ou already have your desired place to live and now you need the final touch: air conditioning. How can you make the right choice? In this article we help you find answers to all your questions.
Buying an air conditioning system is an important decision and many details have to be considered. Therefore, through this article we want to help you make the best decision to make a correct purchase of a product that will be part of your home. When you have the right system you can enjoy a more pleasant house, lower electricity bills and the peace of mind of knowing that you made the right decision.
How to choose an air conditioner
Some keys to keep in mind:
- Type of devices: there are different models and each one adapts to different needs. For example, a split or fixed model is the most recommended for those who do not have pre-installation of air conditioning ducts. However, there are situations in which we cannot install a fixed equipment, either because we live in a rented property or because we cannot put the device on the facade. In these cases, the solution is portable air conditioners.
- Filters: these accessories improve air quality, which is essential for those who suffer from allergies, asthma or want to avoid the smell of tobacco. Taking filter quality into account can be very beneficial.
- Power and energy efficiency: this data is very important, since it tells us how long it will take the device to reach the desired temperature. The less it takes, the less time it will work and consume less energy. This depends on the fridges and the environment we want to acclimatize.
- Noise level: this is essential if we do not want to find a device that blocks conversations or does not let us sleep. Ideally, the noise level should not exceed 24 decibels.
- Meet the best brands of air conditioning: while all brands must meet certain standards to be released, there are some that are better than others for their innovation or quality.
Types of air conditioning
There are different models. Although the most popular is the fixed or split, each house has different needs and it is best to know all the available models.
- Window: all necessary components are inside the box, which saves space. It is easy to install but requires a hole in the wall or a window. These are older models, but if necessary they can be very useful.
- Portable: as mentioned before, it is ideal for those who cannot or want to do any work in the house or want to take it on vacation. It consists of equipment that is placed on the floor and has a hose that serves to expel hot air outside through a window. As in the case of the window model, this equipment keeps the compressor, condenser, expansion valve and evaporator in a compact box. It is a bit noisier team than the others but it is super practical.
- 1 × 1 split: It is the most widespread system today. They are formed by two fixed installation units, the interior responsible for cooling the room and the one that is placed outside the house. The installation is simple and they offer different powers and functions according to the model, being able to cool more or less large rooms.
- 2 × 1 multisplit : This is the same system as the simple split, but with two indoor units connected to the same outdoor unit. The double split allows to cool much larger rooms or in especially hot climates, and also offers the possibility of distributing them in different rooms to cool several spaces at the same time.
- Central: a centralized system is used in buildings where all the rooms need conditioning. Usually, it is used more in offices than in family homes. It works with the help of a large capacity compressor that saves money and energy.
But, in addition to learning about brands and types of air conditioners , it is important to calculate how many refrigerators are needed for each space.
And what is a heat pump air conditioner?
Surely you will have heard about heat pumps, whose name can lead to some confusion. In reality it is a technology that increasingly incorporates all air conditioning systems, known as Inverter technology , and that converts them into reversible equipment for hot or cold weather.
A heat pump is a thermal machine that obtains energy from the surrounding environment , whether from the air, water or earth, redirecting it. A heat pump air conditioner has dual utility, extending its use to all months of the year.
The operation is simple: in summer they extract the hot air from inside the house by expelling it outside, and in winter they act in reverse, heating the home. Thus, they are a complete multifunctional solution that guarantees a perfect and ideal temperature throughout the year. It is also an efficient system that saves energy expenditure.
How to calculate the air conditioning for space we need
To know what air conditioner we need, what you need to do is calculate the refrigerators or cooling capacity needed to absorb the heat from the environment.
When we choose an air conditioner, it is mandatory to understand the concept of refrigerators. This measure is something like a negative kilocalorie: its function is to measure heat absorption. The indicated power of the air equipment can usually be found in refrigerators, watts or BTU. What we generally find in the market are air conditioning equipment with 2,000 to 6,000 refrigerators.
