The two words that have constantly been used in the air conditioning industry are HVAC and AC.  

While we all somewhat know that these terms are used quite often as acronyms.  

However, what most of us don’t know is that these two have different usage in the industry.  

We are going to discuss their differences, usage, and other things in this blog.  

But, first, let us know what do HVAC and AC stand for? 

HVAC stands for ‘Heating’, ‘Ventilation’, and ‘Air Conditioning’.  

AC stands for ‘Air Conditioning’.  

What is the Basic Difference? 

While AC is normally used to indicate the system that cools the air in your home aka Air Conditioner, HVAC, on the other hand, is commonly used for a system that does both heating and cooling. Gas furnaces, heat pumps, and air conditioning units are all HVAC systems.  

The terms AC and HVAC are highly used interchangeably by air conditioning companies because of their nature of work.  

However, there is a thin line difference between them both. Let’s understand it one by one.

1. Air Conditioners 

Window units and central AC are the two basic types of Air Conditioners widely used. Window AC is usually used to cool a limited space such as a room or office cabin etc.  

Whereas, central ACs have the tendency to cool an entire house and can be taken into use accordingly to cool large spaces too.   

2. Heat Pumps

One of the most commonly known and widely used central heating solutions in HVAC is being used in Heat pumps.  

As HVAC has a tendency to handle both heating and cooling, therefore, heat pumps also provide both heating and cooling as per the requirement.  

Be it packaged or split; HVAC handles both unit types. A packaged Heat pump is usually a complete one unit and is usually kept outside.  

3. Furnace 

When it comes to heating up homes, most HVAC systems use natural gas furnaces. Fuel has been used normally to generate heat and warm houses.  

In common uses, Furnaces are installed in out of reach spaces such as crawl spaces or basements. Mainly these are used in cold areas.  

We hope this breakup of HVAC and AC has helped you understand these terms better.  If you have any queries regarding both the terms or require any further understanding, then reach out to commercial AC conditioning experts.