Understanding HVAC

Most people in the UK have heard of HVAC before, but do you really know what it means? You benefit from it every day when you turn on the air conditioning as the summer heats up or the heat when the cold wind starts to nip at the windows. If you work in a high rise office building you probably benefit from it even more.

The Simple Definition of HVAC UK

• HVAC stands for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
• The simplest way to think of it is keeping homes, buildings, and other structures at a particular temperature.
• Most people know that it is related to the heating and air conditioning systems that operate in their homes, but what they don’t realise is that a lot more goes into it than just turning the dial to adjust temperatures.

HVAC UK – Heating

Heating a home requires a furnace or other technology that will heat up air as well as an elaborate structure of ducts and vents that travel through the building structure to deliver that heated air. It also requires technology that actually forces the air through the vents and into the building.

People who work in the field of HVAC in the UK are knowledgeable about designing, installing, and maintaining these systems. They know how to get the air inside a home or even a large business or apartment building warm without presenting any danger of fire or other mishaps inside the structure. When something goes wrong they are trained to identify the problem and fix it as quickly as possible.

HVAC UK -Ventilation

The ventilation part of HVAC is the science of circulating air around inside of a building so there are no problems with moisture, mould, bacteria or odours. It is also used in a heating system to combat accumulation of heat in a particular room or within a larger structure in general.

Most people think of ventilation as opening a window to let in some fresh air and in some cases that is what is done on a larger, more technical scale when ventilation is used. Proper ventilation is extremely important in larger structures for safety reasons, but it can be important to the living environment for homes and smaller buildings as well.

HVAC UK – Air Conditioning

An air conditioning system is often set up much like a heating system. You need a unit that cools down the air, a system of ducts and vents that will carry the cool air to the building structure, and then something to actually force and circulate that air through the vents. You control your air conditioning system by adjusting the temperature on a thermostat, but what is happening when you do this is a much more complicated system.

Those who study HVAC are interested in all of these areas. Understanding one element requires an understanding of the others, which is why it is packaged together as one field of knowledge. In many cases, refrigeration can be lumped in with HVAC since some of the technology and principles are similar. Many professionals who are trained in HVAC will also understand quite a bit about refrigeration.

That is a very quick overview of what HVAC is, but there is much more to be said if you want to understand how all of these systems actually work. HVAC is not something that you can effectively handle without extensive training.

Find out more about Ceilite’s HVAC UK services.