Window Air conditioners and Split Air conditioners | Working and their Application
In this article, we will discuss “Window Air conditioners” in general. We are quite familiar with room air conditioners. As the name itself suggests, these air conditioners are mounted in the windows and hence the name.
Window Air conditioners comprise of the following parts:
- The compressor
- The condenser fan
- Condenser and evaporator
These components are all enclosed in a single cabinet. This unit is then installed in a window frame or a hole that specially casted during the construction for the purpose of installing Window air conditioners.
While we design the location and installation of Window air conditioners, we need to keep in mind a few important things that would affect the functioning of the window air conditioner. The air being blown through the condenser must pass freely through without restriction. We must therefore make sure that the condenser is not obstructed (for example by a neighboring wall).
Capacities of air conditioners
They come in cooling capacities from 0.5 to 2 tons in various tonnages, adequate for a room between 5 and 20 square meters in size. Larger spaces may be handled by using multiple units of this type.
Window air conditioners are easy to install and convenient to use and economical in cost, they could be noisy for some applications.
Probably the single biggest reason for inefficiency in Window ACs is a dirty filter. Usually most of us don’t pay attention to the maintenance of Window ACs which are accompanied by cleaning the AC filters to keep up the performance of the Window Air conditioners. Even if covered by maintenance contracts, dust is such a severe problem in most areas that the filter needs cleaning even between preventive maintenance visits by your supplier.
The dirty filter results in the increased power consumption and poor cooling because the machine struggles to suck in air against a clogged filter.
Energy efficient compressors are also available in the market today. They can be quite useful in cutting down power consumption and saving on maintenance costs.
Split Air-conditioners
Split Air conditioners were invented after the invention of Window Air conditioners. As the name suggests, the Split Air-conditioner is comprised of two basic components:
- The Indoor unit
- The Outdoor unit
The two units are connected by refrigeration tubing and electrical wires that can pass through a hole in the wall barely 10 cm in diameter.
The outdoor unit is placed outside the room on the exterior wall of the house. It comprises of :
- The compressor
- Condenser
- The condenser fan
The indoor unit consists of:
- The evaporator (cooling coil)
- The evaporator blower
The outdoor unit comprises of the noisy components and since these components are outside the building, the conditioned space is much quieter.
Though Split Air-conditioners are more expensive than the Window Mounted type, they are preferred for their low noise level.
The Split air conditioners do not require a huge AC size hole or a window to mount. They can mounted in places where it is not possible to mount a window air-conditioner because of obstructions from neighboring walls or non-availability of a suitable window. In such cases the Split Air-conditioner is used because the outdoor unit can be mounted on the roof or on a ledge some distance away from the room to be air-conditioned.