How to choose the right air conditioner?
In this article, we will try to tell you what models of air conditioners are available on the US market, and how to choose the right air conditioner or the necessary equipment for air cooling and heating.
A large selection of models from various manufacturers, for example, commercial HVAC contractors in Sacramento, represented the modern market of climatic equipment.
It is increasingly difficult to choose a specific model of air conditioner due to such a wide range of equipment – budget, medium and elite options, designer or classic series of air conditioners.
How to determine which type of air conditioner is most suitable for you?
The required type of air conditioner is primarily determined based on the place where it will be installed.
Residential premises – apartment, private estate, cottage, and so on. A wall-mounted or channel split system of the household series is suitable for work here, which has small dimensions and cooling capacity but has a very wide range – from small economic models to designer systems.
This type of air conditioner is quite easy to install and does not require high maintenance costs (except for temporary cleaning of the internal and external unit from dust and other pollutants).
Office premises. A wall-mounted split system (if the office is small), a channel or a multi-split system is also suitable for working in the office.
The main difference between the last system and the others is the possibility of connecting several internal units to one external one.
This allows you to significantly expand the scope of application of this type of climate equipment, which is a great advantage, especially for office premises, where there are usually many separate offices that need to constantly maintain a certain temperature regime.
Production and industrial objects. Basically, they differ in special requirements for air quality, temperature regime, and humidity level.
Therefore, systems with high productivity, power, and additional technical characteristics are installed at such facilities.
Most often, this is a system based on chillers or large multi-zone systems: internal units are connected to them, which are placed around the building and are resistant to aggressive environments.
Types of air conditioners. Which design to choose?
The split system (air conditioner) consists of two units – external and internal. By type, it is divided into wall, cassette, channel system, and others.
This installation has two blocks – internal and external, which are connected to each other by a refrigerant pipe through which the refrigerant circulates.
The advantage of this type of air conditioner is a low noise level during operation, because the main source of noise is the compressor located in the outdoor unit, which is installed from the street side.
Wall-mounted air conditioner
The wall-mounted air conditioner is the most popular choice, according to commercial HVAC contractors in the USA, for installation in an office, or store.
Its advantage is a simple installation and a small size. Low noise level and a number of additional functions, for example, air ionization.
This type of air conditioning is a budget option for air cooling, convenient, and quick to install. Therefore, if you are not particularly familiar with air conditioning equipment and do not know which air conditioner is better to choose for an apartment, look among the wall units.
Cassette-type split system
The cassette-type split system is mounted in a suspended ceiling structure with a ceiling space of at least 20 cm in height to completely hide the air conditioner unit.
As the professionals, like Alpha Mechanicals, says, one of the advantages of this unit is the uniform distribution of air in the room in four directions. They are most often installed on objects with high ceilings.
Channel split system
The channel split system has no decorative elements because it is installed either in the ceiling space or in the utility room, in which case the circulation of air flows is carried out through air ducts and grills.
The peculiarity of this system is the inconspicuous installation of the indoor unit, the uniform distribution of air masses in the room, quiet operation, and the possibility of cooling several rooms at once with the help of one unit.
Floor-ceiling split system
The floor-ceiling split system is represented by blocks that can be installed both on the floor and on the ceiling.
Its advantage is simple installation, and a number of additional possibilities of blinds, with which you can adjust the airflow, thereby preventing it from being directed directly at people.
Multi-split air conditioning system
Multi-split air conditioning system – perfect for a room with several rooms. In essence, this is the same as the split system described above, but only multi-split has some advantages.
According to Alpha Mechanicals, its structure: 5-6 internal units can be connected to one external unit. That is, one device is installed on the facade of the building, which allows you not to spoil its appearance, and several devices are installed inside the room, and for each room with the required power. This allows you to save on space, budget, and costs during operation.
How to choose an air conditioner?
We should take the following parameters into account when choosing a HVAC system:
- The total area of the room and the height of the ceilings.
- The number of people present in the room.
- Determine what cooling capacity your room needs.
Refrigerating capacity is the main indicator of any air conditioner, as it determines the working area it is designed for.
For an approximate calculation, we take 1 kW of cooling power for every 10 sq m. In other words, to calculate the required power of the air conditioner, it is necessary to divide the area of the room by 10 – for a room of 20 sq m, a system with 2.0 kW of cooling power is needed, for 45 sq m, respectively, 4.5 kW, and so on.
Now all that remains is to choose an air conditioner model that is close in power. Below is a table that will help you speed up the selection process:
- Availability and type of windows, blinds, and curtains.
- The amount of heat emitted by equipment.
- Peculiarities of the building design and floor plan. Here you need to take into account the type of walls, their thickness and building materials, thermal insulation of the facade, and so on.
After all the calculations and determination of the required capacity of the air conditioner, it remains to choose the appropriate model in terms of technical parameters and call to reliable commercial HVAC contractors in 2023.