[edit]Types of air conditioner equipment
[edit]Window and through-wall units
Many traditional air conditioners in homes or other buildings are single rectangular units used to cool anapartment, a house or part of it, or part of a building. For an example, see the photos to the right. Hotels frequently use PTAC systems, which combine heating into the same unit. Air conditioner units need to have access to the space they are cooling (the inside) and a heat sink; normally outside air is used to cool the condenser section. For this reason, single unit air conditioners are placed in windows or through openings in a wall made for the air conditioner; the latter type includes portable air conditioners.[1]
Window and through-wall units have vents on both the inside and outside, so inside air to be cooled can be blown in and out by a fan in the unit, and outside air can also be blown in and out by another fan to act as the heat sink. The controls are on the inside.
A large house or building may have several such units. Should virtually every room be cooled with its own air conditioning unit, most of the day, it would be less expensive to use central air conditioning, though that may not be physically possible.
[edit]Evaporative coolers
In very dry climates, evaporative coolers (or "swamp coolers") are popular for improving comfort during hot weather. This type of cooler is the dominant cooler used in Iran which has the largest number of units of any country in the world, hence some referring to them as Persian coolers[2]. An evaporative cooler is a device that draws outside air through a wet pad, such as a large sponge soaked with water. Thesensible heat of the incoming air, as measured by a dry bulb thermometer, is reduced. The total heat (sensible heat plus latent heat) of the entering air is unchanged. Some of the sensible heat of the entering air is converted to latent heat by the evaporation of water in the wet cooler pads. If the entering air is dry enough, the results can be quite comfortable. These coolers cost less and are mechanically simple to understand and maintain.
An early type of cooler, using ice for a further effect, was patented by John Gorrie of Apalachicola, Florida in 1842. He used the device to cool the patients in his malaria hospital.
There is a related, more complex process called absorptive refrigeration which uses heat to produce cooling. In one instance, a three-stage absorptive cooler first dehumidifies the air with a spray of salt-water or brine. The brine osmotically absorbs water vapor from the air. The second stage sprays water in the air, cooling the air by evaporation. Finally, to control the humidity, the air passes through another brine spray. The brine is reconcentrated by distillation. The system is used in some hospitals because, with filtering, a sufficiently hot regenerative distillation removes airborne organisms.
[edit]Absorptive chillers
Some buildings use gas turbines to generate electricity. The exhausts of these are hot enough to drive an absorptive chiller that produces cold water. The cold water is then run through radiators in air ducts for hydronic cooling. The dual use of the energy, both to generate electricity and cooling, makes this technology attractive when regional utility and fuel prices are right. Producing heat, power, and cooling in one system is known as trigeneration.
[edit]Central air conditioning
Central air conditioning, commonly referred to as central air (US) or air-con (UK), is an air conditioning system which uses ducts to distribute cooled and/or dehumidified air to more than one room, or uses pipes to distribute chilled water to heat exchangers in more than one room, and which is not plugged into a standard electrical outlet.
With a typical split system, the condenser and compressor are located in an outdoor unit; the evaporator is mounted in the air handling unit (which is often a forced air furnace). With a package system, all components are located in a single outdoor unit that may be located on the ground or roof.
Central air conditioning performs like a regular air conditioner but has several added benefits:
- When the air handling unit turns on, room air is drawn in from various parts of the building through return-air ducts. This air is pulled through a filter where airborne particles such as dust and lint are removed. Sophisticated filters may remove microscopic pollutants as well. The filtered air is routed to air supply ductwork that carries it back to rooms. Whenever the air conditioner is running, this cycle repeats continually.
- Because the central air conditioning unit is located outside the home, it offers a lower level of noise indoors than a free-standing air conditioning unit.
[edit]Thermostats
Thermostats control the operation of HVAC systems, turning on the heating or cooling systems to bring the building to the set temperature. Typically the heating and cooling systems have separate control systems (even though they may share a thermostat) so that the temperature is only controlled "one-way". That is, in winter, a building that is too hot will not be cooled by the thermostat. Thermostats may also be incorporated into facility energy management systems in which the power utility customer may control the overall energy expenditure. In addition, a growing number of power utilities have made available a device which, when professionally installed, will control or limit the power to an HVAC system during peak use times in order to avoid necessitating the use of rolling blackouts. The customer is given a credit of some sort in exchange, so it is often to the advantage of the consumer to buy the most efficient thermostat possible.
[edit]Equipment capacity
Air conditioner equipment power in the U.S. is often described in terms of "tons of refrigeration". A "ton of refrigeration" is defined as the cooling power of one short ton (2000 pounds or 907 kilograms) of ice melting in a 24-hour period. This is equal to 12,000 BTU per hour, or 3517 watts (http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP811/appenB9.html). Residential "central air" systems are usually from 1 to 5 tons (3 to 20 kW) in capacity.
