioner actually controls the climate in your home, and it can do so through both cooling and heating it.
Yes, you read correctly. Your air conditioner can also heat your home. Any reputable conditioning service technician will tell you the same. Essentially your AC system works as a refrigerator, keeping the inside of your house cool while expelling heat out the back.
When you open a refrigerator during a hot day, you’re essentially creating an air conditioner. Turn it around, and an air conditioner creates heat. That’s why the back side of your refrigerator gets so hot, just like the air your air conditioning unit blows outside on a hot day.
The simplest air conditioners work exactly like this, with fans on both sides that circulate the air rapidly. They have heating elements in them so that they warm the air on cooler days and cool it down on hot days. These machines are referred to as heating and ventilation air conditioning units, or HVACS. More elaborate AC systems pipe warm or cool air using long ducts that can heat or cool an entire building, but they still work the same way.
How Does an AC System Work?
These systems control the temperature in a room, house, or other building by creating a refrigerator. This process removes the warm air, replacing it with cool air, through three parts of the AC system. These are the compressor, condenser, and evaporator.
In order to cool the air down, the air conditioning system uses gas. Your air conditioner turns this gas into a liquid before returning it back into gaseous form. It’s done chemically, and through this process it transfers the heat inside your home outside. This fluid then pushes through the compressor, which turns the molecules back into a gas.
Using this method, the AC unit cools down a room or building, doing the exact opposite to heat it. The unit draws in cool air, levelling out the temperature, only to expel air at a hotter temperature. Both the cool and hot air elements draw air through them in the form of water vapor, balancing out the temperature until it becomes the same as the thermostat.
Air Conditioning Service & Care
Investing in an appliance for your home especially an air conditioning unit, requires that you know a bit about how it works. It also helps when you call out an air conditioning service technician for repairs or general maintenance, as you’ll understand the option the technician gives you.
Knowing how to properly care for your home and the major appliances in it, like your HVAC system, gives you an advantage when speaking to an installer or sales person for an air conditioning service. You’ll want to give the right information to the HVAC installer doing the installation, so that they can help you adjust the climate to a temperature that not only suits your body, but also your pocketbook. The air conditioning service company can also give you the best advice for your unit to ensure it lasts as long as possible.
How Humidity Affects Your AC System
For anyone living in Plano, TX, you know how the cost of running your air conditioning rises with the coming of summer and its humidity and heat. Adding humidity control to your AC system not only provides you with better climate control, it also helps reduce your energy usage noticeably.
This is true not only for through the heat of summer when it’s being continually used, but also in late spring and even into autumn. Any air conditioning service will tell you how humidity can make AC systems work harder.
Why Size Doesn’t Really Matter
Every type and size air conditioner, even window units, remove some of the humidity from the air. As window air conditioners only remove a tiny amount, they’re not as effective at managing humidity levels. Central air conditioners manage humidity much more effectively.
Large central units are more effective at managing humidity levels throughout the home than the smaller window units. However, simply increasing the size of an air conditioning system for the home will not be enough to add all the benefits of actual humidity control, as it would require the unit to run all the time.
Having your AC unit running constantly would create a lot of wear and tear. Though larger central air systems take more moisture out of the air, they also cycle less frequently, especially if the system’s a bigger size than the space you’re cooling. Thus, just because an air conditioner is larger, doesn’t mean it’s better at removing the humidity from the air.
However, if you use a variable speed fan with your air conditioner, it removes humidity much more efficiently. A continually running fan will effectively reduce the dampness while keeping your air temperatures cooler. And then you can keep with a correctly-sized system that suits the space you’re cooling while removing the mugginess in the air.
Temperature & Humidity
Any air conditioning service will tell you that cool air can’t hold the same amount of water vapor as warm air. Science even proves it. You can maintain temperature with your AC system while keeping your humidity levels low with the constantly running variable speed fan. And with this also comes a boost in system-wide efficiency.
In fact, humidity can make you just as uncomfortable as heat, and maybe more so. Just ask any air conditioning service tech. No matter what your temperature settings, you won’t feel comfortable if there’s too much moisture in the air. In fact, too much or too little water vapor will even affect how your system works. It can warp wooden furniture too. Too much or too little humidity in the air can even lead to health problems, causing coughing and dry skin.
If you feel that the humidity levels in your home are making life uncomfortable, call in an air conditioning services company to evaluate it for you. Homes in Plano, TX may be vulnerable when moisture levels vary, often depending on the time of year. So, it’s important to prepare for seasonal change as well.
