Your air conditioning system has many components - all with important roles - working together to keep your home cool. "Coil" is a term that you may hear often in the Summer, whether on a routine maintenance visit or a repair.
What is a coil? Your cooling system has two coils that work together to cool the home. The evaporator coil is attached to your furnace or inside of your air handler. The condenser coil is located on your air conditioner or heat pump outside. These two are connected by a line set (copper tubing) that creates a continuous loop for refrigerant to flow.
Although these two coils work together in the cooling process, they perform very different tasks to complete the "heat exchange" cycle. An air conditioning system doesn't actually produce cold air. Instead, the system removes heat from the air in your home.
The evaporator coil absorbs the heat from the air inside your home. The condenser coil releases that heat to the outside. The cycle repeats itself continuously until enough heat has been taken out of the air in your home so that the indoor temperature matches your set temperature on the thermostat.
The cooling process could not be completed without both coils.
Two major issues can cause the cooling cycle to take longer to complete. This will result in higher energy costs, lower air quality, more wear & tear, failure to keep up with cooling demands, and eventually - a break down.
Build-up of dirt or debris
Refrigerant leak