6 types of AC || What are best types of air conditioners?

How many types of air conditioning unit?

There are six types:-

1. Central air conditioner

2. Ductless mini-split air conditioner

3. Window air conditioner

4. Portable air conditioner

5. Hybrid air conditioner

6. Geothermal air conditioner

What is a central air conditioner?

It is the best air conditioner for the one living in a large home and wishes to cool multiple rooms at once.

A split system is used in a central air conditioner which regulates air through a duct installed in your home and this system is also known as a ducted system.

This system is a combination of two main units. The outdoor unit pack in the condenser and compressor, while evaporator coils and air handler comprises the indoor unit.

It has a refrigerant to remove heat from the indoor air just typical as a normal air conditioner. This pulls out the heat and pushes the cool air through the ducts.

Programmable thermostats can be coupled with central air conditioners by utilizing modern HVAC technology for a smart home experience.

Advantages of Central air conditioner :

❖All the rooms connected to the duct get cool at once, which
create a cooler and regulated environment around the house in very little time.
❖Humidity is reduced around the house as the cool air is circulating in all rooms which makes the overall environment more comfortable.

Disadvantages of Central air conditioner

❖A lot of energy is consumed which cause a resulting in higher energy bills.
❖In case any problem arises in the duct, it may lose efficiency and effectiveness.

What is a ductless mini-split air conditioner?

It’s the best choice seems to those who want better efficiency or a lot of ducting or simply want a portion of the home to be cooled. This type of sir conditioner comprises an outdoor unit of a compressor and a condenser which come with one or more than one indoor unit. Indoor units are equipped with an air blower and mounted on a wall.

A split-system air conditioner has its cooling unit and condensing unit split at two different places. The cooling unit, consisting of the expansion valve and the cold coil, is generally placed inside the office or premises. The blower fan blows air through the coil and routes the air throughout the building using a series of ducts. The hot unit known as the condensing unit is kept outside the office or room.

The condensing unit consists of a long spiral coil shaped like a cylinder. Inside the coil, there is a fan to blow air through the coil along with a compressor and some control logic.

This split AC has evolved because its noise is reduced inside the house as the condensing unit which makes noise and generates heat is kept outside the cooling room. There is no fundamental difference between a split AC and a window air conditioner except that the condensing and cooling units are split and kept separately in split AC and the capacity is higher, making the coils and compressor larger.

In premises like warehouses, businesses, malls, large department stores, etc., the condensing unit normally lives on the roof and can be quite massive. Alternatively, many smaller units are found on the roof, each attached inside to a small air handler that cools a specific zone in the building

A tube connects the indoor and outdoor unit and a refrigerant keeps circulating through them with a variation that depends on its usage. These indoor units are so small and compact that each room get its unit installed which can either be used for
heating or cooling purposes.

It consumes less energy compared to some other air conditioners, but installing it in each room to cover the entire house may cost a lot.

Advantages of ductless mini-split air conditioner :

❖This can be installed anywhere very easily and
consume less labor and less effort to operate.
❖It is used to control the temperature of each room
particularly, which gives us the benefit of having different
the temperature in different rooms.

Disadvantages of ductless mini-split air conditioner :

❖It needs a large number of ductless mini-split air
conditioner to cool a large home.
❖The indoor unit of a ductless mini-split air conditioner is
visible to the naked eyes as it is wall mounted.

What is a window air conditioner?

The window air conditioner comes in different sizes so the small one can be used to cool down a single room or small area and the large one can be used to cool down a single story or flat or a big open space. This air conditioner is mostly used for cooling the small spaces and this is regarded as the most common type of air conditioner.

This air conditioner consists of a single unit with all of its components enclosed inside it. The heat is ejected out through its outdoor unit and cool air is blown inside the room through indoor units. It is installed in a window by making a hole in the wall as its name suggests that. This type of filter contains a slide-out which is cleared regularly for full ac efficiency. The control system of this air conditioner is there on its unit or e remote also come to control it.

