How Do Car Air Conditioners Work?

It is more and more unlikely that you will find a newer car that does not have an air conditioning system.  Car air conditioners, fortunately, work much like the air conditioners that we have in our homes.  A common misconception is the thought that car air conditioners produce cold air on their own.  In fact, the cold air is the air that already exists in the car simply cooled by the air conditioning system.

Car air conditioners are systems, so they are composed of several components.  The combined components (system) processes the car’s internal air into cold air.

Components of Car Air Conditioners

There are 5 main components in car air conditioning systems.  You must have:  (1) a compressor; (2) a condenser; (3) an evaporator; (4) a receiver; and, (5) an expansion valve.  Another vital element of a car air conditioner is refrigerant.  The system will not work without it.  Refrigerant should not be overlooked even though it is not a component of the system.

Air Cooling Process of Car Air Conditioners

After designating the vital parts of a car air conditioner system, we can now overview the process or sequential steps of how they work to cool the air inside the car.  First, the compressor pressurizes the refrigerant into a liquid form.  Second, the pressurized liquid refrigerant is circulated through a series of tubes in the condenser which allows it to be exposed to fresh air coming from outside the car.  Third, the refrigerant moves into the receiver which removes any moisture in the refrigerant.  Fourth, cool refrigerant liquid flows into the expansion valve to reduce fluid pressure and move to the evaporator easier.  Fifth, the low-pressure liquid refrigerant is transferred to the evaporator.  Air coming from the passenger compartment is drawn into the evaporator then pushed through the evaporator core.  Sixth, the air that leaves the evaporator is cold air.  Fans blow the cold air out through the air conditioner vents and cool the inside of the car.

Blowing cold air through the vents into the car reduces moisture in the evaporator’s air-side.  Reducing the moisture creates drier air in the car.  Simultaneously, the system collects and drains the condensate.  The liquid refrigerant in the system returns to a gaseous state and circulates back to the compressor.  A new cycle begins.  By continuously cycling, the car air conditioner maintains the cool comfortable air you demand out of the car air conditioner.

Air-Rite has been catering to HVAC requirements of homes and commercial spaces for a number of years in Australia. If you require an HVAC system of any kind, feel free to get in touch with us! We provide sales, installation, maintenance, and repairs.