Aircon how does it work is it better in the heat.

MX5huggy

For variation.....

It's like an Air Source Heat Pump...... They work like fridges

forgotmyname

A fridge works on the same principle as the aircon in your car

Fridge should be between 0 and 5 degrees C. In very warm weather it may struggle to keep it that cool, Just like the aircon in the car.

Too cold = it doesnt work, Cool = not efficient, Warmer = best, Too hot and its cannot cope.

You could always drive the fridge to work?

opinions4u

wigfield wrote: »

I do so hate these short answers,Yes to what a bit of simple info would be good.

I'm not convinced that you actually asked a question.

So who knows how the aircon system works,Does it work better in the summer times more cold air when its really hot,Or do you get more cold air in the cooler days.

I would say you get colder air coming out in the less warmer days,But a mate said that is actually wrong you think its colder because the air outside is cold,But infact you get colder air in the summer hotter days,Then he waffled on about summer time heat has more air pressure and the aircon works with pressure,He lost me then.

Stooby2

Apparently it's like a fridge.

Not sure if it'll keep your beer cool though.

Joe_Horner

wigfield wrote: »

Hi

So who knows how the aircon system works,Does it work better in the summer times more cold air when its really hot,Or do you get more cold air in the cooler days.

It depends what you mean by "better".

Any heat pump, which is what your aircon is (like a fridge, you know) doesnt really care what the actual temperature is as long as it's within the limits of the system and the refrigerant used (ie: not so cold that things freeze or so hot it can't condense properly).

What they care about is the difference in temperature between the cold and hot parts.

So, if you try to cool the outside 23 degree air down to 18 degrees in summer the system will "see" that 5 degree difference exactly the same as if you try to cool 10 degree winter air to 5 degrees, assuming that the system doesn't shut itself off before that.

In practice, most (all?) car systems are designed with a minimum output temperature that's reasonable for the occupants but that's to do with comfort and not directly related to how "good" the system is at those temperatures in a technical sense.

In terms of efficiency, the smaller the temp difference, the more efficient the system will be. So if you measure "good" by efficiency then it'll be better in winter when you're likely to want a few degrees of cooling rather than 10 or 15 degrees in summer.

In terms of absolute output temperature, it'll be as good or better in winter because it will be able to get the output right down to whatever the designed shut-off temp is, which it may not be able to do in summer.

In terms of total temperature difference it'll probably be better in summer because it'll be able to create the biggest difference it's capable of (maybe 15 - 20 degrees but it'll be working hard!) without the shut-off kicking in.

almillar

I think wigfield's mate was confusing actual air conditioning, which involves the coolant described above, with just the normal blowers you get in a car. These will either heat the air with the waste heat from the engine, or simply blow the air unheated from outside, hence the air blown will be warmer in summer than in winter.

Biketrials08

Air conditioners have an easier time in winter. It seems to be glossed over that on AC there are two heat exchangers, the one that cools the cabin air and the other one that dumps the heat to atmosphere usually in front of the radiator or next to it. Efficiency will be determined by temperature differentials between the heat exchangers and the air they are cooling or essentially warming. The unit dumping heat will have a better time doing so if the passing air cooler so hence for the same cabin temp it will have a lot less work to do in winter than in summer.