Air Conditioning Archives - Airflow Academy

An air conditioner cools and dehumidifies the air inside your home, providing much-needed relief on a hot summer day. The basic concept behind an air conditioner is simple: take in warm, humid air, cool it to lower its relative humidity, and release it back into your living space. While you're paying to keep your home cool in summertime, you may be less inclined to open windows or ventilate rooms because it will compromise the colder room environment. As a result, contaminants or pollutants can build up inside your home, causing health problems for occupants. So, a common question that needs to be addressed when looking at air conditioning units is whether or not the air conditioning unit has the ability to ventilate. Small air conditioning units can’t ventilate the room. So, this room needs to be ventilated properly from time to time when the air conditioner is off. On the other hand, large central air conditioning systems with duct systems can cool, heat, and ventilate the room as the need arises. An air conditioner What is air conditioning? Air conditioning, or AC, is the process of removing heat and moisture from the air to create comfortable environments for people to live and work in. In a basic sense, it is a way to manipulate temperature. For example, when we cool our homes or offices in hot weather, we’re introducing cooler temperatures into spaces that are hotter than what we want. It is usually done by installing an air conditioner unit that provides cool air. The purpose of air conditioning is to change a warm, moist area into a cool, dry one. Warm air naturally holds more moisture than cold air. When you turn on your AC unit, it automatically removes moisture from your indoor environment by evaporating water out of warm indoor air. How do air conditioners work? Air conditioning systems come in many different sizes, shapes, and forms. Split unit air conditioners are the most common, comprising of two units. The outside unit is called condensing unit, while the inside unit is called an evaporator. When AC is turned on, the compressor sends the refrigerant from the outside unit to the inside unit. At the same time, the inside unit sucks warm air from the room and blows it over the evaporating coils that collect the refrigerant. This process removes heat and moisture from warm air and blows out cold air into the room. Do air conditioning units also ventilate? No, air conditioners do not ventilate or pull fresh air from the outside to replace the stale air inside a room. The reason is simple: they are not designed to provide ventilation. The AC unit draws in room air, cools it down, and blows out cold air into the room. It means that it circulates the air within the room. Thus, air conditioners do not act as ventilators. They only leave us with recycled air. Air conditioning devices such as wall ACs, inverter ACs, and portable AC units only recycle the air inside a room. These units change air quality by cooling it down and reducing moisture. However, they do not substitute indoor air with outdoor air. Therefore, in absence of ventilation, the same air is processed again and again. There are several drawbacks of recycling the air instead of replacing the room’s air with fresh air. Air conditioning units don’t remove the smells produced by cooking, washing, cleaning products, or breathing by pets and humans. Also, air conditioning fails to reduce humidity caused by showering and hot baths. In short, air conditioners are useful tools to help us get through summer without suffering. However, the lack of a proper ventilation system can affect your health and well-being over time. What is ventilation and why do we need it? Ventilation is a mechanical process that helps to remove stale and contaminated air from a building. It is crucial because it keeps pollutants from being trapped in indoor spaces. Without ventilation, your home’s temperature will be affected by other factors, such as pollution or climate changes. Also, a lack of ventilation could potentially damage your health by causing breathing problems and developing allergies. In short, natural or mechanical ventilation is required for maintaining acceptable indoor conditions year-round as well as keeping you healthy and comfortable while at home or work. Moreover, proper ventilation can help reduce the air conditioning cost to a great extent. How to ventilate an AC room naturally? Airing the room frequently is the perfect option to improve the air quality of an air-conditioned room. All you need to do is, open all the windows and doors of the room when it’s not in use, or when AC is off. Schedule this purging session more often during humid days or when you feel the air is getting stuffy. Airing the room provides clean and healthy air for breathing and helps prevent asthma or breathing problems by removing contaminants from indoor air. Air conditioning and ventilating – Which one is better? Air conditioning and ventilating can both make a space more comfortable for humans, so which one is better? It all depends on what you are trying to achieve. Ventilation means bringing in cool, fresh air from outside and removing hot stale air. Air conditioning works by blowing cold refrigerated air across the room. Therefore, there is no rule of thumb when it comes to deciding whether you should install ventilation or AC. Choosing between these two options depends on how much heat is coming into your room and your personal preference. For example, in the summertime when it’s too hot, air conditioning is preferable. For milder temperatures, installing a ventilation system will help keep your room air fresh at the fraction of the air conditioning cost. Conclusion Air conditioners are an efficient way to cool your home, but like any cooling device, they lose their effectiveness when humidity levels are high. To help keep your air conditioner from becoming less effective at cooling your home in hot, humid weather, install a supporting ventilation system as well. Also, if your budget allows, switching to an appropriate central air conditioning system with ducts instead of a stand-alone air conditioning unit might be a perfect option. You can also search for specialized air conditioners that can introduce outside fresh air into the room.