Air conditioning is an indispensable appliance in every home, but many people may not know much about the working principle of air conditioning. How does such a machine make the indoor air colder or hotter?

Let’s start with an example of a common object in life, and then take you to learn more about the cooling and heating principles of air conditioners!

We all know that alcohol feels cold when it evaporates. This is because alcohol absorbs heat during the process of vaporization (liquid → gas).

Let’s take a look at the process of alcohol vaporization:

Connect a bottle filled with alcohol to two connecting pipes, and then use a power device to push the alcohol so that the alcohol circulates and vaporizes in the device, and then the power device pushes the vaporized alcohol to the other side, making it It liquefies at room temperature, and alcohol releases heat when liquefied. Finally, the liquid alcohol will return to the right side, and the liquid alcohol will begin a new round of vaporization...

By repeating this cycle, the heat on one side can be continuously taken away to lower the temperature, while the other side continues to accumulate heat and increase the temperature.

The principle of air conditioning is similar to this, except that each component will be designed more carefully and efficiently.

To know the specific working principle of air conditioners, we must first understand the four major components of air conditioners:

1. The compressor is the heart of the air conditioner. Its main job is to compress and transport power. It compresses the low-temperature and low-pressure gaseous refrigerant coming out of the evaporator into high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant;

2. The main function of the condenser is to change the state of the refrigerant, turning the refrigerant into a liquid and at the same time lowering the temperature of the refrigerant, so that the outgoing refrigerant becomes a low-temperature and high-pressure liquid refrigerant;

3. The throttling device's main function is to reduce pressure. It will reduce the pressure of the low-temperature and high-pressure liquid refrigerant coming out of the condenser, turning it into low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant and leaving it on the evaporator;

4. Evaporator, which is the main component of our indoor unit. It will turn the low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant coming out of the throttle into low-temperature and low-pressure gaseous refrigerant. The process of turning liquid into gas will absorb heat and make the evaporator The surface generates cold air, which is then blown into the room by a fan.

So we can explain the refrigeration principle of air conditioners like this:

The outdoor compressor starts first and compresses high-temperature and high-pressure gas. After passing through the condenser, this gas will reach the liquid storage dryer and electronic expansion valve (throttle), turning the gas into low-temperature and low-pressure wet steam. These wet steam will eventually After the evaporator in the room releases the cold air, the fan will blow the cold air out to achieve the purpose of cooling the room.

The refrigerant in the evaporator then heats up and returns to the compressor... and the cycle begins again.

The heating principle is the same, but an additional four-way valve is working to circulate the refrigerant in the reverse process of the refrigeration process. The same principle of absorbing heat and releasing heat when gas liquefies and vaporizes is used.

A simple understanding is that these four components of the air conditioner constantly change the pressure and shape of the refrigerant, allowing them to continuously vaporize and liquefy, and in the process use heat absorption and heat dissipation to achieve the cooling effect...

Is this continuous cycle of vaporization and liquefaction similar to the principle of alcohol? !

After understanding these principles, you can have more reference points when purchasing air conditioners. In addition to the functions of the air conditioner itself, such as energy efficiency level, direct cold air blowing, dehumidification, fresh air function, etc., we can also look at more features of the air conditioner. hardware:

compressor:

The mainstream compressor brands on the market include Lingda developed by Gree itself, Meizhi, Highly, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, etc. jointly developed by Midea and Toshiba. Among them, Meizhi and Lingda compressors account for more than half of the market share. That is to say, Midea and Gree air conditioners, and other domestic brands, such as Haier, Xiaomi, etc., all outsource compressors of other brands.

This is one of the reasons why Midea and Gree are far ahead in sales and reputation in the air-conditioning market.

Condenser:

The condenser is mainly composed of copper tubes and aluminum fins. As mentioned earlier, its main function is to cool down, so under the same configuration, double-row copper tubes are better than single-row copper tubes. But now that global copper prices are rising, the cost of air conditioning has also increased, so many manufacturers have reduced the allocation of air conditioning hardware. How to choose depends on your budget~

Throttling device:

Capillary tubes are generally used for throttling and pressure reduction, but many high-end air conditioners use electronic expansion valves for control. The advantages are more energy saving and smaller temperature fluctuations. When the budget is sufficient, electronic expansion valves are definitely better to use.

Finally, I would like to give you some hard knowledge about the use of air conditioners. Since we are talking about air conditioners, let me explain them clearly at once:

1. How to use air conditioners to save energy?

Here are a few power-saving tips recommended to you:

·Set to sleep mode. In sleep mode, the air conditioner will automatically adjust the temperature. In this mode, the air conditioner can save about 20% of electricity;

·Adjust the air outlet angle of the air conditioner. When blowing cold air, turn the air upward. Because cold air is heavier, blowing upward can make the cold air fall quickly and evenly, and then fill the room. When blowing warm air, turn the air outlet downward. Adjustment, same principle;

·Adjust the air conditioner to 26-28°C, which is also the healthiest temperature for the human body. When the air conditioner temperature is lower than 23°C, each degree lower will consume several times more electricity.

·Don’t turn off the air conditioner when you go out for a short time. The most power-consuming time of the air conditioner is when it is started, and frequent startup will cause damage to the air conditioner compressor.

2. Turn on the dehumidification mode during the sauna day

In the sultry months of May and June, when the air conditioner is turned on, it feels cold and when it is turned off, it feels hot. At this time, the dehumidification mode is a good choice. In the dehumidification mode, the cold air blown out is relatively soft, and it can also pump excess indoor moisture to the outdoors, making the indoor air more comfortable.

3. It is best to open the window every 3 hours for ventilation.

When the air conditioner is running for a long time, the indoor air quality will decrease and the degree of pollution will increase. If you are a group of people with low resistance, such as infants and the elderly, it is easy for air quality problems to cause drowsiness, slow reaction, and insufficient oxygen supply. symptom.

Of course, if you buy a fresh air air conditioner with its own ventilation function, you don’t need to consider this.

Well, today’s sharing will stop here. From the cooling and heating principles of air conditioners to the four major components of air conditioners, I will also share some tips on how to use air conditioners. I hope you will gain something after reading this!