Central air conditioners have two parts: an indoor unit that sits in an attic or other unfinished space, and an outdoor unit that sits on a concrete slab. The indoor unit houses a critical component called an evaporator coil, while the outdoor unit houses two critical components: a compressor and a condenser coil. If you have an older air conditioner, there’s a pretty good chance that the outdoor unit will fail before the indoor unit. You might think that a simple replacement of the outdoor unit will return your AC to good working order. In reality, partial replacement of the components in an older air conditioner can lead to significant, expensive problems.
Understanding Your Air Conditioner
When you turn on your central air conditioner, the system pulls warm air from the interior of your home to the evaporator coil in the indoor unit. This coil contains a refrigerant in gas form. The heat in the air transfers to the gas, and the gas moves outside to the compressor. This component squeezes the gas down and makes it even hotter. Next, the hot vapor passes to the condenser, where it sheds heat before turning into a liquid. The liquid refrigerant travels inside to the evaporator, where an attached fan distributes chilled air. In the final step of the process, the evaporator turns the liquid back into a gas that can accept more heat from inside your home.
What Is an AC Component Match?
In order to do their job, the evaporator coil, compressor and condenser coil in your air conditioner must work in a compatible fashion. In other words, they must “match.” If the technology used in one of these components doesn’t interface well with the technology used in the other components, compatibility breaks down and problems start to arise. In most cases, the specific source of these problems is a higher level of operating efficiency in newer air conditioner components.
When you couple new replacement components in an outdoor AC unit with older original components in an indoor AC unit, a mismatch caused by differences in operating efficiency can trigger a component failure in a relatively short span of time. This means that, instead of saving money by only replacing part of your air conditioner, you may actually have to spend extra money to purchase the same parts over again. Even before a breakdown occurs, you’ll also lose cooling efficiency and decrease the day-to-day comfort of your indoor environment.
Replace Your Entire Air Conditioner
Although it may cause you some initial financial pain, it just makes sense to replace your entire older AC system once serious problems start to appear. That way, you’ll avoid the need to go back and do the job all over again. You’ll also ensure the comfort of your household and improve your control over your monthly utility costs. For advice on the details of AC replacement, call the experts at Amber Air Conditioning Inc.. You can also follow this blog for information on air conditioner maintenance and repair.
