The relief provided by air conditioning can feel like magic. But how air conditioning works is actually part of a very refined process.

One of the most surprising things about air conditioning is that it doesn’t actually create cold air. Instead, it’s removing heat from your room and moving it somewhere else.

If you’re considering installing air conditioning, it’s important to learn not only how it works, but how it can improve the experience of living or working in your property.

The air conditioning specialists here at Lee Jackson are here to reveal all.

Air Conditioning Is A Heat Mover

Every air conditioning system, whether it’s a small unit in a bedroom or a large system cooling an entire warehouse, works on the same basic principle: it takes heat from inside a space and releases it outside.

This is the same principle your fridge uses. A fridge doesn’t make the inside cold from nothing, it pulls heat out of the fridge and dumps it into the kitchen behind it (which is why the back of a fridge always feels warm). Air conditioning does exactly the same job, just on a larger scale and for a room or building instead of a small cabinet.

The Refrigerant Does The Hard Work

The key ingredient that makes this possible is refrigerant, a special fluid that can absorb and release heat very efficiently as it changes between liquid and gas. This is where most of the “magic” of air conditioning actually happens.

Here’s the basic cycle:

Refrigerant absorbs heat indoors. Inside your home or building, refrigerant flows through a coil in the indoor unit. As warm air from the room passes over this coil, the refrigerant absorbs the heat and evaporates from a liquid into a gas, cooling the air in the process. A fan then blows this newly cooled air back into the room.
The gas gets compressed. The now-warm refrigerant gas travels to the outdoor unit, where a compressor squeezes it under high pressure. Compressing a gas makes it hotter, which sounds counterproductive, but it’s a necessary step to prepare the refrigerant to release its heat outside.
Heat is released outdoors. The hot, compressed gas passes through another coil, this time in the outdoor unit. A fan blows outside air across this coil, and the refrigerant releases its heat into the outdoor air and condenses back into a liquid.
The cycle repeats. The now-cooled liquid refrigerant flows back indoors, ready to absorb more heat, and the whole process starts again. This happens continuously while the system is running, which is why a room gradually cools rather than dropping in temperature instantly.

Why This Matters For Efficiency

Since air conditioning is about moving heat rather than generating cold, the amount of energy it uses depends heavily on how much heat there is to move and how far it has to travel.

A well insulated room with a properly sized unit will cool efficiently, while a poorly insulated space or an undersized system will work harder and cost more to run, simply because there’s more heat constantly finding its way back in.

This is also why correctly sizing a system to the space it’s cooling matters so much. Too small, and it never quite keeps up. Too large, and it cycles on and off frequently without running efficiently, which wastes energy and can leave the room feeling clammy rather than comfortably cool.

Why The Details of Your Installation Actually Matter

Understanding the cycle explains why certain practical factors have such a big impact on performance and running costs.

System sizing determines how much heat the refrigerant can move per cycle. An undersized system runs the cycle constantly without ever fully satisfying demand, while an oversized one cycles on and off too frequently, which reduces both comfort and efficiency.

Refrigerant charge has to be precise. Too little and the system can’t absorb enough heat at the evaporator, too much and it strains the compressor, so correct commissioning genuinely affects how well the theory translates into real world performance.

Pipe runs and insulation between indoor and outdoor units affect how much heat is lost or gained in transit, which is part of why longer refrigerant pipe runs tend to reduce efficiency slightly and why proper pipe insulation is standard practice.

Outdoor unit placement matters because the condenser needs a steady supply of cooler outdoor air to reject heat effectively. A unit installed somewhere poorly ventilated, or in direct exposure to reflected heat, has to work harder to achieve the same result.

Who Invented Air Conditioning?

Dubbed ‘the man who cooled the world‚’ air conditioning was pioneered by the American inventor Willis Carrier, back in 1902. At the time, Carrier was working as a heating engineer on a job at a printing company. The air was so hot and humid that it caused production issues, as the heat was affecting the ink. As you can imagine, this was negatively affecting the business so a solution was badly needed.

In response, Carrier designed a mechanical air controller capable of reducing both the heat and humidity within an indoor environment. How it worked is that air would pass through a filter over coils containing a coolant, which would cool the air as it did so. The basic principles of Carrier’s technology are still in use today, though of course air conditioning technology has vastly improved since its initial conception.

What Are Some of The Benefits of Air Conditioning?

First and foremost, the comfort of all those in the environment whether it be a home or commercial space will be greatly enhanced when the temperature is just right. On the flip side, rooms that are too warm are difficult to relax, work and sleep in depending on the type of environment in question. Either way, there are few if any benefits of having a room that feels hot and stuffy.

Air conditioning is a sleek contraption that very effectively removes heat and humidity from the room. The last few summers we have experienced in the UK are a testament to the importance of being able to cool the room, and the changing climate will only bring more of the same. Hence, air conditioning makes it easy to manage the comfort levels of the room whatever the weather may bring.

Homeowners will also be pleased to know that air conditioning can add anywhere from 2.5% up to 10% onto the value of your property. Even the mention of aircon’ can be a very attractive proposition in a property listing, with some buyers and renters specifically looking out for it as a feature. Likewise, in a commercial space especially with lots of computer monitors heating the environment, air conditioning is equally desired so that productivity doesn‚’t dip in the hotter months.

Also, air conditioning comes in a wide range of styles and designs. Here at Lee Jackson Air Conditioning, we provide our customers with ceiling mounted air conditioning, ducted air conditioning, floor mounted air conditioning, wall mounted air conditioning and much more as part of our vast range of services. All of this means, no matter what your environment or indeed budget, we can always come up with the perfect solution to keep everyone cool and comfortable.

Air Conditioning Brands

Now You Know How Air Conditioning Works, Discover How Much It Costs With A Free Quote From Lee Jackson!

Don‚’t put up with another long hot summer (or stuffy winter in the office for that matter!). Instead, experience professional air conditioning installation and the cool relief that follows.

Here at Lee Jackson, we‚’re expert air conditioning installers with over 15 years in business. We offer our customers a fully customised solution whether you only want to make your living room in your house cooler or your whole hotel.

If you have any questions about anything we’ve mentioned above, or if you‚’re ready to go ahead and book your air conditioning installation, we’re here to help!

Give us a call on 0800 949 9070 or drop us an email and our friendly team will get back to you.