Split air conditioners, also known as mini-split systems, cool individual rooms by directly drawing in warm air, cooling it, and then releasing the cooled air back into the room. They differ from central air conditioning by not requiring extensive ductwork.
Here's a breakdown of how they work:
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Two Main Components: A split air conditioner consists of two main units:
- Indoor Unit (Evaporator): This unit is mounted inside the room. It contains a cooling coil (evaporator) and a fan. It's responsible for cooling the air in the room.
- Outdoor Unit (Condenser): This unit is placed outside the building. It contains a compressor, a condenser coil, and a fan. It's responsible for releasing heat absorbed from the indoor air.
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Refrigerant Circulation: The system uses a refrigerant to transfer heat.
- Warm Air Intake: The indoor unit draws in warm air from the room.
- Evaporation: The warm air passes over the evaporator coil, which contains cold refrigerant. The refrigerant absorbs the heat from the air, causing the refrigerant to evaporate from a liquid to a gas. This process cools the air.
- Cool Air Output: The cooled air is then blown back into the room by the fan.
- Refrigerant to Outdoor Unit: The gaseous refrigerant travels through a copper pipe to the outdoor unit.
- Compression: In the outdoor unit, the compressor compresses the gaseous refrigerant, increasing its temperature and pressure.
- Condensation: The hot, high-pressure refrigerant flows through the condenser coil. Here, the refrigerant releases its heat to the outside air, causing it to condense back into a liquid.
- Refrigerant Back to Indoor Unit: The liquid refrigerant travels back to the indoor unit through another copper pipe, where the cycle begins again.
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Ductless Design: Unlike central air systems, split air conditioners don't need ductwork. This simplifies installation and reduces energy loss associated with leaky ducts.
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Individual Zone Control: Because each indoor unit operates independently, split systems allow for individual temperature control in each room or "zone."
In summary, split air conditioners cool rooms by circulating refrigerant between an indoor and outdoor unit, extracting heat from the indoor air, and releasing it outside. This provides efficient and targeted cooling without the need for ductwork.
