# Interactive Air Conditioner

By Numa

Topic: Machines

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/wHNsB5b82Ywc)

## Guide

### 1. Meet the split air conditioner

This is a wall unit like Mitsubishi Electric's MSZ\-FS\. It is one half of a pair: the boxy unit outside does the heavy work\. Copper pipes and a cable join them through the wall\. Drag empty space to turn the scene\.

This size moves about 12,000 BTU of heat an hour, roughly 3\.5 kilowatts\.

### 2. Switch it on

Press the red button on the remote, or use the Power button below\. The unit beeps, its lamp lights, the flap swings open and the fan spins up\. Outside, the compressor starts a moment later\.

### 3. Look inside

Room air is pulled in through the top, through two washable filters, across a cold finned coil, then pushed out of the slot\. Tap the front panel to lift it, then tap a filter to slide it out\.

### 4. A long drum fan

The fan is not a propeller but a long drum of curved blades, called a cross\-flow fan\. It sweeps air across the whole width of the coil\. Change the fan speed and watch the air stream\.

Its five speeds run from about 140 to 420 cubic feet of air a minute\.

### 5. Cold coil, wet coil

The coil is colder than the dew point, about 7 to 13 °C, so water from the air beads on its fins, like on a cold glass\. It runs into a tray and down a hose outside, so the room also gets drier\.

### 6. Heat goes outside

With the side panel off you can see the compressor, the heart of the system\. It squeezes the refrigerant gas until it is hot\. The big fan blows air through the outdoor coil and carries that heat away, which is why the air outside feels warm\.

### 7. A loop that moves heat

The refrigerant never runs out: it circles in a sealed loop\. It boils indoors, soaking up heat, and gives that heat up outdoors\. Set the temperature: the further the room is from it, the harder the inverter drives the compressor\.

A lower setting does not cool faster\. It only runs longer\.

### 8. Running in reverse

In winter a valve reverses the flow, so the indoor coil gets hot and the outdoor coil gets cold\. Frost can build up outside\. Press Defrost: the indoor fan pauses and the frost melts away as steam\.

### 9. Your air conditioner

Now it is yours\. Use the remote's buttons to switch it on and off, change mode and set the temperature, tap the flap to start it swinging, or open the panel\. Pick a mode below\.