Your HVAC system is critical to the comfort and efficiency of your home. Understanding the major components of your HVAC system will help you maintain your system and identify potential problems, avoiding costly breakdowns that can leave you without heat in winter or AC in summer.
The most important parts of your AC unit
You’re probably most familiar with the outdoor condenser unit, which is the “box” that sits on the exterior of your home. But there’s plenty more to a well-running AC system.
Critical Components Include:
- Compressor: This is housed inside the outdoor condenser unit and supplies pressurized air into your system.
- Condenser coil: Also located inside the outdoor condenser unit, this unit cools the refrigerant and releases it into the outdoor air.
- Fan: This mechanical unit circulates air through your system.
- Evaporator coil: This component lives inside your unit’s indoor air handler. Warm air is fanned over the evaporator coil, which cools the air. The air is then re-circulated throughout the system, undergoing cooling each time.
- Refrigerator lines: These are the pipes that connect the indoor and outdoor parts of your system. They contain refrigerant, which circulates through the unit to cool it.
- Ducts: Air travels through these and out through the vents throughout your house.
- Thermostat: This is connected directly to your system and contains temperature systems that determine when the system should turn on or off.
The most important parts of your heating unit.
There are several different types of furnaces: gas, oil, electric and dual-fuel, with gas being the most common and most energy-efficient.
While there is some variation in how these systems work, the basic components are as follows:
- Thermostat: This is connected directly to your system and contains temperature systems that determine when the system should turn on or off.
- Hot surface ignitor: This is governed by the thermostat. After receiving the signal to turn on, it lights the burner.
- Burner: Once ignited, these produce a controlled flame that feeds the heat exchanger.
- Heat exchanger: Gases enter the heat exchanger, which directs the resulting heat into the walls, and any resulting gases into a vent pipe.
- Blower: This pushes air past the heat exchanger and out through the ducts of your home.
- Ducts: Air travels through these and out through the vents throughout your house.
- Flue: This is an outside exhaust vent.
- Filter: These are used to remove particles from the air passing through your system.
Understanding what these various components do and how they work together can help you gauge how your system is running and where problems might be arising.
For further insight into your system or to arrange a regular service, contact the team at Shaw Services using the form below. We’re here to ensure your system is running at optimum efficiency all year round.