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