We all know what an air conditioner does – it cools your home. But how exactly? Did you know that without the indoor coil and fan motor the air conditioner sitting outside would be useless? Air conditioners have one primary job, and that is to compress refrigerant. This chills it, and the chilled refrigerant is then pumped inside to the indoor coil.
Heat pumps look and act just like an air conditioner in the summer. So what’s the difference? A heat pump can reverse the cooling process, and provide heat for your home. They do this by pulling heat energy from the outside air, and “heating” the refrigerant which is then pumped inside to the indoor coil. Cool air from the home is forced through the coil, which heats the air.
There’s nothing like the toasty warm heat of a gas furnace. Typically powered by natural gas (or propane), a furnace heats a metal heat exchanger, and then pulls cool air from the home and forces it through the hot metal. This heats the air, which is then sent back into the home. The fan motor of a furnace is used during the summer cooling season as well.
This picture shows the inside view of an evaporator coil. The metal tubing is what holds the refrigerant pumped in from the air conditioner (or heat pump). A clean coil is an efficient coil, so it’s good to have seasonal maintenance to keep your utility bills where they belong. A UV lamp mounted in the coil will also kill efficiency robbing mold.
If you don’t heat your home with a furnace (maybe you have a radiant system) then a fan coil is used for summer cooling. A fan coil combines the coil from an evaporator coil, and the fan motor of a furnace. Modern fan coils feature variable speed ECM fan motors that are whisper quiet, and provide greater efficiency and comfort.
Modern homes are built to be air tight. This protects efficiency during a Missouri winter and summer. However, it also introduces indoor air pollution. From what? VOCs released from cleaning products, carpets and beds can affect the health of your family. Bacteria, molds and allergens can also become trapped inside. We have the solution to polluted indoor air!
Have you been using a floor or window unit to heat an office or living space? Now you can say goodbye to high electric bill and noise with a ductless system. Also called “mini-splits” these boast the same quiet performance and efficiency of a normal split system, but without the need for ductwork. Learn more about ductless systems.
Most home comfort systems are called “split systems” because the air conditioner (or heat pump) is located outside the home, and everything else is inside. Sometimes space constraints make a split system not practical. In these situations, a packaged system can be used. This combines everything into a single footprint outside.
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