Do AC Units Produce CO2?
The answer might surprise you.
Posted 16:26 May 20, 2020
Last Updated 06:26 December 06, 2020
Air conditioners use about 6% of all electricity produced in the United States. It comes at an annual cost of about $29 billion per year to homeowners. As a result, roughly 117 million metric tons of carbon dioxide are released into the air each year.
Source: US Department of Energy
75% of American homes have some form of air conditioning. An air conditioner has the same basic components of your refrigerator. Refrigerators use energy (most often electricity) to move heat from one space, to another space. Air conditioners do the same thing. A refrigerator takes heat from inside the refrigerator and moves it into your kitchen. It's a small amount of heat because the inside of the refrigerator is so small compared to the space of your kitchen or home. It is hardly noticeable.
HVAC units however cool much larger spaces (your home). It's so much heat that it needs to be moved outside your home.
An air conditioner cools your home by using a cold indoor coil called an evaporator. The condenser (a matching hot outdoor coil), releases the collected heat outside. The evaporator and condenser coils are connected via serpentine tubing surrounded by aluminum fins. This tubing is usually made of copper.
A pump (called a compressor), moves a heat transfer fluid (the refrigerant) between the evaporator and the condenser. The pump forces the refrigerant through the tubing and fins in the coils.
The liquid refrigerant evaporates in the indoor evaporator coil, pulling heat out of indoor air and cooling the air in your home. Hot refrigerant gas is pumped outdoors into the condenser where it reverts back to a liquid, giving up its heat to the outside air flowing over the condenser's metal tubing and fins.
At this stage the heat transfer is complete. That's the basics of how all air conditioners work.
If you're in need of HVAC service or repair, contact the professionals at All Trades today. We service Las Vegas, Boulder City, Henderson, and most of Clark County, Nevada.
Source: US Department of Energy
75% of American homes have some form of air conditioning. An air conditioner has the same basic components of your refrigerator. Refrigerators use energy (most often electricity) to move heat from one space, to another space. Air conditioners do the same thing. A refrigerator takes heat from inside the refrigerator and moves it into your kitchen. It's a small amount of heat because the inside of the refrigerator is so small compared to the space of your kitchen or home. It is hardly noticeable.
HVAC units however cool much larger spaces (your home). It's so much heat that it needs to be moved outside your home.
An air conditioner cools your home by using a cold indoor coil called an evaporator. The condenser (a matching hot outdoor coil), releases the collected heat outside. The evaporator and condenser coils are connected via serpentine tubing surrounded by aluminum fins. This tubing is usually made of copper.
A pump (called a compressor), moves a heat transfer fluid (the refrigerant) between the evaporator and the condenser. The pump forces the refrigerant through the tubing and fins in the coils.
The liquid refrigerant evaporates in the indoor evaporator coil, pulling heat out of indoor air and cooling the air in your home. Hot refrigerant gas is pumped outdoors into the condenser where it reverts back to a liquid, giving up its heat to the outside air flowing over the condenser's metal tubing and fins.
At this stage the heat transfer is complete. That's the basics of how all air conditioners work.
If you're in need of HVAC service or repair, contact the professionals at All Trades today. We service Las Vegas, Boulder City, Henderson, and most of Clark County, Nevada.
