I was just outside on the ledge and I felt the back of the AC and it's pretty hot. I used to have central air and this is the first summer I've had AC units in the windows. Hope it doesn't melt my bike which is outside under a plastic tarp.
They take all the heat out of the area to be cooled, and pump it over to the other side, also including a little heat that it generates itself in it's operation. Same with the coils on the back of a refridgerator.
The outside part--not the housing or case--but the part that is outside the building contains the condenser. That contains the refrigerant in a gaseous state under high pressure. The heat is pulled from it by the fan until it turns back to a liquid. So yes, you're dealing with something that will have a surface temperature somewhere in the 120 degree range.
Then the refrigerant is returned to the inside part--the evaporator--which by suddenly reducing its pressure flashes the refrigerant to a vapor and sucks heat from the inside air making it appear cold. Another fan blows that cold air into the room.
Then the gaseous refrigerant goes into the compressor which pushes it back out to the condenser to start the cycle all over.
Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators
Important Notices: By participating on this discussion
board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules
page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the
opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent
the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.