According to the United States Department of Energy, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning account for a full 43 percent of the energy consumed by the average American household. It may be beneficial for consumers to know a little bit about how their HVAC systems work and how the heating system and ac repair are carried out.
Sources of energy:
There are several sources of energy for the basic home HVAC systems:
- Natural gas delivered via underground pipelines
- Propane stored and delivered from a large pressure vessel located on your property
- Fuel oil is also stored and delivered from a tank, although it is not stored under pressure
- Electricity
These four fuels are used to heat and cool your home, warm your water, cook your food, and dry your clothes, amongst other things.
There are other alternatives, but everything uses fuel of one sort or another. A very common alternative to the fuels mentioned is to employ a heat pump. Heat pumps are ideal when they are deployed in areas of the country where it gets neither too hot nor too cold. A heat pump works somewhat like a refrigerator inasmuch as it moves heat from a place that is cool, the result being that the cool space becomes cooler and the warm space becomes warmer. Of all the ways to heat and cool a home, the heat pump is by far the most energy-efficient; it can easily provide four times the energy they consume.
Another alternative that is becoming popular is a hot water boiler; however, it cannot provide air conditioning.
How does air conditioning work?
The function of an air conditioner is quite simple; the objective is to take warm air from a space and bring it back as cool air. The air is moved around via a fan.
When AC repair in Lancaster, PA, is required, it is needed either inside the house where the evaporator is located or outside the house where the compressor and condenser are located. Most central air conditioning units are also used as heat sources in the winter.
Central air conditioners continually circulate cool air throughout the home using a series of ducts. The cool air is delivered to the supply duct network and the warm air returns through return air ducts. The system takes the warm air outside and replaces it with cool air. The medium to cool the air is a refrigerant that can change from a liquid to a gas and back again.
Contact Lancaster Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical for AC repair in Lancaster, PA.
