Are the furnace and AC the same? Most homeowners need more awareness of how a furnace works with an AC. Most people are often surprised to learn that their cooling and heating systems are connected. Your HVAC system is responsible for ventilation, heating, and air conditioning, making it have many components working collaboratively to provide your home with optimal comfort.

Are you wondering whether your AC and furnace are the same, or want to know how they interact? Look no further than Superstitions Cooling! Superstitions Cooling provides great insights into HVAC systems, including whether your furnace and AC are the same.

How Does Your Furnace Work?

Home furnaces differ in the energy they consume, such as gas, electricity, and oil, which affects how they produce heat. But once a furnace warms the air, it is distributed the same way regardless of the energy type. So how does your furnace work in your home? Here are a few steps:

When the temperature drops below the thermostat setting for heat, two signals are sent by the thermostat: one to the furnace to begin a heating cycle, while the other is sent to the blower motor to activate the HVAC fan.
The furnace’s heating elements receive the signal and activate. In oil and gas furnaces, their fuel is released through valves to produce open flames, while in the electric furnace, electricity powers heating elements in the electric space heaters.
Heat is then transferred to the air. In gas and oil furnaces, this occurs when the flames heat the heat exchanger component that warms the air around it, while in the electric furnace, heat is transferred by exposing the heating elements to open air.
The HVAC fan and the blower motor push the warm air through the ducts and vents, warming your home.
The thermostat then detects when the indoor temperatures reach the desired levels and send signals to turn off the furnace and the blower motor.

How Does Your AC Work?

Your home air conditioner works the same way as your furnace. However, instead of taking air from outside and heating it, the air conditioner cools the air down and distributes it throughout your home via ducts reducing the temperatures. Your AC works through the following process:

The warm air is first drawn into the HVAC system.
This air then flows over the cold evaporator pipes inside, cooling the air down, and the dehumidifier removes excess moisture from the air.
The coolant flowing through the chiller pipes absorbs the heat from the air blowing past it and evaporates it, turning it from a cool liquid to a warm gas.
The warm gas is pumped outside while the coolant flows through the compressor unit and a condenser which turns it back into a cool liquid.
Cold air is then recirculated into the room, mixing with the existing air and reducing the home’s temperatures.

How Does My AC Unit Work with My Furnace?

Understanding how a furnace works with an AC can be slightly confusing for homeowners in East Valley. Your furnace and air conditioner are stand-alone components of your HVAC system, which function independently to ensure heating and air conditioning. However, they are connected using the same infrastructure, like ducts and vents, to circulate air throughout your home.

Comfort Systems Rely On Each Other for Best Performance

Does a furnace need to be on for the AC to work and vice versa? Your air conditioner and furnace are essential and interconnected components of your HVAC system. As a result, your comfort systems rely on each other for the best performance. Your air conditioner and furnace are dependent on each other in various ways, such as:

Both AC and furnace use the same thermostat to activate and shut down.
The AC and the furnace use the same blower to spread cool and warm air throughout your home.
The AC evaporator coil’s work is to transfer excess heat and moisture from inside your house to outside and might freeze up when there is a problem with the HVAC system.
The furnace and the AC unit work together to clean and condition the air before recirculating it throughout the house.

Since your home’s cooling and heating system are encompassed in the HVAC system, you should maintain your HVAC system. Damage to one component might damage other parts of the system.

Professional Air Conditioning Installation, Repair & Maintenance Services in Apache Junction

Are you looking for professional HVAC system maintenance and tune-up services in Apache Junction?

Superstitions Cooling is the best HVAC company with professional staff to offer you excellent HVAC system services quickly. Contact us for an estimate for all your HVAC system maintenance and tune-up needs.