In this blog post, we will look at the reasons why high school classrooms have switched to system air conditioners for heating and cooling and the advantages of this system.
The classroom I visited after a long time since graduating from high school was very different from how I remembered it. The familiar space was undergoing unfamiliar changes. The air conditioner behind the window and the electric radiators in front and behind the window were gone, and a system air conditioner, which I had only seen in company buildings, had been installed. In the past, the air conditioner took up one side of the classroom, making the space look cramped, but now the system air conditioner is embedded in the ceiling, making the classroom look much more spacious. This has also created space for potted plants in the classroom and allowed the lockers to be made larger. The atmosphere of the classroom has also become cleaner and more sophisticated than before.
Recently, air conditioners, heaters, and stoves that used to be used for heating and cooling in classrooms have been replaced with system air conditioners. I remember that in the past, schools often couldn’t afford to turn on the air conditioners or heaters due to a lack of budget. Nevertheless, schools are spending a lot of money to replace these heating and cooling devices. Why is that?
To answer this question, we first need to learn about the structure and operating principles of system air conditioners. A system air conditioner is based on a refrigerator or air conditioner, which has a freezer that keeps things cool. The freezer consists of a compressor, condenser, expansion valve, and evaporator. It also contains a substance called a refrigerant, which flows in one direction. This refrigerant moves heat from one side to the other as it repeatedly changes from a liquid to a gas.
To understand the principle of a freezer more easily, let’s compare molecules to people. Refrigerants can be compared to a group of people. In a compressor, the gaseous refrigerant is compressed to create high pressure and temperature, which is like forcing people who were apart to get closer, and they push each other away more and generate heat. The refrigerant with high pressure and temperature then passes through the condenser, which is the part that comes into contact with the air. Just as people who are in a fever state vent their anger on those who are not, the heat cools down as the refrigerant passes through the condenser and gradually becomes a liquid. Next, the refrigerant passes through the expansion valve, where the pressure and temperature are lowered. It is like the people who were pushing each other away because of the narrow space move to a wider space, so they push each other less and receive less heat. The refrigerant in this state passes through the evaporator, which is the part that comes into contact with the air, and, unlike in the condenser, it changes into a gas as the temperature rises. This time, they are thought to be receiving more heat because they met people who were angrier than they were and took their anger out on them. Then, the refrigerant flows through the compressor again, and this process is repeated.
This principle of the refrigerator is what makes the air conditioner work, and interestingly, this process can be used in reverse to heat the room. Simply by changing the positions of the condenser and the evaporator, the room will become hot and the outside will become cold. Since condensers and evaporators usually look similar, a system air conditioner has been designed to add one device so that the one in the room can be used as a condenser and as an evaporator. This is why air conditioners and heaters are no longer needed and only one system air conditioner is needed to provide both cooling and heating.
Also, compared to the refrigerant mentioned above that makes a busy circle, all we do is push the refrigerant slightly in the compressor. Even with that small pressure, the refrigerant transfers heat, and the amount of heat transferred by the refrigerant in one circle is about four times more than what we push. This means that it is very efficient for quickly heating or cooling the air in a room. Therefore, even if the school uses the same amount of money, it can cool down in summer with the same performance as the existing air conditioner and heat in winter with about four times more efficiency than other heating appliances.
In the end, the air conditioner and heating appliances were replaced with a single system air conditioner because it can cool and heat at the same time and is highly efficient. As a result, in classrooms equipped with a system air conditioner, the space occupied by the existing air conditioner and heating equipment has been replaced with lockers for students or potted plants that will help to reduce the feeling of desolation. In addition, the increased heating and cooling time in the classroom provides a more comfortable environment. However, the disadvantage is that the use of electricity may limit the heating and cooling during a power crisis. Despite these pros and cons, it is clear that the installation of the system air conditioner is a change that will provide a better learning environment for students. This is an example of a school’s efforts to improve the convenience of its students, suggesting that improvements to the educational environment can be directly linked to students’ academic achievement.
