How Does Refrigerant Work in Your Air Conditioner? How does R-22 work exactly and how does it end up cooling the air in your home? This brief summary should help clear things up. What Is Refrigerant? How does refrigerant work in your air conditioner? First we need to define what a refrigerant actually is, it's a fluid that can easily boil from a liquid into a vapor and back into a liquid again. The most important part is that this process must be able to happen many times over continuously to work. Did you know that water is actually considered a refrigerant? It can be moved from a liquid state to a gaseous state but it's not utilized in air conditioning because specifically designed refrigerants can handle the cooling process more efficiently. The most popular refrigerants on the market today are R410A, R134A (for refrigerators) and R22. The low boiling points of these type of refrigerants make them the reason they are preferred over water. With such a low boiling point, the refrigerant can evaporate faster with less energy. Some people think that the refrigerant is the matter that is blown into your home to cool it down. Unfortunately, (and fortunately due to health reasons!) this is not how it works. Your heating and cooling system is actually a “closed loop system” in that the refrigerant in your system should never leak out or need refilled. If you are low on refrigerant, this means that you have a leak somewhere in...
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HVAC Tips from Sears Heating and Cooling
We’ve been in the HVAC business since 1950, and with that experience comes a lot of knowledge. Read our professional tips here.