What is the function of an air conditioner? The basic functions of an air conditioner are: Maintaining the temperature to desired level. Humidity control inside the room (De-humidification). The air conditioner attains the desired temperature according to the temperature set by its thermostat. The compressor in the air conditioner is turned on and remains on until the room temperature decreases to be the same as the temperature of the thermostat. Once the desired temperature is reached, the compressor turns off until the room temperature increases again. This turning on and turning off, of the compressor determines a cycle of the air conditioner. This concept is discussed in detail below. What is the cycle time of air conditioner? The cycle time of an air conditioner is the amount of time the unit runs to maintain the temperature of the room equal to the temperature setting of the thermostat. If the thermostat is set a very low temperature as compared to the room temperature, the compressor has to work for a longer time to decrease the room temperature, thus, increasing the cycle time.

In other words, greater the temperature difference between the room temperature and thermostat temperature, greater will be the cycle time and vice versa. What are the factors affected by cycle time? Power consumption: An air conditioner consumes a lot of power every time its compressor is turned on. This power is much greater than the power consumed by air conditioner for continuous operation (long cycles). Hence, it is not necessary that an air conditioner with short cycles consumes less power than one with long cycles. Humidity: An air conditioner’s comfort level depends on its humidity removal capability. This, capability improves as the cycle time increases. An air conditioner with frequent on off cycles cannot remove humidity from the room. Thus, long cycle time promotes humidity removal capability of an air conditioner. Usually, undersized air conditioners have much better humidity removal capability as compared to over-sized air conditioners, since the former have longer cycle times.

Efficiency: As stated above, an air conditioner consumes a lot of power on start-up. Thus, frequent short cycles affect the efficiency of the air conditioner. On the other hand, efficiency of air conditioner improves as it runs for more amount of time per cycle i.e. longer cycles. Comfort: An conditioner running for a longer times gradually changes the temperature of the room, thus, giving a gradual increase in the comfort level. However, if the air conditioner designed to meet the set temperatures quickly, leads to sudden variations (decrease) in the temperatures, leading to less comfort level. Also, shorter cycles do not facilitate efficient humidity removal, thus leading to less comfort in the room. Thus, short cycle times are not recommended in case of air conditioners. What should be the ideal size of the air conditioner and ideal cycle time? There is no specific ideal cycle time for air conditioner as it completely depends on its cooling capacity and the room temperature and humidity.

Typically, 10-20 minutes on cycle time should be good enough depending on the surrounding conditions. Usually, since an over-sized air conditioner has greater cooling capacity, it runs shorter cycle. Thus, over-sizing an air conditioner is not advisable. At the same time, an undersized air conditioner may not be able to give the required amount of cooling and comfort. Hence, it is necessary to select the optimum size of the air conditioner to ensure an optimum cycle time.home central ac unit To summarize, very short cycle time and over-sizing the air conditioner should be avoided. home ac unit in carProper sizing and optimum cycle time are the key features to determine the effectiveness of an air conditioner to perform its functions.how does a central ac unit work

Here is a short video for tips to reduce power consumption of air conditioner in India« [Appliances] Dishwasher water line help • need some concrete slab information » TXAG@108.95.150.xCould my AC unit not be working properly  I am wondering if one of my AC units is not functioning properly. I had recently installed a new thermostat (in a different post/topic in the forum) and after initially installing, it seemed that it was taking a long time for the room to cool down. This particular room is a remodel/finish out over my garage so it's prob some 400-500 sq ft. and Coleman unit is less than 6-7 yrs (previous owners installed). I apologize, but I don't know the tonnage of the unit but have attached a picture of the label on the side of the condenser.My problem was that after installing the thermostat, it said the inside temp in that room was 82 (The outside temp was between 93-94) and it seemed to take more than 30-45 min to cool the room down 4 degrees to 78. In trying to trouble shoot the problem, one thing I noticed when comparing this unit's performance to the one for my upstairs and downstairs was the temp of the air coming out the vents.

