The Indoor Coil
We think that part of customer service is educating our customers. The more you understand about your air conditioning and heating system, the better you will feel about decisions you make in regards to equipment and maintenance needs. This is the first of several blog posts to educate on basic heating and air conditioning facts.
What is an indoor coil?
To answer this, we need to make one point about air conditioning clear: A home cooling system does not pump cool air into your home. It removes heat energy from your home. This may sound elementary, but it affects everything you understand about equipment.
When the air conditioner turns on outside, it compresses a gas called refrigerant. When compressed, this gas turns into a chilled liquid, and is pumped inside via small, copper tubing. If you go out and look at your unit, you’ll see the insulated tubing running inside your home. The chilled refrigerant is sent to the indoor coil, which is a series of metal tubing.
How the cooling happens.
Once the indoor coil is filled with ice-cold refrigerant, the fan motor in the air handler (or furnace) pulls warm air from the home. The air is forced through the coil, and as it passes through, heat energy is absorbed the by refrigerant. The refrigerant turns back into a gas, and is moved out to the air conditioner. The compressing begins again, and the heat energy is dissipated into the air outside.
The enemy of efficiency.
As a coil absorbs heat energy, water condensates on the coil. The dark, damp interior of a coil is a prime breeding ground for mold. If this happens, air conditioning efficiency is hurt, not to mention the risk of mold spores being released into the air. Other gunk can build up on a coil as well. This comes from contaminants in the air. A few ways to take care of your coil:
- Install a UV lamp. These kill mold on the coil.
- Install an electronic air purifier. These sit before the coil and clean out contaminants in the air before they build up on the coil.
- Call Air Bourne Air for seasonal maintenance. We’ll make sure your system is ready to rock and roll before the Houston summer heat hits!
Thanks for reading the Air Bourne Air blog! We’re a Houston air conditioning company dedicated to providing reliable, efficient comfort for our customers.
More great information is soon to come.