Rooftop Air Conditioning Units

Craftily designed for applications in factories, supermarkets, warehouses, cinemas hotel lobbies, and restaurants, there are many packaged rooftop air conditioning units in the stock market. Typically, rooftop air conditioning units are central air conditioners or split system. The outdoor unit (comprises of the condenser and compressor) is situated onto the roof top because of adequate space and because it is completely out of the way.

These kinds of heavy duty air conditioning units have both heat pump and cooling only versions. They also include ultra-efficient scroll compressors, belt driven fans, optimized heat exchangers – which allow regulation of static pressure and air volume as necessary. These units have a fan assembly which can be repositioned to either vertical or standard horizontal. There are companies that equip their modes with LCD and remote controllers. To protect the system, the covered panels of weatherproof material and soundproof casings and the other components are specially coated with durable chemicals to endure deterioration which may be due to atmospheric conditions.

Unlike the typical central air conditioners, installing the unit is not complicated and quick because of its concept of ‘plug and play’ system. Both the indoor and outdoor sides are already pre-connected that pipe-work or ductwork is not a problem.

There are different types of roof air conditioning systems. One is the packaged roof-top air conditioner which encloses all the mechanics in one unit. These are mostly used in larger commercial buildings because of the great distance between the air handling units found indoor and the cooling units outside. The distance may cause unmanageable lubrication problems in the ductwork. Thus, rooftop units make use of chilled water systems. Refrigerants are also used by this type of roof top air con to cool or chill the water. Then, the cooled water is pumped and distributed through ducts in to the air handling units and finally to the rooms inside the building. If you may ask, the cooled water is actually used in chilling the air when necessary. There is unlimited length of the ductwork on rooftop systems because it has minimal problems with lubrication. But as long as these ducts are properly insulated, then everything is all right. These package rooftop types are ideally seen and used also in parched climates.

The second type is called the roof mount air conditioners. These are actually central systems which are used to cool the entire buildings. They are tremendously flexible units such that the airflow may be configured to either standard level, high level, or reduced level. Under these are two main constructional configurations which include intake with fresh air or mixing plenum and assemblies of the discharge fan, re-circulating plenum and fresh air.

Rooftop air conditioning units perform highly but consume low energy. However, one main problem is their position on the roof – they are very exposed to direct sunlight. This can mean that they can get very hot in the daytime which significantly reduces efficiency. Thus, roof top air conditioning units should be installed in areas that get minimal sunlight if possible.