What is an air-conditioner? How does an air-conditioner cool you ?
An air-conditioner is a piece of equipment that treats and controls the air temperature, humidity and cleanliness. It transfers heat and humidity from one space into another.
At the heart of every air-conditioner is a compressor, which is a pump that circulates refrigerant through the cooling system. This refrigerant acts as a medium which extracts heat from one space and dissipates it into another. By circulating cool, dry and clean air through the room, an air-con helps keep you in cool comfort. The optimal temperature should be in the region of 24 degrees celsius at relative humidity range of 55 – 65%.
What is the difference between a window unit and a split system?
A window unit is a self-contained packaged air-conditioner. All components are housed within the unit. It is installed through an opening in the wall and no inter-piping connection is required.
A single split unit, as it’s called, comprises 2 parts that make up a system air-conditioner the outdoor Condensing Unit (CDU) and the indoor Fan Coil Unit (FCU). The CDU consists of the compressor and a heat rejecting condenser coil. The FCU is a cooling coil that cools the room. Interconnecting piping between CDU and FCU is required to run this system.
A multi-split unit consists of 1 condensing unit connected to more than 1 fan coil unit thus having the capability to cool multirooms. The CDU can be single compressor or multi compressors. Because of the design, single split units and multi-split units are quieter than window units.
How to choose an air-conditioning system for the house?
To choose an air-conditioning system for your house, you need to:
- Decide on the areas that require air-conditioning.
- Have an aircon specialist determine the cooling capacity required.
- Determine the types of air-con that you want.
- Consider your budget.