That’s a great question! For many homeowners, the word “compressor” is a dreaded boogeyman. Just the sound of that word ringing through your ears could signal “expensive repairs” that you’d rather avoid. This often stops homeowners from knowing the essential technological parts of their air conditioner.
We understand the sentiment. You don’t want to know about your air conditioner, you just want it to work! Well, what if we told you that knowing about your AC could help you get the most sensible solution and biggest bang for your buck?
AC repair in Merritt Island, FL can be a hassle when your compressor is the subject. What we’d like to do in this blog post is approach the subject of compressors—what they do and why they’re so expensive to replace—so you can better know what you’re up against in the future.
How It Works
Think of your air conditioner like the human body. The lines of refrigerant are the blood that pump through the system, delivering the cool temperatures inside and the heat outside. The ductwork is the respiratory system, taking in the hot air of your home and expelling the cool air as your air conditioner breathes. That would make the compressor the heart. It pumps and pressurizes the refrigerant in the system so that it can perform the evaporation and condensation needed to cool the air.
Your compressor is tasked with two main jobs: compression and pumping. When refrigerant is kept at different pressures, the physical form of it changes from gaseous to liquid. When in its gaseous form, it evaporates moisture and draws heat from the air. Then, when the pressure changes and it turns into a liquid, the heat is dispersed and the moisture condenses. This is essentially how the cooling process works. Your compressor plays the most important role.
Why Is It So Expensive to Repair?
Here are the real meat and potatoes of the subject. Why on earth is it so expensive to replace or repair a compressor? To put it simply, without a functioning compressor, an air conditioner is just an oversized and expensive fan.
The compressor is tasked with the hardest, most energy-intensive, and complicated job in the entire cooling process. When we say it’s the heart of your air conditioner, we’re not kidding around. Trying to repair a compressor when there’s a catastrophic issue is basically open-heart surgery on your air conditioner. Your compressor contains the most complex technology of the system, and thus is the most expensive part to fix.
Don’t Panic
Just because your compressor is so important to the cooling process doesn’t mean you have to panic every time something goes wrong with it. Sometimes a failed compressor could be a good nudge to get your whole system replaced. Compressor failure can usually occur in systems that are well past their lifespan. If you’re confronted with repairing or replacing the compressor, or replacing the whole system in its entirety, it might be worth looking into the latter option! Consider this kind of decision an upgrade, not just a replacement.
Regardless of what you need, Complete Air & Heat, Inc. can help. Call us today! Making families happy on the Space Coast since 1975.