Both air conditioners and air handlers are very similar and work in very similar ways. In fact, an air handler can actually work in conjunction with your home’s air conditioner. Whether you choose to cool your home with an air conditioner or air handler, they would both be a very good choice during the hot summer months.

1. Air Conditioner Vs Air Handler
Sometime ago we explained what an air handler is.
Both air conditioners and air handlers are very similar and work in very similar ways. In fact, an
air handler can actually work in conjunction with your home’s air conditioner. Whether you
choose to cool your home with an air conditioner or air handler, they would both be a very good
choice during the hot summer months.
In order to understand the difference between an air handler and an air conditioner you must first
know what each of them are and how they work. Here at Creative Comfort heating and cooling
we have put together some information that will help you be able to distinguish the difference
between the two.
Air Handlers
An air handler is a form of cooling that is less common today.
Most people use an air conditioner to cool their homes, but
maybe it is just because they are not fully aware of what an air
handler does and how it actually works. An air handler is used
to circulate and condition the air inside your home in
conjunction with your outdoor heat pump unit. So you actually
are supposed to use an air handler with your homes air
conditioner. And, that is where we find most people star getting
confused at.
Most people that install air handlers do it to help conserve
energy. A variable speed air handler contributes to the systems overall SEER rating which causes
it to go up by almost three points in efficiency.
Now that you know a little more about air handlers now, we are going to explain to you exactly
how they operate. Air handlers as mentioned above work in conjunction with your outdoor air
conditioning system or heat pump to offer a better cooling throughout your home.
The air handler is made up of several components such as an evaporator coil and a blower motor.
The air handler will distribute air through your homes ductwork via the supply. The air handler
also has a return section, this section cycles the air into the air handler and makes it either hot or
cold depending on what season it is. Once your home reaches the set temperature the air handlers
cycle for heating or cooling is complete.
Now you know what an air handler does and how it operates so we are going to tell you how
exactly an air conditioner operates.

2. Air Conditioner
Air conditioners are most commonly used today and without them we could hardly survive the
scorching summer days. An air conditioner does not work in conjunction with anything and it is
the main powerhouse. Air conditioners are designed to cool your home and keep you and your
family or guests comfortable as temperatures begin to rise.
While you all know what an air conditioner does you may not know exactly what it is made of so
we are going to tell you. An air conditioning system is made up of four parts:
1. an evaporator
2. compressor
3. condenser
4. expansion device
These four parts are kind of like the brain. They are what keep the air conditioner up and
running.
The part inside your home is called the evaporator this is where the entire refrigerant evaporates.
Then fans in the home blow air across the evaporator’s coils.
The vaporized refrigerant then passes into the compressor, which is located outside your home in
the air conditioning unit. The compressor compresses the gas to a state of higher pressure and
higher temperature.
From this point the hot gas passes over the third component, the condenser. Here the gas is
condensed back into a liquid state as heat is radiated away from it. The cooled off liquid is then
returned back into your home and the expansion device regulates the flow of liquid refrigerant
into the evaporator. Air conditioners are a little more complicated in their working.