Air conditioners are one of the central pieces of equipment in most homes and businesses today. Air conditioners provide cooling relief for hot days and can lower your energy bills even in summer. Most people assume that their AC units work properly. But this is not always the truth. Most people assume that their AC compressor units don’t get maintained properly.
In essence, an air conditioning compressor serves the cooling system the same way your heart functions on your body. It provides your blood with the cool, dew-free liquid called the refrigerant, via the air conditioning system to keep your cells from becoming too warm. The compressor, however, is much more complex than just a simple motor. Most air conditioner compressors are powered by electricity, but some use compressed air as a power source instead. It is important to find a technician who is knowledgeable about what they are doing and how much refrigerant is being generated at any given moment.
Your air conditioning compressor in most cases will be placed in a room of your home where there is plenty of air circulation. If you live in an older home, chances are it’s placed in a basement. If your house has a large and well-insulated main bedroom, you may be lucky. If this is the case you might want to install the air conditioning compressor on a cylinder in your bedroom. This way, it will remain hidden out of sight, out of the way of your dust-loving carpet and your hair-spraying cat.
A good technician can test your refrigerant levels in your air conditioning compressor. You can usually tell if your refrigerant is low because you will begin to see a drop-off in cooling capacity. This can be done by slowly draining the coolant fluid from the cooling system. The coolant levels will slowly drop, and then slowly replenish them.
It is important to ensure that the technician who you are working with has experience in installing air compressors. Older air compressors (and electric air compressors) may be less likely to have wiring installed properly. If you have electrical air conditioning compressor units, make sure the one you choose has been wirelessly hooked up to your home’s electricity already. The wires are relatively inexpensive so you don’t have to spend extra to heat your home.
The other important thing to check is the compressor’s cooling fan. Your compressor’s fan is made of three different types of materials: bearings and plates, as well as impellers. The speed of the impeller motor and how high you want your compressor pushing air, will determine the type of material that is used to cool your compressor.
Positive displacement pumps are one type of air conditioning compressor. This type has moving parts that suck up heat from inside the air conditioner tank, and then move the heat into the compressor. Positive displacement pumps have different fluid speeds for moving parts, because the speed of the moving parts depends on the temperature of the surrounding fluid. This type is relatively new and can be found in commercial applications. Positive displacement air conditioners are available in oil-lubricated or oil-free versions. This compressor uses oil rather than grease to lubricate moving components.
The next type of air conditioning compressor is called a negative displacement refrigerant pump. This type is completely unmoving and works exactly like a refrigerator. It cools the outside heat. This compressor uses less electricity than other types and is therefore the most efficient way to cool your home. Unfortunately, negative displacement refrigerants are not widely available in residential refrigerators, because they tend to leak. If you’re interested in installing a home air conditioner in your home, ensure that it comes with the recommended refrigerant level.
