by It is hard to believe that air conditioners have only existed for about 100 years. What did people do before to stay cool? They must have relied on fans, which don’t do nearly as good a job of generating cool air. Thank god we have air conditioning nowadays.
Air conditioners are common household appliances, especially for people who live in the south where it is warmer. You can’t find a home in Florida that doesn’t have an air conditioning unit or system in it. The world is only getting warmer, so people need to stay comfortable by using air conditioning in their homes.
The only question is, which type of air conditioner will do the best job of keeping your home cooled down? You’ll want an air conditioner that not only generates cool air easily, but is also built to be energy efficient.
Top 4 Types
Let’s take a look at the 4 different types of air conditioners that are found in homes.
1) Central Air Conditioners
A lot of newer homes are built with central air conditioning systems. It is designed to circulate cool air throughout every room of the house. There is no need for a wall air conditioner that only cools one room. Central air conditioners cool all the rooms with the use of a condenser, compressor, evaporator, and air duct system.
The central air conditioning unit is installed on either a concrete slab outside or on top of the roof. This is the unit that contains the compressor and condenser. On the inside of the home, there is another unit that contains the air handler and evaporator coils. Air is taken from inside the home and passed through the coils in order to return cool air to the rooms. The cool air travels through the air ducts and comes out of the vents in each room, which are usually on the ceiling.
Central air conditioners are the most effective at cooling the entire home. However, they also consume the most energy, so you need to watch your thermostat carefully.
2) Window Units
Homes with no central air conditioners will likely use window units instead. Window units are basically individual air conditioning units that are installed in the windows of your home. Each window unit is powerful enough to cool one room in your home. Most people will have at least two air conditioning units, one for their living room and another for their bedroom.
The window unit contains all the necessary components of the air conditioner, such as the coils, condenser, and compressor. A large unit must stick out of the window in order to pull in air and release fluid.
3) Ductless Mini-Split Air conditioner
The ductless mini-split air conditioner is a great way to add central air conditioning to your home when there is no ductwork available. It is like a combination of an indoor air handler and an outdoor condenser and compressor. The air handlers have blowers attached to them and are mounted onto the upper area of your wall near the ceiling. The outdoor units are connected to the indoor air handlers by power cables, refrigerant tubing, and drainage tubing.
Every major room of your home will have its own air handler and thermostat. That means you can control the temperature of just that one room with the thermostat. This can be highly beneficial if you live with someone who wants to set a different temperature than you do. Each of you can have your own temperature set in your own rooms with this type of air conditioner present.
Read also:
- 4 Different Types of Refrigerators
- How to Recondition a Car Battery that Won’t Hold Charge
- How to Tell if a Relay is Bad in a Car
- 4 Different Types of Transducers and Their Applications
4) Portable Air Conditioner
The portable air conditioner is similar to the air conditioning system of a wall unit. However, the portable air conditioner does not get installed in a window. Instead, you move it around on the four wheels it sits on.
It is an entirely self-contained air conditioning unit that you can move to any room of your home by giving it a light push. To turn on the unit, you plug it into a wall outlet and position the exhaust funnel to direct the exhaust air outside.
