Most HVAC systems use refrigerant to help them either heat your home, cool it or do both. Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) HVAC systems can greatly improve upon this initial concept and substantially increase your comfort levels in Lakewood Ranch, FL. Here are four specific benefits of VRF systems.
1. Greater Efficiency
To truly see why VRF systems are so advantageous and valuable, it pays to first have a general understanding of how HVAC systems use refrigerant. Refrigerant-based heat transfer cycles proceed in the following way.
First, the refrigerant sits in the HVAC system’s evaporator coils and draws heat out of the air that passes over them. The refrigerant then evaporates and moves into the compressor, which heats and pressurizes it further until it becomes condensable. Finally, the refrigerant moves into the system’s condenser coils and, upon contact with cooler surrounding air, condenses and releases its heat.
In a conventional air conditioning system, the evaporator coil is inside the home, while the condenser coil is outside. However, in a heat pump system, which can both heat and cool, the function of these coils depends on the system’s mode—acting as evaporators in cooling mode and switching to condensers when heating.
With this general information in place, we can now move on to a more specific discussion of VRF systems. As their names imply, VRF systems can control the quantity of refrigerant that flows to each area of your home at any given time. This means that VRF systems will be much more energy-efficient than their standard counterparts.
The more refrigerant evaporates and condenses during a single cycle, the more heat that an HVAC system can transfer from one place to another. Hence, by varying the quantity and location of refrigerant, a VRF system can more precisely calibrate the temperatures in various parts of your home. This will minimize energy waste.
2. Zoning and Flexibility
One of the primary advantages of ductless mini-splits is that they can enable you to divide your home into an arbitrary number of climate zones and select a different heating or cooling policy for each. VRF systems also have this capability.
Also like ductless systems, VRF systems can operate without ductwork and are compact. They consist of as many indoor air handler units as you’d like to have climate zones, plus an outdoor unit. Unlike ductless systems, you can configure them to operate with ductwork as well.
3. Simultaneous Heating and Cooling
Air conditioners can cool your home, and heating systems can warm it. Heat pumps can do one or the other at any specific point in time. VRF systems, however, have the power to do both at the same time to different sections of your home.
VRF systems can direct a portion of their refrigerant to condense in one room of your home and another portion of it to evaporate in another room. Hence, if one resident of your home prefers a warm climate and another prefers a cool one, VRF systems can accommodate them both.
4. Quiet Operation
Thanks to their relatively small units, VRF systems can operate extraordinarily quietly. If you choose to set up your system without ductwork, it can be even quieter.
To fully enjoy the advanced features and efficiency of a VRF system, it’s essential to follow a strict maintenance schedule. VRF systems require typically require specialized kinds of tune-ups, making routine maintenance crucial for performance and longevity. We recommend scheduling professional maintenance services at least once or twice per year to keep your system running at peak efficiency.
VRF systems can make homeowners in Lakewood Ranch, FL vastly more comfortable, save them money and put great power at their fingertips. Call Climatic Conditioning today and ask about our VRF systems.
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