Air Conditioners Types and Terms

  • Air conditioner manufacturers produce cooling units used in homes, offices, and commercial and industrial buildings.
  • Air conditioners use a refrigerant to cool indoor areas.
  • Commercial air conditioners are strong enough to handle large spaces.
  • Computer room air conditioners are mobile, self-contained air conditioners that do not require professional installation. Computer room air conditioners, which can be wheeled into any room that requires cooling, continuously exhaust warm, humid air through a window, ceiling or vent without dripping.
  • Duct air conditioning system is a split-air conditioning system that primarily uses only recirculated air to cool an environment through a system of ducts, which move the cooler air where needed. Some duct systems can introduce fresh air into the current.
  • Ductless air conditioner units consist of quiet, compact, indoor air distribution units and an efficient outdoor compressor linked by refrigerant lines. Ductless air conditioner units are used where ductwork was previously unavailable or unnecessary, as in the case of smaller environments.
  • Explosion proof air conditioners are designed to cool work areas and other enclosures in hazardous locations in which specific volatile flammable liquids or flammable gases are handled or used.
  • Fixed, or fascia, air conditioners can cool larger areas and come in two main types: single-unit and split-systems. Single-units are mounted through a wall or window with the hot coil on the outside and cool only the area in which they are situated, while the cool coil of a split-system is inside a room and all the other components are located outdoors.
  • Light commercial air conditioners are single-unit, packaged, three-phase pieces of equipment that are capable of up to 240,000 BTU/h.
  • Portable, or mobile, air conditioners, also referred to as "spot coolers," are often used in temporary environments, such as construction or other industrial sites. Portable air conditioners can be ducted with a variety of supply and return configurations.
  • Rental air conditioners can range from small, portable air conditioners for domestic applications to industrial air conditioners for cooling warehouses or other large facilities. Rental air conditioners are especially useful in the instance of failure of an existing cooling system.
  • Thermoelectric air conditioners, also called "liquid chillers," are lightweight air conditioners that are used primarily for the cooling of electronic equipment, such as computers, and do not employ the use of chemicals or filters.

Accumulator - A shell-shaped device that is incorporated into an HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system within the suction line in order to protect the compressor from liquids.

Active Cooling - Air-conditioning driven by a compressor.

Adsorption - Drying air or gas by holding moisture vapor on a desiccant surface without mixing with its molecular structure.

Air Handler - The indoor unit of an air conditioning system that provides conditioned air into a space. An air handler consists of a heat exchange coil, filters and a fan.

BTU (British Thermal Unit) - A unit of measurement of heat or energy. One BTU is the amount of heat needed to raise or reduce the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

Capacity - The maximum amount of heat energy that can be removed from or added to a medium by an HVAC system.

Compressor - Also referred to as the "heart" of a refrigerating or a/c system, a compressor is a pump that uses pressure to move refrigerant through pipes between an outdoor condensing unit and an indoor evaporating unit.

Condensation - The process of changing air into liquid.

Desiccant - A substance suitable for absorbing and adsorbing moisture.

District Heating and Cooling - The utilization of a central utility system to heat or cool large residential and industrial areas.

Duct - A device used to distribute air.

Filter - A device used for the removal of solid and liquid particles.

Gravity Cooling - Cooling with an evaporator that does not have a fan to circulate the air.

Heat Exchanger - (http://www.heatexchangers.org) A device capable of transferring heat from one place or medium to another.

Absolute Humidity - Mass of water vapor present per unit volume of air, usually measured as grains/ft3, lbs/ft3 or grams/ft3.

Inlet Pressure - The total pressure at the inlet flange of the compressor.

Load - The required rate of heat removal.

Moisture Separator - A device that separates condensate from an air stream.

Precooler - A heat exchanger that lowers the temperature of the inlet air with the help of the outgoing cold air. In the process, the outgoing air is reheated by the incoming air.

Refrigerant - The medium of heat transfer in a refrigeration system that picks up heat by evaporating at a low temperature and rejects heat by condensing at a high temperature.

Silica Gel - A regenerative desiccant.

Vapor Pressure - The pressure exerted on a liquid and vapor surface.