Like blood that runs through our veins, refrigerant runs through the coils of your HVAC system. This circulation keeps the whole system working. Thus, without it, the cooling will fade away, and the system will collapse in a matter of time. Consequently, we can say that refrigerant is pretty important. Hence, let’s answer the most frequently asked questions about refrigerants.
What’s The Use Of A Refrigerant?
First and foremost, let’s begin our session with the basics. We will dive into physics a bit so embrace yourself. Refrigerant is the cooling agent; that is, it makes sure that your HVAC cools your room adequately. Refrigerant is a ‘saturated liquid’, which means that it will convert into a gas by absorbing heat. One thing to note here is that when a liquid changes its state, it absorbs an immense amount of energy without raising the temperature. Hence, over a range of temperatures, a saturated liquid can absorb a higher amount of energy than a normal non-saturated one. In this way, the refrigerant loops between liquid and gas state to ensure that your room stays cool. In your room, the refrigerant absorbs energy and turns into a gas; when the gas is at the evaporator coil, it cools down and becomes liquid again. Thus, with the help of a refrigerant, HVAC throws out heat from your room into the surrounding.
How Many Types Of Refrigerant Are There And Which One The Recent HVAC Systems use?
Many refrigerants have been used and then phased out. They are given a mix of numerics and the alphabet as their name. The trend started with CFCs that are chlorine and a carbon compound. However, while they were unparalleled at their job, they were not a great fit for the environment. Their use led to global warming and ozone depletion. Thus, new and less harmful variants replaced the old ones. Now, refrigerant is an active research field with many new types being discovered. Thus, new HVAC systems use R410A, which is environmentally friendly.
Can A Refrigerant Leak Occur?
Refrigerants don’t seep out with time and age unless there is a mechanical fault in the coils. Thus, faults in pipes or breakage can lead to slow refrigerant leakage until the pressure drops to noticeable units. Consequently, when you get your refrigerant topped up by a technician, make sure they repair the fault as well. You can rely on Crump AC and Heating for top-notch repair service. You can call us at 281-533-9200
to schedule a visit.
How To Know If a System Has A Refrigerant Leak?
As the refrigerant seeps out, the pressure in the coil decreases so does the cooling of your system. You can feel a drop in the coolness of the air coming out of vents. Moreover, when the pressure drops below the critical level, you can even see ice formation on the pipes and coils carrying the refrigerant.
Conclusion:
With that, we conclude four common and frequently asked questions about AC refrigerants. However, if you still have a few queries, you can call us at 281-533-9200.