Understanding Industry Lingo

Here is a scenario.

It is hot out today, and extremely humid. You decide to turn on your central air conditioner (if it isn't already running) and you anticipate sweet relief as you hear your system turn on. A couple of minutes pass by and you check your vents but do not feel the cold air coming out. Thinking that it might take a moment for the system to "warm up" to cool down the air, you go about your business. A few moments later, you check again, still no cool air. You go through the basic check list of checking your filters and for ice, but can not figure out what is wrong. So, you decide to call your HVAC company and have a technician come out to fix your air conditioner. 

After he arrives, he gets right to work. Then he comes back to give you his diagnosis. You listen intently as he explains what is broken and how it needs to be repaired. He hands you the authorization form and goes to get the parts needed. 

Do you ever find yourself wondering what on earth he just said to you? He knows his industry very well, but the jargon he used, made no sense to you. 

In this blog, we will give you three more common key terms and definitions in layman's terms so you can understand what is being done to fix your system, and what is being replaced.

Air Conditioner Diagram

• Condenser Unit - A typical configuration of a condensing unit is: The condensing coil  wraps around the sides of the unit with the compressor inside. In this condensing coil section, the refrigerant goes through multiple tube passes, which are surrounded by heat transfer fins through which cooling air can move from outside to inside the unit. There is a motorized fan inside the condenser unit near the top, which is covered by some grating to keep any objects from accidentally falling inside on the fan. The fan is used to blow the outside cooling air in through the heat exchange section at the sides and out the top through the grating. These condenser units are located on the outside of the building they are trying to cool, with tubing between the unit and building, one for vapor refrigerant entering and another for liquid refrigerant leaving the unit. Of course, an electric power supply is needed for the compressor and fan inside the unit.
• Evaporator Coil - An evaporator is used in an air-conditioning system to allow a compressed cooling chemical, such as Freon or R-410A (your refrigerant), to evaporate from liquid to gas while absorbing heat in the process. This coil is located next to your furnace in the duct system. 
• R-22 and R-410A - In 1987 an international environmental group called The Montreal Protocol established requirements that began the worldwide phaseout of ozone-depleting CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons, more commonly known as Freon in air conditioning.). These requirements were later modified, leading to the phaseout in 1996 of CFC production in all developed nations. Currently, we can service existing systems with Freon (R-22), however, we can no longer INSTALL systems with R-22. Today, air conditioners are installed using R-410A. By the year 2020, companies will no longer manufacturer R-22. After 2020, the servicing of R-22-based systems will rely solely on recycled or reclaimed refrigerants. 

Of course, there are many other parts and details we can discuss and I am sure you have questions on. If you have a question, feel free to leave it in our comments section, and we will be happy to answer anything you are unsure of or would like to know!

From all of us here at DSB Comfort Zone, stay cool!