All refrigerant based air conditioners use a principle called "Heat of vaporization", in which liquids absorb heat when they change state to a vapor.
- Refrigerant gas is compressed, using the 1.5 hp compressor. When the refrigerant is compressed it becomes hot, so the heated refrigerant is passed through a cooling coil and outside air is blown across the coil to cool the refrigerant to outside temperature.
- When temperature of the compressed refrigerant drops below a threshold, it changes state to a liquid.
- The liquid refrigerant is allowed to pass through an "expansion valve". The valve maintains a relatively high temperature on the "compressed" side, then the gas quickly drops to a low pressure.
- Using "Boyle's Law", we know that as a gas expands, the temperature will drop.
- The expanded refrigerant cools rapidly and is passed through another coil, which cools the inside air as the air warms the refrigerant.
- The gas is then compressed again, as described in step 1.