Window A.C. has three basic components in it which are the compressor, condensing unit, and cooling unit. Freon gas is used in compressors. The compressor compresses cool freon gas to make it hot and high-pressured freon gas. This hot gas runs through a set of coils to dissipate its heat, and get condensed to a liquid. This freon liquid runs through an expansion value and in the process it evaporates to become cold and low-pressure freon gas. This cold gas runs through a set of coils that allow the gas to absorb heat and cool down the air inside the building.

Advantages of Window air conditioner

❖Their cost is very less and can be installed very easily.
❖It’s very easy to maintain it.

Disadvantages of Window air conditioner

❖It is visible from the outside of the home and even creates
noise while operating.
❖This makes the view from the window dim and it’s necessary to install it near an electrical outlet.

What is a portable air conditioner

This air conditioner is very similar to a window air conditioner but it is free-standing and hence it can be moved from room to room. It has also a single unit which enclosed all its components inside it. Its requirement is a power outlet to give it electricity and access to the window through which it can exhaust its air by using itself.

If you want to install an air conditioner temporarily and have no space to install a split or window air conditioner,
then this is the best air conditioner. These air conditioners are smaller versions and handy which can be installed in shorter places.

Advanced technology exhausts humidity so there is no need to empty a bucket on some models.
Operates on air alone and requires no water to cool.
Features an antibacterial filter that collects dust particles and prevents bacteria on some models.
Built-in safety features: antifreeze auto-shutoff and 24 hr programmable timer with bypass option.
Multi-speed fan control.
Fan motor protection and a double condenser or simple centrifugal fan.
Easy-roll casters and handgrips for full portability.
Heavy-duty, all-metal cabinet, low noise levels/fully insulated cabinet, copper interior pipes, high quality finned evaporator.
Can be installed permanently or semi-permanently virtually anywhere if desired.
Is exhausted through an extendable hose that can be used in conjunction with the window bracket. It can also be vented through a drop ceiling or a wall.
Built-in dehumidifier: removes moisture.
We have the best warranty!
Peripheral Manufacturing is a Leader in Portable Room Air Conditioners.

Advantages of portable AC :

❖They can be moved easily from one place to another.
❖There is no requirement for any permanent installation
of this air conditioner.

Disadvantages of portable air conditioner :

❖This type of air conditioner creates a lot of noise during operation.
❖It can’t cool down the larger room.

What is a hybrid air conditioner

This air conditioner combines a gas furnace and an electric air source heat pump which gives a nice performance in heating and cooling down. It also switches between the
usage of electricity and the burning of fossil fuels by detecting the temperature outside.

After programming the temperature given by us, it switches between a heat pump and

furnace as it’s a requirement and this can also be done manually by us.

The function also gets reversed during summer and winter. In summer, it pulls out hot air from inside by using a heat pump
and in winter, it pushes the heat inside to maintain temperature, and when the heat pump is too cold to function
properly, the furnace starts working.

Advantages of Hybrid air conditioner :

❖It gives more comfort and fewer utility bills.
❖It also minimizes the footprints of carbon.

Disadvantages of Hybrid air conditioner :

❖It costs a lot while installation.
❖It can’t go for a long duration as some parts may get breakeven in long run.

What is a geothermal air conditioner?

This is the new method of geothermal heating and cooling. It works by using the insulating properties of the earth. As we know that the temperature under 5 to 6 feet of Earth is constant throughout the year, this system (geothermal air conditioner) uses it for heating or cooling our room more efficiently.

This system uses a piping system to circulates water between
the ground, heat pump, and your home, and this also requires
a lot of intensive work for installation in the underground.

Advantages of Geothermal air conditioner :

❖It uses very little energy to function.
❖It stands for a longer duration in comparison to other air conditioners.

Disadvantages of Geothermal air conditioner :

❖The installation of this system can’t be done on every
location as it’s loops go underground.
❖The installation cost of this system is very high.

