Nashville Air Conditioning Systems

Many homes in the Nashville area use a central air conditioner system to keep their homes cool during the hot and sticky summer months! This type of system involves a condensing unit that sits outside and in most cases, a gas furnace is installed inside the house. Some homes have just an air handler inside if an alternate form of heating is used.

The air conditioning evaporator coil is installed inside the furnace or air handler. The ductwork is also considered part of the central air conditioner split system because it furnishes the means of delivering treated (heated or cooled) air throughout the home.

In this Nashville HVAC guide, we want to explore your Nashville area homes’ air conditioning system, and help you know how it works and identify the various parts of the cooling system.

How Central Air Conditioning Works

In order to cool your house, the following happens. A condensing unit contains a compressor, a condensing coil, a fan and other supporting parts. The compressor pumps liquid refrigerant into the house through a copper line. The refrigerant enters the evaporator coil and it literally evaporates, or expands from a liquid to a gas. In the process it rapidly absorbs heat. The air around the coil is cooled as this happens – and that cooled air is pushed through the ductwork by the blower in the furnace or air handler. The blower is also drawing warm air into the system via the return ducts.

The hot refrigerant exits the house through a second copper line that is attached to the condensing coil. There, it condenses back into a liquid, shedding its heat in the process. The heat radiates through the coil – which usually has fins on it, much like a car’s radiator – and the heat is then dispersed by the unit’s fan. This cycle continues, with refrigerant carrying heat out of the home, until the temperature reaches the setting indicated on the thermostat.

For how the furnace works, see our Guide on Gas Furnaces