HVAC

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(Redirected from Hvac)
This article is about heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; HVAC may also
stand for high-voltage alternating current.
"Climate control" redirects here. For efforts to reduce changes to Earth's clima
te, see Climate change mitigation.
Rooftop HVAC unit with view of fresh air intake vent.
Ventilation duct with outlet vent. These are installed throughout a building to
move air in or out of a room.
The control circuit in a household HVAC installation. The wires connecting to th
e blue terminal block on the upper-right of the board lead to the thermostat. Th
e fan enclosure is directly behind the board, and the filters can be seen at the
top of the image. The safety interlock switch is at the bottom left.
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)[1] is the technology of indoor
and vehicular environmental comfort. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and
acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanic
al engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and
heat transfer. Refrigeration is sometimes added to the field's abbreviation as H
VAC&R or HVACR, or ventilating is dropped as in HACR (such as the designation of
HACR-rated circuit breakers).
HVAC is an important part of residential structures such as single family homes,
apartment buildings, hotels and senior living facilities, medium to large indus
trial and office buildings such as skyscrapers and hospitals, onboard vessels, a
nd in marine environments, where safe and healthy building conditions are regula
ted with respect to temperature and humidity, using fresh air from outdoors.
Ventilating or ventilation (the V in HVAC) is the process of exchanging or repla
cing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality which involves temperat
ure control, oxygen replenishment, and removal of moisture, odors, smoke, heat,
dust, airborne bacteria, carbon dioxide, and other gases. Ventilation removes un
pleasant smells and excessive moisture, introduces outside air, keeps interior b
uilding air circulating, and prevents stagnation of the interior air.
Ventilation includes both the exchange of air to the outside as well as circulat
ion of air within the building. It is one of the most important factors for main
taining acceptable indoor air quality in buildings. Methods for ventilating a bu
ilding may be divided into mechanical/forced and natural types.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
1.1 Individual systems
1.2 District networks
2 History
3 Heating
3.1 Generation
3.2 Distribution
3.2.1 Water / steam
3.2.2 Air
3.3 Dangers
4 Ventilation
4.1 Mechanical or forced ventilation
4.2 Natural ventilation
4.2.1 Airborne diseases
5 Air conditioning
5.1 Refrigeration cycle
5.2 Free cooling
5.3 Packaged vs. split system
5.4 Dehumidification
5.5 Maintenance
6 Energy efficiency
6.1 Heating energy
6.2 Ground source heat pump
6.3 Ventilation energy recovery
6.4 Air conditioning energy
7 Air filtration and cleaning
7.1 Clean air delivery rate and filter performance
8 HVAC industry and standards
8.1 International
8.2 North America
8.2.1 United States
8.3 Europe
8.3.1 United Kingdom
8.4 Australia
8.5 Asia
8.5.1 Philippines
8.5.2 India
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading