It's fine to forget some of the technical terms involved in HVAC-R, so we're helping you remember the main ones in this broad sector with a glossary. It's a fact that our minds have an impeccable ability to store impressive memories, even the ones we need to forget. But in moments of urgency […]
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Learn moreIt's fine to forget some of the technical terms involved in HVAC-R, so we're helping you remember the main ones in this broad sector with a glossary.
It's a fact that our minds have an impeccable ability to store impressive memories, even the ones we need to forget. But in moments of urgency it's perfectly normal to forget that one essential word for a given situation, even the ones we're used to using every day, right?
It's not just forgetting the word itself that happens, but also what each one means. After all, when were you last asked what “supply air” means and couldn't remember the technical explanation?
For professionals who work in HVAC-R and use inventory management software to control parts and components, knowing the technical terminology is essential for communicating effectively with customers and suppliers.
Or that word that appears in the instructions for equipment registered in your asset management software, and your customer wants to know what it means, but you've simply forgotten?Exactly. So that it doesn't happen again, we've put together a glossary covering all the HVAC specialities and their terms.
Extract air: Air extracted from the space by the air conditioning system. For example, we find it in air handling units (AHUs), which both distribute conditioned air throughout a building and return extract air to the AHUs.
Infiltration air: Outdoor air that enters the conditioned space through cracks and other openings due to pressure differences, which is how infiltration occurs.
Supply air: Air introduced into the conditioned space by the air conditioning system. It may consist only of fresh air or also include return air.
Exhaust air: Air extracted from the space by the air conditioning system and discharged outdoors. It can be all or only part of the extract air. It is also referred to as "relief air". If you're asked about one or the other, the explanation is the same.
Return air: The part of the extract air that is not discharged outdoors but reused and mixed with fresh air so that, after treatment, it becomes the supply air explained above.
Outdoor air: Basically the ambient air, the air outside the conditioned space. Very simple.
Fresh air: Outdoor air introduced into the air conditioning system to renew the air in the space. It makes up part or all of the supply air.
Heat pump: A machine that can be used for both heating and cooling, known as a thermal machine, also used as the principle behind refrigeration machines.
Technicians working in the field who use field service management software know how important it is to know all the HVAC-R technical terms in order to provide quality service to customers.
British thermal unit (BTU): A unit of energy equivalent to 1.06 kJ. 1 BTU is the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. In practice, there are several types of BTU, each corresponding to a different interpretation depending on the definition.
Boiler: A thermal machine in which a fluid is heated, with or without a change of phase. It generally relies on burning solid, liquid or gaseous fuel, or on electrical energy.
Space heating: The same as heating, explained above, remember?
Air conditioning (climate control): A generic term for the process of treating air, or the way of changing, separately or together, the temperature, humidity, quality and speed of the air in a space. It also includes the functions of heating, cooling, humidification, dehumidification and ventilation. If all functions can be activated together, it corresponds to air conditioning. Makes sense?
Condenser: A component in the basic refrigeration cycle that removes heat from the system. The condenser is the hot side of an air conditioner or heat pump.
Chiller: Or chilled water production unit, a device designed to remove heat from water or another fluid through a vapour-compression or absorption refrigeration cycle.
Air conditioning: Our famous AC.
Specific consumption: Energy used to run a building's HVAC system.
Proper maintenance of HVAC-R systems requires the use of CMMS software and precise knowledge of all the technical terminology involved in the processes.
Nominal consumption: Energy needed to run a building's HVAC system under typical agreed conditions, whether in terms of climate or usage pattern.
Dehumidification: The well-known process of reducing the specific humidity of the air.
Ventilation efficiency: Is everything right with the ventilation? Put simply, it's the positive answer to that question. Or, the ratio between the flow of fresh air supplied to or entering a given space and the flow of fresh air that actually reaches the occupied zone of that space.
Nominal energy efficiency: The ratio between useful energy and final energy, measured as a percentage under nominal design conditions.
Final energy: Energy made available to users in different useful forms after being obtained from primary energy.
Primary energy: An energy resource available in nature, whether in the form of oil, biomass, sun, wind, water or others.
Renewable energy: Energy from the sun, biomass, wind, geothermal sources, the sea and rivers.
Useful energy: Energy supplied by a device in fulfilling its purpose.
Building envelope: The component of a building that marks the boundary between the interior space and the outdoor environment. It includes the walls, roof and other architectural elements that separate the outside from the inside, as well as their relationship with the foundations, structures and other building elements.
Managers who use facility management software often need to master HVAC-R terminology to properly coordinate climate control operations in buildings.
Energy mix: The percentage breakdown of primary energy sources in public electricity generation.
Nominal heating capacity: The thermal power that would need to be supplied to a space to offset heat losses under nominal design conditions.
Nominal cooling capacity: The thermal power that would need to be extracted from a space to offset heat gains under nominal design conditions.
System heating capacity: The maximum heating capacity that the installed HVAC system can deliver.
System cooling capacity: The maximum cooling capacity that the installed HVAC system can deliver.
Installed thermal capacity: The maximum heating or cooling capacity that the installed HVAC system can deliver.
Transport fluid mover: A motor-fan or motor-pump assembly used to move, respectively, the gaseous and liquid fluids of an air conditioning system.
Terminal reheat: Heating of cooled air. This makes it possible to fine-tune the temperature of the air entering the space.
Heat recovery: A process used to make use of the heat carried by the extract fluid.
District network: A distribution circuit for thermal fluids in a given urban area, where they are prepared at a shared central plant and made available for use in each of the buildings served by the network.
Coil: A component through which heat is exchanged with a fluid, inside an air handling unit (AHU) or a duct. You probably know it's usually a tube or filament with a wavy shape. If you didn't, now you do.
Air conditioning system: A set of equipment combined coherently to meet one or more climate control objectives, namely ventilation, heating, cooling, humidification and dehumidification. An air conditioner is a good example here.
Professionals who use CAFM software for facility management need to be familiar with HVAC-R terminology to optimise the management of centralised air conditioning systems.
Centralised system: A system for producing cooling or heating that is concentrated in one installation, in a location separate from the spaces being conditioned.
Humidification: The process of increasing the specific humidity of the air.
Individual unit: Compact, split or self-contained small-capacity air conditioning equipment serving only one room or separate unit. Just as a reminder: it's known as an "air conditioner".
Chilled water production unit: Remember the chiller? Here it is. Or rather, it's up above, worth a reread.
Air handling unit (AHU): Part of a centralised HVAC-R system, usually consisting of a fan, heating and cooling coils, filters, grilles, humidifiers and other components designed to treat fresh air and return air, turning it into supply air.
Ventilation: The process of renewing the air in a given space through natural or mechanical means.
Hybrid ventilation: Renewing indoor air with fresh air, using natural ventilation whenever conditions allow and mechanical ventilation as an alternative or complement whenever natural ventilation is insufficient.
Mechanical ventilation: Renewing indoor air by extracting air from the space and supplying outdoor air. Or, if you prefer, air treated as a mixture of fresh air and return air, using a system of ducts and fans.
To ensure regulatory compliance in mechanical ventilation systems, it's essential to use compliance software and master all the sector's technical terminology.
Natural ventilation: Renewing indoor air with fresh outdoor air.
Constant air volume (CAV): A system designed to deliver a constant airflow. This term applies to HVAC systems that use a variable supply air temperature while keeping the airflow constant. Most residential air conditioning systems are of this type.
Occupied zone: The part of a room where people can be present, usually corresponding to the space from floor level up to about 2 metres above it.
So, did we miss any term you use regularly in your day-to-day work? Share it with us and keep following our official channels for more content like this.
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