The use of electric/compressive air conditioning puts a major demand on the nation's electrical power grid in warm weather, when most units are operating under heavy load. In the aftermath of the 2003 North America blackout locals were asked to keep their air conditioning off. During peak demand, additional power plants must often be brought online, usually natural gas fired plants because of their rapid startup. A1995 study of various utility studies of residential air conditioning concluded that the average air conditioner wasted 40% of the input energy. This energy is lost in the form of heat, which must be pumped out. There is a huge opportunity to reduce the need for new power plants and to conserve energy.
In an automobile the A/C system will use around 5 hp (4 kW) of the engine's power.
[edit]Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER)
For residential homes, some countries set minimum requirements for energy efficiency. In the United States, the efficiency of air conditioners is often (but not always) rated by the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER). The higher the SEER rating, the more energy efficient is the air conditioner. The SEER rating is the BTU of cooling output during its normal annual usage divided by the total electric energy input in watt-hours (W·h) during the same period. [3]
- SEER = BTU ÷ W·h
For example, a 5000 BTU/h air-conditioning unit, with a SEER of 10, operating for a total of 1000 hours during an annual cooling season (i.e., 8 hours per day for 125 days) would provide an annual total cooling output of:
- 5000 BTU/h × 1000 h = 5,000,000 BTU
which, for a SEER of 10, would be an annual electrical energy usage of:
- 5,000,000 BTU ÷ 10 = 500,000 W·h
and that is equivalent to an average power usage during the cooling season of:
- 500,000 W·h ÷ 1000 h = 500 W
SEER is related to the coefficient of performance (COP) commonly used in thermodynamics and also to the Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER). The EER is the efficiency rating for the equipment at a particular pair of external and internal temperatures, while SEER is calculated over a whole range of external temperatures (i.e., the temperature distribution for the geographical location of the SEER test). SEER is unusual in that it is composed of an Imperial unit divided by a metric unit. The COP is a ratio with the same metric units of energy (joules) in both the numerator and denominator. They cancel out leaving a dimensionless quantity. Formulas for the approximate conversion between SEER and EER or COP are available from the Pacific Gas and Electric company in California:[4]
- (1) SEER = EER ÷ 0.9
- (2) SEER = COP x 3.792
- (3) EER = COP x 3.413
From equation (2) above, a SEER of 13 is equivalent to a COP of 3.43, which means that 3.43 units of heat energy are pumped per unit of work energy.
Today, it is rare to see systems rated below SEER 9 in the United States, since older units are being replaced with higher efficiency units. The United States now requires that residential systems manufactured in 2006 have a minimum SEER rating of 13 (although window-box systems are exempt from this law, so their SEER is still around 10).[5] Substantial energy savings can be obtained from more efficient systems. For example by upgrading from SEER 9 to SEER 13, the power consumption is reduced by 30% (equal to 1 - 9/13). It is claimed that this can result in an energy savings valued at up to $US 300 per year (depending on the usage rate and the cost of electricity). In many cases, the lifetime energy savings are likely to surpass the higher initial cost of a high-efficiency unit.
As an example, the annual cost of electric power consumed by a 72,000 BTU/h air conditioning unit operating for 1000 hours per year with a SEER rating of 10 and a power cost of $0.08 per kilowatt-hour (kW·h) may be calculated as follows:
- unit size, BTU/h × hours per year, h × power cost, $/kW·h ÷ (SEER, BTU/W·h × 1000 W/kW)
- (72,000 BTU/h) × (1000 h) × ($0.08/kW·h) ÷ [(10 BTU/W·h) × (1000 W/kW)] = $576.00 annual cost
Air conditioner sizes are often given as "tons" of cooling. Multiplying the tons of cooling by 12,000 converts it to BTU/h.
A common misconception is that the SEER rating system also applies to heating systems. However, SEER ratings only apply to air conditioning.
Air conditioners (for cooling) and heat pumps (for heating) both work similarly in that heat is transferred or "pumped" from a cooler "heat-source" to a warmer "heat-sink". Air conditioners and heat pumps usually operate most effectively at temperatures around 50 to 55 °F(10−13 °C). A 'balance point' is reached when the heat source temperature falls below about 40 °F (4 °C), and the system is not able to pull any more heat from the heat-source. (This point varies from heat pump to heat pump). Similarly, when the heat-sink temperature rises to about 120 °F (49 °C), the system will operate less effectively, and will not be able to 'push' out any more heat. Ground-source (geothermal) heat pumps do not have this problem of reaching a balance point because they use the ground as a heat source/heat sink and the ground's thermal inertia prevents it from becoming too cold or too warm when moving heat from or to it. The ground's temperature does not vary nearly as much over a year as the air above it does.
