How is the total cooling capacity of an airconditioner determined?
A conventional “vapour compression” airconditioner has two main components which make up the cooling capacity. The first is the so called sensible cooling effect – this is the energy equivalent of the temperature change of the air that flows across the airconditioner (temperature fall multiplied by mass flow rate of air). The sensible cooling capacity is by far the largest component of capacity for most airconditioners and is expressed in Watts (W) or kilowatts (kW). The second component is called the latent cooling effect or dehumidification effect and is determined by the amount of moisture removed from the conditioned space. Sometimes this is expressed as litres of moisture removed per hour, but is usually expressed as Watts or kW when added to the total capacity. One kg of moisture removed per hour equates to a latent cooling capacity of 683 Watts.
