Choosing Your Air Conditioning System

Air conditioners provide a comfort for most people: the comfort to stay cool on a hot summer day.  There are a variety of different types of air conditioners, including a window air conditioner unit, central air conditioner, and ductless air conditioner. The type of air conditioner you select for your home depends primarily on your usage of the system: if you need it to cool one room or the whole house.

Air Conditioning Basics

Air conditioners use Freon in order to provide cooling to your home.  In order for your air conditioner to work and provide you cooled air, the compressor compresses the Freon gas, causing it to become hot. The heated gas runs through coils, dissipating its heat, and condensing into a liquid.  Once the gas becomes a liquid, the Freon runs through an expansion valve, which causes it to evaporate into a cold Freon gas. This gas runs through coils, which cools down the air inside the home.

Window Air Conditioner Units

Window air conditioning units are designed to cool a small area of the house. This air conditioner unit is small enough to fit into a window frame. To make this unit work, you close the window down on the system, plug it in, and turn it on. These air conditioner units are popular for those looking to provide cool air only to a single room as they are less expensive to operate than units providing cooling to the entire house. Many people opt to use the mounted air conditioners when converting a garage into a den since houses are not structurally designed to provide cool air to the garage.

Central Air Conditioning

Central air conditioning works from a centralized location to distribute the conditioned air throughout the house. Many central air conditioning units have two parts: an indoor unit and an outdoor unit.  The outdoor unit cools the air before sending the air to the indoor unit to be disbursed throughout the home. Central air conditioning units are popular because they filter the air in your home and make less noise then a wall or window unit.

These systems circulate the cooled air through a system of ducts, or openings in the walls, floors, or ceilings covered by adjustable grills. The cooled air can become warmer as it circulates through the home while flowing back to the main unit. This can result in uneven cooling of the home and leaving certain rooms hotter or colder than others.

Ductless Air Conditioning

Ductless air conditioning units are also referred to as mini-split system air conditioners. Similar to central air conditioning units, ductless air conditioning units have two units: an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. The main difference between these systems is that ductless air conditioning, like its name, does not require the use of ducts to provide cool air flow throughout the home. 

With ductless air conditioning, you can provide are conditioning to areas of rooms that are difficult to reach. They do not use ductwork, which can limit the locations where they system can be installed.  In order to control temperature in these rooms, a hand-held remote control is used.  Benefits to the ductless air conditioning system include that the installation is a simple and quick process, money on the electricity bill can be saved, and they do not require large spaces in order to be installed.

Air Condition Repair

If you run into the unfortunate event when your air conditioner stops running right, you need to evaluate your home’s conditions before calling a home improvement contractor for an air conditioning repair.  Check that all windows and doors are closed while running your air conditioning system or unit.  Open windows and doors allow the cooled air to escape and bring the warmer outside air in, straining your air conditioner and making you believe that it is not producing cooled air. You also need to keep making sure that your air conditioning filters and coils are not dirty and dusty, which can cause the compressor or fans to fail prematurely.

Selecting the right air conditioning system for your home can be tough, but it is important to look at all factors before investing in the air conditioning system. If you only intend on cooling one room, a window air conditioning unit may be best for you.  If you intend on cooling the entire home and have ample space, a central air conditioning unit may be the best selection.  Or if you intend on cooling rooms which are difficult to reach, a ductless air conditioning system may work the best. Once you have your air conditioning unit, make sure that you are running it in proper conditions and are keeping it clean.  This will ensure that your home will remain cooled during the long, hot summer months.

This article is provided for general informational purposes only.  If you are a homeowner residing in San Diego or surrounding community in Southern California and would like to inquire about one of our San Diego air conditioning installation, maintenance and repair programs, please contact our San Diego air conditioning company today and request a free in-home estimate for your new San Diego cooling system.