How does a air condition system work?

Answer 1

If you want a full, in-depth answer explaining the various components, how pressure switches work, various compressor types, etc., I'd recommend you take either some HVAC courses or an automotive air conditioning course.. your local community college might offer them, plus they can give you what you need to take the tests and get certified to where you can buy the 30 lb. cylinders, rather than those dinky little 12 oz. cans... what I'm going to give you is a very basic nickel tour.

The compressor pushes the refrigerant through the system. At the same time, heat and humidity is drawn out of the compartment being cooled.. could be the passenger compartment of a car or piece of machinery, could be a room in a building, could be the inside of a refrigerator... it all works the same way. When the refrigerant reaches the evaporator, that heat from the compartment being cooled is drawn to the refrigerant, as heat flows to a colder object. The refrigerant absorbs that heat, then gets cycled back to the compressor. It becomes pressurized, undergoes a superheat, then undergoes an extremely rapid cooling cycle when it gets to the condenser, and that superheated refrigerant transfers its heat to the much cooler ambient air flowing through the condenser fins. Then the now much cooler refrigerant cycles back through to the evaporator, and a fan blows across it, delivering cool air through the HVAC system.