This article is about cooling of air. For the Curved Air album, see Air Conditioning (album). For a similar device capable of both cooling and heating, see heat pump.
"a/c" redirects here. For the abbreviation used in banking and book-keeping, see Account (disambiguation). For other uses, see AC.
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: The tables need to be rearranged and the sorting system needs to be improved based on existing information. Please help improve this article if you can.(November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Air conditioning" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
(Learn how and when to remove this message)
There are various types of air conditioners. Popular examples include: Window-mounted air conditioner (Suriname, 1955); Ceiling-mounted cassette air conditioner (China, 2023); Wall-mounted air conditioner (Japan, 2020); and ceiling-mounted console (Also called ceiling suspended) air conditioner (China, 2023).
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK),[1] is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling the humidity of internal air. Air conditioning can be achieved using a mechanical 'air conditioner' or by other methods, including passive cooling and ventilative cooling.[2][3] Air conditioning is a member of a family of systems and techniques that provide heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC).[4] Heat pumps are similar in many ways to air conditioners, but use a reversing valve to allow them both to heat and to cool an enclosed space.[5]
Air conditioners, which typically use vapor-compression refrigeration, range in size from small units used in vehicles or single rooms to massive units that can cool large buildings.[6] Air source heat pumps, which can be used for heating as well as cooling, are becoming increasingly common in cooler climates.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), as of 2018, 1.6 billion air conditioning units were installed, which accounted for an estimated 20% of electricity usage in buildings globally, with the number expected to grow to 5.6 billion by 2050.[7] The United Nations called for the technology to be made more sustainable to mitigate climate change and for the use of alternatives, like passive cooling, evaporative cooling, selective shading, windcatchers, and better thermal insulation. CFCs and HCFCs refrigerants such as R-12 and R-22, respectively, used within air conditioners have caused damage to the ozone layer,[8] and HFC refrigerants such as R-410a and R-404a, which were designed to replace CFCs and HCFCs, are instead exacerbating climate change.[9] Both issues happen due to the venting of refrigerant to the atmosphere, such as during repairs. HFO refrigerants, used in some if not most new equipment, solve both issues with an ozone damage potential (ODP) of zero and a much lower global warming potential (GWP) in the single or double digits vs. the three or four digits of HFCs.[10]
^"Air Con". Cambridge Dictionary. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
^Dissertation Abstracts International: The humanities and social sciences. A. University Microfilms. 2005. p. 3600.
^1993 ASHRAE Handbook: Fundamentals. ASHRAE. 1993. ISBN 978-0-910110-97-6.
^Enteria, Napoleon; Sawachi, Takao; Saito, Kiyoshi (January 31, 2023). Variable Refrigerant Flow Systems: Advances and Applications of VRF. Springer Nature. p. 46. ISBN 978-981-19-6833-4.
^Agencies, United States Congress House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Dept of the Interior and Related (1988). Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1989: Testimony of public witnesses, energy programs, Institute of Museum Services, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 629.
^"Earth Tubes: Providing the freshest possible air to your building". Earth Rangers Centre for Sustainable Technology Showcase. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
^Cite error: The named reference IEA-2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Encyclopedia of Energy: Ph-S. Elsevier. 2004. ISBN 978-0121764821.
^"Hydrochlorofluorocarbon Refrigerant – an overview". sciencedirect.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
^Roselli, Carlo; Sasso, Maurizio (2021). Geothermal Energy Utilization and Technologies 2020. MDPI. ISBN 978-3036507040.
controlling the humidity of internal air. Airconditioning can be achieved using a mechanical 'airconditioner' or by other methods, including passive...
Automotive airconditioning systems use airconditioning to cool the air in a vehicle. A company in New York City in the United States first offered the...
Solar airconditioning, or "solar-powered airconditioning", refers to any airconditioning (cooling) system that uses solar power. This can be done through...
Conditioning may refer to: Look up conditioning in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Airconditioning, the removal of heat from indoor air for thermal...
Friedrich AirConditioning is an American privately held company that manufactures commercial-grade room airconditioners and specialty cooling products...
through the evaporation of water. Evaporative cooling differs from other airconditioning systems, which use vapor-compression or absorption refrigeration cycles...
Ice storage airconditioning is the process of using ice for thermal energy storage. The process can reduce energy used for cooling during times of peak...
compressor motor to drive variable refrigerant flow in a refrigeration or airconditioning system to regulate system performance. Such installations are known...
of airconditioning draws air into the front of the air handler unit (AHU), cools the air over the heat exchanger, then distributes the cooled air out...
and its components are often referred as an airconditioning pack. The air cycle cooling process uses air instead of a phase changing material such as...
Sea water airconditioning (SWAC), also known as ocean water cooling, is an alternative cooling system that uses the deep cold seawater as the chilling...
and circulate air as part of a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. An air handler is usually a large metal box containing a blower...
Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE /ˈæʃreɪ/ ASH-ray) is an American professional association seeking to advance heating, ventilation, air conditioning...
Air cooled clothing is a term for clothing that actively cools down the wearer. It has primarily been used by workers in areas where airconditioning...
Corporation is an American multinational heating, ventilation, and airconditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, and fire and security equipment corporation...
supplies chilled water for the airconditioning system. The airconditioning system draws air from the upper floors where the air is cooler and cleaner than...
and scroll vacuum pump) is a device for compressing air or refrigerant. It is used in airconditioning equipment, as an automobile supercharger (where it...
Hisense-Hitachi Air-conditioning System Co Ltd in 2003. It designs, manufactures and markets its products, which include commercial and household central air-conditioning...
engineer, best known for inventing modern airconditioning. Carrier invented the first electrical airconditioning unit in 1902. In 1915, he founded Carrier...
2024. In addition to manufacturing room airconditioners, Frigidaire also provided the factory airconditioning systems for General Motors (GM) automobiles...
Massachusetts Amherst identified Emerson as the 97th largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, down from its previous rank of 56th. Major...
furnace, or other heat source. Supply air Air entering a space from an air-conditioning, heating, or ventilating apparatus. Source: In Imperial units: A C...