How does a room air conditioner work?
Room air conditioners function in much the same way as refrigerators do heat is extracted from the space that is being cooled and is conveyed outside of that space. A fan circulates room air through the evaporator, which contains low-pressure refrigerant (see Figure 4). Evaporation of the refrigerant cools the tubes and fins, extracting heat from the air and causing moisture in the air to condense on the evaporator’s outer surface. The cooler, drier air is returned to the room, and the gaseous refrigerant leaving the evaporator is drawn into the compressor where mechanical compression raises its temperature and pressure. The hot, high-pressure refrigerant passes through the condenser, where it loses heat to outdoor air (which is blown over it with a second fan) and condenses. This high-pressure liquid refrigerant passes through a restriction and into the low-pressure side of the circuit, and the entire process is repeated. Figure 4 Basic cooling cycle Energy efficiency considerations T
