If you want to cool a number of rooms in your home, you will probably have to consult an HVAC designer for maximum cooling at the lowest possible cost, and they might suggest package air conditioners for your application. The package unit is used for cooling medium sized halls, hospitals, and multiple rooms, usually on the same floor. Installing multiple small
window units or
split units in the halls or multiple rooms may not be feasible; in such cases package units are recommended by the HVAC engineers.
There are two possible arrangements of packaged units:
1) In the first arrangement the compressor, condenser and the expansion valve, which make the outdoor unit, are all enclosed in a single large casing. Freon gas passes through the compressor, condenser, and expansion valve and gets chilled. This gas then passes through the evaporator or cooling coil. There is a large blower that sucks the hot returned room air and blows it over the cooling coil. This cool air is then supplied though ducts which are laid down in various rooms or various parts of the room or hall. The openings are provided in the ducts at various locations so that the cool air is evenly distributed as per the heat load in the rooms.
2) In the second possible arrangement, there are two parts of the package air conditioner similar to the
split air conditioner. These are the outdoor unit and the indoor unit.
- The outdoor unit: The outdoor unit houses important parts of the air conditioner like the compressor and the condenser.
- The indoor: The indoor unit houses other important parts of the air conditioner like expansion valve, the evaporator coil or the cooling coil and the blower.
There can be multiple outdoor units or a single large outdoor unit. The indoor units are usually multiple units located in various rooms or at various places inside the large space, where the cooling effect is required. The indoor units are usually laid hanged over the ceiling. The blower of the indoor unit sucks hot returned room air from the various parts of large room. When this air is blown over the cooling coil, it gets cooled and it is supplied through the ducts to various parts of the room. The openings of the ducts are adjusted as per the heat load at various places.