What's the Difference Between Air Conditioning and Refrigeration?

With summer trailing behind us and winter quickly approaching, it’s a good time to do any last-minute unit maintenance before battening down the hatches for the season. But how do you know what you should do to keep your unit in optimal condition? Do the maintenance practices differ between air conditioning units and ice chests or fridges? Let’s dive into the major differences between these two types of cooling technology.  

3 Differences In Air Conditioning and Refrigeration

AC units change the temperature of an inhabited environment. They draw hot air into the unit and cool it through an evaporation process. The cooled air is expelled from a series of fans. Fridges pump freon through thin pipes in the fridge walls to remove the heat from items placed inside the unit. While both units are considered cooling technology, their functions differ from process to result: 

• Refrigeration uses coolant, while air conditioners also use air from outside. 
• Air conditioners push air away, whereas a fridge keeps the cool air centralized. 
• Air conditioning dehumidifies and cools air through an evaporation process. 

Forquer wants to supply you with the tools to understand and get the most out of your AC and refrigeration units. 

Refrigeration uses coolant, while air conditioners also use air from outside. 

In refrigeration, the last thing you want is any air from outside penetrating the closed environment of the unit. It will destroy the thermal transfer process of the freon and turn your fridge into a haven of bacteria. ACs are the opposite. They need air from outside the unit to synergize it through internal chemicals and the evaporation process.  

Air conditioners push air away, whereas a fridge keeps the cool air centralized. 

Air conditioners have a series of fans and blowers that force the newly cooled air into the space. Conversely, the maze of pipes on the back of your refrigerator moves liquids and gasses. The liquid freon absorbs the heat from the food inside and turns it into heated gas held in the pipes.