Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning

HVAC, otherwise known as Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning in its full form, is a combined system used by various types of building to effectively control the temperature. Although there may be aspects of HVAC in your home and various other appliances, it usually only refers to one big combined system, which are usually used in medium to large buildings such as schools and offices, or environments that need to be carefully temperature controlled such as agriculture warehouses or where animals are kept like zoos or aquariums.

Dependent on the different heating, ventilation and air conditioning needs of the building, air vents or grilles are used to take in the air from the room, which then pass through the system and is ventilated (cleaned) by filters, then either cooled (conditioned), or heated in an air handling unit, before being exhaled back out in to the required room by a diffuser. Cold and hot pipes, or more advanced technology is used to control the temperature of the air as it passes through the system. All of this is usually controlled from a basement or a control box somewhere secluded in the building.

The installation of an efficient HVAC system is highly advanced and is normally only done during the initial development of a building as it has to be woven in to the architecture. It is required by law for large buildings to have a HVAC system professionally designed and installed.