How Humidity Affects Your Air Conditioner
Air conditioners are meant to remove heat and humidity from the air, controlling the climate inside your home. However, older units may not work as efficiently, and not perform as well, especially if affected by excess moisture.
Humid air makes your AC unit work harder, and could wear it down more quickly. It definitely can affect your electricity bills. Signs of excess humidity include foggy windows, and even wet spots in parts of the room. That’s why you should contact a professional air conditioning service as soon as you suspect your HVAC system is having trouble.
Using a Dehumidifier
One way to take the load off your air conditioner and make it last longer is by installing a dehumidifier. It will help your AC unit remove excess moisture from the air, keeping your home cooler and drier. An air conditioning service can give you advice and install the dehumidifier for you. It’s an effective, affordable way to deal with muggy summers.
Your Heater & Humidity
During wintertime in Plano, TX the dryness can cause problems, making your home feel colder. It keeps your heater from working as well as it should. It also leads to health problems, like scratchy throats and coughing as well as dry skin.
In this case, you can install a humidifier on your HVAC system to make the air moister and more comfortable. Sometimes those winter colds people feel coming on are actually symptoms from too dry air.
Keeping the Right Humidity Level Year Round
Regardless of the season, the level of moisture in the air should remain constant to keep you from feeling too cold or too hot. If you suspect too much humidity in summer, an air conditioning serve can help you troubleshoot your trouble, installing a dehumidifier if necessary. During wintertime, you can contact HVAC professionals to provide you with the right fix.
Water & Your AC system
Along with humidity comes rain. Summers in Plano, TX can get downright muggy, but it’s more than the moisture in the air that can affect your air conditioner. Rain can as well.
Sitting outside, your air conditioning unit and heat pump systems are designed for weather. So, for the most part, rain and other weather won’t affect it. However, extreme situations can negatively affect your HVAC system, though a little drizzle or even a summer thunderstorm generally won’t hurt it.
Heavy Storms, Flooding, & Corrosion
It’s not so much the rain with heavy storms, but the wind that can threaten your AC system. Debris blown into your air conditioner could cause damage. A broken tree branch or even loose leaves blown off a nearby tree can damage your system or even soiling your system’s coils. After a storm, if things aren’t working with your AC system, it might be good to call out an air conditioning service technician.
Excessive water caused by flooding won’t do any appliance good. If your air conditioner ends up standing in water several feet deep, it can destroy it. Not that minor flooding is good, but AC systems are built to withstand a foot or so of water. If you’re concerned after a flood, contact a professional air conditioning service to check it out.
Water also causes corrosion. As a machine made of mostly metal parts, when water gets inside it, it tends to rust. You might think that by wrapping your unit in plastic or using a tarp that you’ll protect it. Instead, what you’re doing is trapping water inside, leading to corrosion. Generally, your AC system takes care of itself. It’s a good idea, however, to check it after a major storm.
Air Conditioning Service Solutions
Regular servicing of your AC system is important. Keeping your air conditioner well-maintained prevents costly breakdowns and saves you from repeatedly calling out an air conditioning service. Planned upkeep can even evade having to replace your whole HVAC system.
But it causes irritation any time of the year. There’s never a good time for your air conditioning or heating system to break down. Not only do you need to find someone qualified to repair it, costing hard-earned cash. It also costs you time. You’ve got to contact a busy air conditioning service to repair your broken appliance, and often they don’t come when they say they will.
Call a dependable air conditioning service company that delivers quick, effective solutions for your HVAC system in Tarrant County, TX. Accessibly positioned in the Plano, TX area, One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating® helps with AC servicing or repair as well as installation of new units. They’ll even give you helpful advice on indoor air quality products, like humidifiers and dehumidifiers.
Call for Advice!
There’s no need to feel unpleasant in your own home. If your HVAC system isn’t working correctly, call us at 817-283-6911. We answer questions all your questions about air conditioning service frankly. Schedule an appointment online, whenever you want us.
Additionally, if you require immediate service, just give us a call. We can deal with all kinds of emergencies, at any time of day or night, and we even provide 24/7 air conditioning service. We know emergencies normally don’t happen when at convenient times. Just call us and we’ll be there.
Located in Plano, TX, area One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating® technicians can reach anywhere in the Fort Worth quickly. Call us at 817-283-6911.