Air conditioners can come in a variety of different shapes and forms, each of which operates in slightly different ways to perform the same function. One of the largest distinctions between different types of central air conditioners is whether or not they service your entire home. These are known as central air conditioners, which are traditionally either heat pumps or forced air systems, or room-based, like ductless mini-splits or window air conditioning units. Understanding the different benefits and drawbacks between each class of air conditioner can help you choose the best type for your home's climate control needs.
Central Air Conditioners
Central air conditioners are powerful units that can cool down the entirety of your home at once, usually through the use of ducts to move cooled air around. They are able to filter the air throughout your entire home, which can reduce humidity and improve air quality at the same time as cooling your home down – which can greatly boost your comfort levels throughout the day. Their sheer size and power mean that you are able to feel colder air very rapidly.
However, central air conditioners do lack in energy efficiency. Since air has to be moved through ducts throughout your home, cold air will leak out and warm up during transportation, which can force your air conditioner to work longer and burn more energy to reach the desired temperature. Further, the fact that central air conditioners can only cool your entire interior down at once means that you will find it hard to cut your energy bills down without sacrificing comfort.
Room-Based Air Conditioners
Room-based air conditioners, on the other hand, offer a greater amount of flexibility when it comes to cooling your home down. You can choose to only cool down a single room at a time, which means you won't waste money and energy cooling down areas of your home where people are not currently spending their time. Further, room-based air conditioners are much easier to install than their central counterparts, since they only have to be placed in a window or installed on a wall, and don't have the associated ductwork needed to service the entire building.
However, room-based air conditioning units are much less effective than their central counterparts and can take longer to provide a similar amount of cooling. They also struggle to remove humidity from your home, since they are not filtering the vast majority of the interior air during the cooling process – which can further limit the comfort that they can provide. For more information, contact your local air conditioning services.
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