In most American homes, the heating and cooling (HVAC) systems are not separate. In a standard forced-air HVAC system, they work together to provide (hopefully) comfortable temperatures throughout the year. While the heating process isn’t exactly the same as the cooling process, the two do use some of the same HVAC system components. Here’s how each works separately and together to efficiently heat and cool your Dayton-area home.
Heating
A powerful fan in the furnace or heat pump air handler sucks household air into the equipment where the air is heated either by a combustion furnace (using flames emitted by burners) or heat pump (via a condensing coil filled with refrigerant that releases heat as it transitions from gaseous to liquid form). The fan blows the heated air into ductwork where it’s delivered to rooms, emerging from supply registers. Spent air is drawn into return registers, also scattered around the house, and routed through return ducts back to the HVAC equipment to be heated again.
Cooling
As with heating, a fan draws household air into the HVAC equipment, but this time it’s either a heat pump or air conditioner, In homes with furnaces, the furnace blower serves as the fan component, while in a home with a heat pump, that equipment’s air handler serves as the fan. Heat pumps and A/Cs cool the air in the same way, extracting heat energy from interior air as refrigerant inside the evaporator coil changes from a liquid into a gas. The heat is then transferred outside via refrigerant and released into the outside air. Otherwise, the process is the same as heating, with the now cool air delivered to rooms with a fan, ducts and registers.
Common HVAC System Components
These include the air handler or blower, ductwork, vents and registers, and air filter. Annual professional maintenance of your home’s HVAC system should include the dedicated heating or cooling equipment along with common HVAC system components.
For more help understanding how your Dayton home’s HVAC system works to keep you comfortable, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Elena Elisseeva/Shutterstock”
