Air Conditioners

An air conditioner is a major or home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to change the air temperature and humidity within an area (used for cooling and sometimes heating depending on the air properties at a given time). The cooling is typically done using a simple refrigeration cycle, but sometimes evaporation is used, commonly for comfort cooling in buildings and motor vehicles. In construction, a complete system of heating,ventilation and air conditioning is referred to as "HVAC".

Window and through wall AC - the common one room air conditioners, sit in a window or wall opening, with interior controls. Interior air is cooled as a fan blows it over the evaporator. On the exterior the air is heated as a second fan blows it over the condenser. In this process, heat is drawn from the room and discharged to the environment. A large house or building may have several such units, permitting each room to be cooled separately.

Split AC systems - Split-system air conditioners come in two forms: central and mini-split. In both types, the inside-environment (evaporative) heat exchanger and fan is separated by some distance from the outside-environment (condensing unit) heat exchanger and fan.

Central AC - Central (ducted) air conditioning offers whole-house or large-commercial-space cooling, and often offers moderate multi-zone temperature control capability by the addition of air-louver-control boxes.