I used one of those laser/infrared thermometers and measured the air coming out of the vents for the unit I'm concerned about measuring 62-65 (4 diff vents in the room) with a room temp of 77 whereas the air output for my other units measured 53-54 degrees also for a room temp of 77. I went outside and made sure I rinsed the grate/fins on the condenser. The air filter is probably 2 months old. The "freon" line feels cold while the unit is running. If I remember, this room used to cool down pretty quickly before since it essentially has its own AC unit.The condenser to this unit seems to run very quietly. Almost like the quietness of desk or floor fan. The other units seem to make more noise while running….ie i can hear them running when I am outside the house and even around the corner of the house.Do outside condensers make a certain level of motor noise when operating appropriately?I had a capacitor replaced last summer on my upstairs ac unit and when the technician was running/testing the unit after changing the capacitor, he noticed it was running pretty quietly and he went and made some adjustment and the motor noise became louder or noisier.

I am hoping some of you HVAC guys will know what I am talking about or referring to (what a normal condenser is supposed to sound like or how noisy it should be).I guess I am going to have to call a company to come out. I'm not sure why the temp diff of air going into the unit (using room temp of 77) and air temp coming out the vents (Mid 60's) is so small. Especially compared to my other units which have closer to a 20 degree differential.I don't know if it will be a matter of just needing to add more freon (R410) or something else. The unit seems to maintain the room temp and cycles no more or less frequently than my other units.Are there any suggestions or other things I should do to trouble shoot the problem before calling someone out? Original Thermostat with red wire to RcNew One with red wire to RCInside Furnace/blowerNot that it probably matters, but I said I had a Coleman A/C Unit. It is actually a Goodman. Notexactly positive what a heat pump is. All I know is it is a single stage cooling and gas fired furnace for heat.

I checked again tonight and the air coming out is mid to high 60's and air going into the air return was 74 with room temp on thermostat reading 78.In regards to the thermostat install, I believe I connected it correctly. The original thermostat had 5 wires Blue ©, Y, G, W, R(installed in Rc). I connected the same way as shown in 2nd pic. I am wondering about the R vs Rc now??Inside the furnace/blower the red wire is connected to R (there is no Rc). Sorry for poor quality pic. However the original thermostat (honeywell) had the red wire installed to Rc (jumper from Rc to R) which is why I chose to install in the Rc connection. Isn't the Rc connection to power the transformer for cooling purposes? Plus with leaving the jumper in place for R and Rc would it matter whether the red wire was connected to the Rc vs the R??The unit seems to be cycling appropriately as far as frequency and now that it has cooled room (currently set at 78 for the night) is seems that its run time is "normal". My concern initially was how long it took to originally cool the room from the 82 to 78 this afternoon, but now it is bothering me that the air blowing out doesn't seem to be cold enough (by measurement).

This is confusing me. If the thermostat turns on and off the unit as temp in room goes up and down, but the air coming out is too warm (for normal operational specs), could this be a thermostat problem, blower/furnace problem, or condenser problem (i.e. coolant)?Thanks pende_timPremium Memberjoin:2004-01-04Andover, NJkudos:1· Unit I'm having trouble withUpstairs unit that works greatThanks for the reply. Removing the panels on the air handler was something I did as a last thing when I was curious about the wire connections on that end. So most of my "warm air" or low temp differential problems I've been trouble shooting were prior to removing anything other than the thermostat off the wall. None the less, I'll recheck the panels on my blower to make sure I did reinstall them securely.I did also go out and check the lines going into the outdoor unit and compare to my others. When this unit is running it does "sweat" and feel cold. It doesn't subjectively feel as cold as on my other units, but this may be normal since it is a smaller unit (smaller tonnage) compared to my other ones.

In fact, for kicks and grins, I used my non contact infrared thermometer that I've been using to test the air coming out of my ceiling vents to also test the temp of these lines. I'm not sure how useful or accurate this method is above and beyond seeing that the line has condensation and feels cool/cold to the touch. The outdoor air temp is currently 80 and on the unit I'm concerned with, the temp of the "suction line" ranged between 69-75 depending on exact laser point location. The longer it ran the more consistent the readings were in the mid 70's. On my upstairs unit the (outside) suction line had temp readings in the mid 60's while running and my downstairs unit was fairly consistent at 70-71 (not pictured). Point being, the suction line does get cold and sweat, but should it, can it, or does it need to be colder?(I did clean the debris, leaves, mulch from around the inlet lines to make sure that wasn't causing the problem)I also want to double check and ask whether in my case does it matter whether I have that red wire hooked up on my thermostat to the Rc or R terminal?