Important factors while selecting an air conditioner for your home :

Cost-effective:

As we know that there are various types of air conditioners are available in the market, so during selecting the most suitable air conditioner for your home, we should give focus on the following factors :
Budget plays a pivotal role while selecting an air conditioner for your home.
Budget wise ranking of air conditioners:

Cheapest to expensive-

I. Window air conditioner
II. Portable air conditioner
III. Ductless mini-split air conditioner
IV. Central air conditioner
V. Hybrid air conditioner
VI. Geothermal air conditioner

2. Energy consumption is also needed to ensure which helps to decrease the utility bill. Energy Efficiency Rating is also known as EER rating though the higher the rating, the more efficient the system works.

Another rating is also used for energy consumption known
as SEER ( Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio )

3. Requirement of space and consolation are also an important part of you to increase the life efficiency of the air conditioner. So always choose the best air conditioner for your house and home’s space.

4. Cooling power is the main part which people see nowadays awfully extensively. The air conditioner has different cooling powers, so better to choose the one suitable for you. British Thermal nits (BTUs) is used to measure the cooling or heating capacity of air conditioners. If the BTUs are higher, then the cooling or heating power of the system is more efficient. The common range of BTUs capacities lies between 7,000 to
11,000 which is more suitable for a normal size home.

Components of Air Conditioner:

A window air conditioner contains:
A compressor
An expansion valve
A condensing unit and hot coil (on the outside)
A cooling unit and chilled coil (on the inside)
Blowers
A control unit

PHYSICS OF AIR COOLING IN AC :

Lussac’s law is used by chemists and manufacturers to monitor the gas behavior at different temperatures and pressures by an algebraic equation i.e. P/T = k, where k is a constant that does not change the value. This equation explains that if we compress a gas to a higher pressure, its temperature will rise and if we reduce the pressure on the refrigerant its temperature will also fall.

When we compress the gas (refrigerant) with the compressor it will get very warm. If we pump this warm gas outside our house and run it through a coil with a fan blowing air over it via condenser coil the warm cut off becomes cool enough so that some of it turns into a liquid. It is just like steam condensing into the water when it cools. The liquid in an air conditioner has a much lower boiling point than water does. So to turn gas into a liquid, we have to remove a lot of heat from it which is known as latent heat of vaporization. So, by the time our warm gas has cooled enough to turn into a liquid in the outdoor cooling coil, a large amount of heat has been removed from it which is why we find the air coming from the outdoor unit of an air conditioner to be hot.

The second phase of air cooling is just the opposite of the process once the refrigerant has cooled into a liquid it is pumped back into the coil to reduce the pressure on the refrigerant which causes it to gets colder than it was when it left the outdoor condenser coil. The cold refrigerant flows through the evaporator coil, where it absorbs heat from the air and warms back. The evaporator coil is located inside the house, and it gets very cold because of the cold refrigerant inside it. The air blowing over the coil gets cold, and we have air conditioning.

Evaporator: As explained, the outdoor condenser coil has to remove heat from the refrigerant to turn it into a liquid. And to turn it back to a gas (to make it evaporate), it has to absorb that much heat. Even though it absorbs a lot of heat, the temperature doesn’t change until it turns into a gas. So we start with a cold liquid, add a bunch of heat to it, which comes from the air in our house and we still have a cold gas. That’s why the change from gas to the liquid makes the air conditioner work much better than if we tried to do it all with gas.

By the time the refrigerant leaves the evaporator coil, it has completely turned to gas and has warmed up significantly. This is the gas that we started with at the beginning of this description, ready to be compressed to start the cycle all over again.

The fans blow air over the coils to improve their ability to dissipate heat (to the outside air) and cold (to the room being cooled).

Frequently asked questions :

➢ What type of air conditioner is the best?

Ans- The best air conditioner is the one which is the most suitable for your house as of the above factors.

➢ Which air conditioner has less power consumption?

Ans- window air conditioner has the least power consumption but it is only suitable for small areas.

➢ Can I use the air conditioner 24/7?

Ans- In summer, it’s possible to use an air conditioner 24/7 but in winter, it needs some rest as all the accessories don’t work so the load comes on a single accessory.