Central air conditioning, commonly referred
to as central air (US) or air-con (UK), is an air conditioning system
which uses ducts to distribute cooled and/or dehumidified air to typically
more than one room, or uses pipes to distribute chilled water to heat
exchangers.
* With a typical split system, the condenser and compressor are located
in an outdoor unit; the evaporator is mounted in the air handling
unit (which is often a forced air furnace).
* With a packaged system, all components are located in a single outdoor
unit that may be located on the ground or roof.
Central air conditioning has several benefits as compared to having
many smaller distributed units:
* When the air handling unit turns on, room air is drawn in from various
parts of the house through return-air ducts. This air is pulled through
a filter where airborne particles such as dust and lint are removed.
Sophisticated filters may remove microscopic pollutants as well. The
filtered air is routed to air supply ductwork that carries it back
to rooms. Whenever the air conditioner is running, this process repeats
continually.
* Because the central air conditioning's condenser unit is located
outside the home, it typically offers a lower level of noise indoors
than window or through-the-wall air conditioning units, for example. |