Electrical Engineering

HVAC stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. It refers to the systems that regulate and move heated and cooled air throughout residential and commercial buildings, from homes to offices to indoor stadiums.Although there are many options when it comes to HVAC systems, they all work similarly: taking in fresh air and using a mechanical ventilation system to heat or cool it to a desired temperature.

At the most basic level, an HVAC system takes in air, cools or heats that air, and blows it into an indoor space, according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. That space could be a specific room or an entire building or structure, such as a house, office, school, airport, or even a submarine. An individual component of an HVAC system may serve dual purposes.