Using a mathematical formula, which is quite simple, you can know how many refrigerators are needed to cool an environment. We must calculate the volume of the room and multiply it by 50 and so we will know the number of refrigerators needed.
The most accurate calculation is to obtain the dimensions of the environment to be heated based on its cubic meters. We take the measurements of height, width and length of the room and multiply them, and then the result is multiplied by 50 fridges.
For example:
- The ceiling height is 2.5 meters.
- The width of the room is 4 meters.
- The length of the room is 4 meters.
- We multiply the three numbers: 2.5 x 4 x 4 = 40 (the volume of the environment is 40).
- We multiply the result by 50. That is 40 × 50 = 2000 refrigerators.
Therefore, 2,000 refrigerators will be needed – as a minimum – to cool that room.
Portable air conditioner Am I going to throw money?
Equipment portable air conditioner may seem a good solution for rental housing or in areas where hot days are few, see how they work and why they give the result is unsatisfactory most of the time.
How an air conditioner works : they usually have an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, including a refrigerant pipe that runs through refrigerant gas in different states. The indoor equipment takes air from the room, cools it and returns it to the premises, as a result, the outdoor unit “heats the street air”. This would be the operation explained “for all audiences.”
In the case of portable air conditioning equipment the two units (indoor and outdoor) would be in the same device, although there are some variants:
- With a single condensation air evacuation tube.
- With an evacuation tube and a condensing air intake.
- With outdoor unit.
The most common is to find equipment with a single tube where advertising tells us that we can use it in rooms of X m2. Incredibly this machine is valid for air conditioning rooms of this surface regardless of whether they are in Greenland or in the Sahara, if it is a meeting room with 10 people or one bedroom, or if it has windows or not. It is convenient not to rely on this data much , the thermal power offered by the equipment would be more real.
How does a portable air conditioner work?
Compare the operation of a portable air conditioner (single tube) with two simple schemes, with a normal split-wall type air conditioner. Be careful not to confuse this equipment with air conditioners without an outdoor unit .
The operation of the cycle equivalent to the indoor unit (mural) would be taking air through the rear grill, cooling it and driving it back to the environment.
The operation of the cycle equivalent to the outdoor unit would be taking air through the same grid as before, heating it and sending it to the street.
Window air conditioning, is it a good alternative?
With the arrival of heat many people consider buying a portable air conditioner , but rarely talk about window air conditioners , which sometimes can fit our needs quite well and give better results than laptops. Let’s take a closer look at this enigmatic cube …
How does a window air conditioner work?
A window equipment could be considered a machine of the so-called “compact”, which means that it has the “indoor unit” and the “outdoor unit” united in the same equipment. As you can imagine, this has many advantages in terms of installation, it is almost a “plug and play” and even Fulgencio could do it , no refrigeration pipes, interconnection cables or flow capacitors.
- Inside section: it takes air from the room to be cooled, usually by a large rack, cools it and drives it through a smaller rack located in the front of the equipment (upper right corner).
- External section: it takes air from “the street” that is hot and heats it even more, thus expelling the energy that it has absorbed from the interior when cooling.
Outside air in window equipment
Some teams have a small communication between the outer and inner section that does not recirculate the indoor air 100% if not renew it to some extent with outdoor air , very interesting for humans as we have the bad habit of expire CO 2 .
As you can see in the image, some window machines even allow you to open or close this outdoor air damper according to our needs.
Installing a window air conditioner
Although they are called window equipment, their installation is not restricted exclusively to windows , anywhere you can open a hole that communicates with the outside you can install it whenever you have an electrical power point.
When installing window equipment, special attention must be paid to the issue of drainage , there are some models that evaporate the condensed water to the outside and therefore do not need an evacuation pipe, but others do. Most Fulgencios usually leave the equipment without connecting the drain, thus offering a permanent “jet” of water over the heads of pedestrians passing underneath.
As a general recommendation, and before making the final decision, try to analyze in detail what air conditioning needs your home has, what use you will give it and how are the characteristics of your home. And to enjoy the air conditioning throughout the summer.
