The condenser coil is one of the
most important parts of your air conditioner. It’s job is to take the heat that
has been extracted from your home’s air and move it outside. When dirt builds
up on your coils, it can have a major effect on the performance of your air
conditioning unit.
Today we’re going to tell you about
the symptoms of dirty condenser coils and what you can do to keep them clean!
Air conditioning units include two
coils…the evaporator coil or “indoor coil” and the condenser coil or “outdoor
coil”.
What is a Condenser
Coil?
Illustration 1
A condenser coil is one
of the key parts responsible for the reliable, cost efficient, effective and
long-term operation of your air conditioner. It is located outside your home in
the condensing unit.
Your air conditioner works
by a process of converting gas to liquid in a continuous process. With the use
of a refrigerant material in the tubing, the hot air from inside your home
travels outside to the condenser coils where the heat is released and removed.
A huge amount of air transfer is demanded of your air conditioner unit, The
cleaner the condenser coil , the better the fan can do its job and handle all
that hot air.
Illustration 1. A simple stylized diagram of the refrigeration cycle:
1) condensing coil, 2) expansion valve, 3) evaporator coil, 4) compressor
The Condenser Coil is a
Vital Part of Properly Cooling your Home
Air moves across your
“indoor coil unit” where heat is absorbed into the refrigerant in the coil and
circulated, through tubing, to your “outside coil unit” aka “condenser coil”.
The fan in the condenser
unit helps to disperse the hot air from your house to the outside air … blowing
it across the condenser coil. As noted, the air conditioner actually “removes”
heat, it does not “add” cool air.
Issues Caused by a Dirty
Condenser Coil
- Your air conditioners energy
efficiency drops dramatically
- Your air conditioner is no
longer able to cool your home effectively. Your energy consumption goes up
significantly while your cooling efficiency and effectiveness drops like a
stone.
- The life of your air
conditioner unit, a huge home investment, is reduced. Manufacturers assume
you will properly maintain the unit when they project years of service.
- Cooling efficiency can drop
over 30%. At that point, your system is cooling at only 60 or 70%
effectiveness. (Note: as little as 0.042 inch or 1/23 of an inch of dirt
can reduce cooling efficiency up to 21%)
NOTE
The investment you make
to maintain your air conditioner system, such as having your condenser coil
cleaned, is well worth the peace of mind it provides you.
Hence, frequently air conditioners service is very
important!
i.e after every 3 months