Air Conditioning Systems
When summer heat waves roll in, there’s nothing like the feeling of your air conditioning kicking into gear. As a homeowner, it’s important that you choose a system that will not only provide optimal cooling in the heart of the summer’s hottest months, but that you have a contractor you can rely on to install, maintain and service that system for years to come.
The AC specialists at Wickstrom Plumbing, Heating & Cooling have been providing high efficiency and high performance air conditioning systems for Boise area homeowners for years and we can custom design a system for your home as well. We’ll start by assessing your cooling needs and then reviewing with you the different types of systems currently available. We can then discuss the benefits of each option, how they could be integrated in to your home and the energy savings you might expect compared to your old system. We’ll help you select all of the best components and then we’ll custom design an AC system that will keep your home cool and your energy costs low.
Types of AC Systems
Depending on the size of your home, the temperature in your region during the summer and the overall cooling needs of your family, there are a number of types of cooling systems you can rely on to get the job done. The primary forms of AC systems that most homes have installed include central air, which comes in either a packaged or split system, and ductless mini–splits.
Central Air Conditioning Systems
Split central air conditioning systems consist of three components: an outdoor condenser, an indoor evaporator, and an air handler or furnace. The condenser and evaporator are connected through copper tubing, while the air handler or furnace is joined to ductwork, circulating heated or cooled air throughout the house.
The central air conditioning system is charged with refrigerant. The refrigerant is circulated from the outdoor unit to the inside evaporator, transferring heat from inside the house to the outside through a compression cycle. This works by having a gaseous refrigerant compressed in the outdoor unit, then condensed into a lower temperature liquid using high–pressure gas flowing through outdoor coil. It then flows to the indoor evaporator through a metering device where it drops pressure and temperature, allowing the cold refrigerant to absorb the heat from inside the house.
The air handler circulates the warm air from inside the home air across the cold evaporator coil. The refrigerant absorbs the heat, cooling the air, which is then circulated back into the home. The refrigerant returns back to the outdoor unit as a warm gas, where it goes into the compressor and the cycle is repeated until the home is cooled to the desired temperature.
Packaged Air Conditioning Systems
Packaged central air conditioning systems come in multiple configurations but generally, they consist of a single unit with the condenser and compressor. Like split systems, packaged systems use your home’s ductwork to circulate the cold air. Optionally, packaged systems can include heating apparatus as well.
Ductless Split Air Conditioning Systems
Ductless split air conditioners have become increasingly popular in recent years and are preferred by homeowners who don’t have room in their home for ducts. Usually, the home’s heating source is radiant boiler heating, meaning there aren’t any ducts already in place. Ductless systems consist of a single condenser/compressor unit outside the house. That unit pipes coolant to indoor units that are placed in the rooms that need cooling. Because no ducts are needed and because cooling is only provided for the rooms that need it, these systems tend to save a lot of electricity and allow for greater AC control.
Air Conditioning System Options
When choosing an air conditioning system for your home, you must consider the amount of space you need to cool, the current type of system you have (if any) and the amount of money you have to invest into a new system.
Wickstrom Services will help you by laying out the options at your disposal and then quickly and efficiently installing the system you select. If you live in the Boise and Nampa metropolitan area and you’re in need of a new air conditioning system, call us today to learn more.
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