Refrigerant 101
In AC season, we talk a lot about systems needing refrigerant, also known as Freon. There is a lot of misconception about refrigerant and how the system works. The refrigerant in your system, does exactly what it sounds like – it helps cool the air. This is known as a closed loop system that is has four basic parts. R-22 and R-410A are the two main types of refrigerant that we see most often, but that is all changing. R-22 is actually being phased out for R-410A which is a chlorine free form of refrigerant something more environmentally friendly.
So how does the refrigerant work? The four parts of the system includes the compressor, the condenser, the refrigerant control and the evaporator. These all work in very technical ways to take the heat from inside your home and displace it outside. The compressor moves the refrigerant from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit. The refrigerant absorbs heat from inside the home, and then continues to move that heat out. Once it reaches the outside air conditioner unit it is dissipated. Some of this heat can even be felt by holding your hand over a running outdoor air conditioner! Once the heat is dissipated, the compressor then pushes that same refrigerant back in the house to start the process over again.
Unlike a car or a portable air conditioner, a conventional air conditioner should not need added refrigerant after it’s installation. This is what is known as a closed loop system, meaning if the system does need “recharged” the refrigerant is leaking from somewhere. These can be microscopic holes in the lines somewhere inside the system. This is why we recommend that if refrigerant is needed in the system, a leak search is also performed so we can solve the problem!