Air conditioners are devices that provide cool air inside your home or enclosed space by removing heat and humidity from the indoor air. This process works by transferring the unwanted heat and humidity to the outside, and then distributing the freshly cooled air through a duct system in your home. The concept of air conditioning has been around since ancient Egyptian times, but it was Willis Carrier who invented the first modern air conditioning unit in 1902. Most air conditioners are permanently fixed in one place, but you can also get small portable air conditioning units. These units typically use alternative refrigerant chemicals, such as halogenated chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) or hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), to avoid CFCs and their damaging effects on the ozone layer.
This refrigerant chemical compound flows throughout the air conditioner, absorbing and releasing heat at different stages to cool your home. The cooling process starts when a fan blows warm air from inside the house into the air conditioner and the refrigerant absorbs that heat inside the evaporator coil. The fan then circulates the freshly cooled air throughout the building with the use of ducts located in the walls or floors. Air coolers that work by direct evaporation (adding water) can also be used as humidifiers, although, in that case, doors and windows must be kept closed to allow humidity to increase.
If you want to cool more than one room but still use ductless air conditioning, you can install up to five indoor units that will all work at the same time along with the single outdoor unit. Alternatively, if your air conditioning is turned off because of expensive electricity bills or environmental concerns, evaporative air coolers are another option to consider. This type of unit can reach up to 22 SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Index), which is a measure of the energy efficiency of an air conditioner during the spring and summer months. When an air cooler is used, it sucks in warm air, passes it through or near water to cool it, and then expels it back into the room.
