Ever grabbed your remote control and wondered what the heck all those different air conditioning setting symbols were?
Unless your Home Air Conditioning installer took the time to explain what all the symbols meant and what the various settings actually do – they might as well be ancient hieroglyphics or alien icons.
With that in mind, we’d like to unravel the mysteries of all those air conditioning setting symbols
We should point out that there are hundreds of different air conditioning companies out there (we feature Air Conditioning Brands on our website!)
They are from a host of countries, including Japan, Korea, China, USA, Germany, and Italy.
These companies manufacture all types of air conditioning systems, such as ducted, split systems, floor consoles and cassette air conditioners and sell countless numbers of different models.
In short, there arehundreds and hundreds of air conditioners from which to choose – and you can be sure that some have their own peculiar symbols. Having said that, there are some fairly standard air conditioning setting symbols, so we’ll concentrate on them and close variants.
Let’s start with the most common of all:
The first is the universal symbol that means “Turn on or turn off the machine”, while the Plus and Minus buttons raise or lower ambient temperature.
Then there is a symbol that looks something like:
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Any snow flake symbol means that the A/C unit will run in Cold mode (ie throw out cool air).
Next comes one that resembles the sun:
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This obviously means that the air con will run in Heat mode in Reverse Cycle machines.
The next air con setting symbol could be a little confusing:
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Even though it is showing water, it actually means the air con is in ‘Dry’ mode, a function that removes unpleasant humidity from the ambient air, while still throwing out cold air.
Next we have the fan symbol:
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This means that your air conditioner is in ventilation mode; it will work like a fan only, and throw out neither warm or cool air, just ambient air.
Similarly, if you see a symbol like this:
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It indicates the internal fan speed. The more bars you see, the faster the fan will operate.
The next symbol is the Automatic Function:
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The Auto Function maintains the desired temperature once it has been achieved. It works in both heating and cooling mode.
Next we have an air con setting symbol that is fairly self-explanatory:
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This indicates that the air con is in Quiet Mode or Silent Operation. In this setting, the unit will operate as quietly as possible, reducing fan speed noise to a minimum.
The next symbol features on most machines:
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This represents the Vertical Air Swing. It can be set to direct the air vertically, either in a static position, oscillating or automatically.
This leads us to this symbol:
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This time it’s the Horizontal Air Swing, in which we select the horizontal air flow direction.
Need more cooling or heating? Try this symbol:
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This is the ‘turbo’ button. It will force the machine to run at maximum capability non-stop for between 15 and 30 minutes (depending on make and model).
As well as the common symbols we’ve just explained, each air conditioning manufacturer has their own special features, each with their own individual symbols. Here are just some of them.
For example, LG have a function that lets the temperature rise (or fall) by a few degrees while you sleep. It’s called Sleep Mode or Night Mode…
They also have a mode than can reduce power consumption by 25% or 50%. It’s called Econo Function…
Mitsubishi Electric have two super-intelligent sensor functions, one that controls air direction, the i-See Sensor…
Plus another than turns on or off if it detects the presence or absence of people in the room. It’s called a Presence Sensor…
It is similar to Daikin’s Smart Eye Function…
and Fujitsu’s Energy Saving Function…
Also quite a few modern air conditioning manufacturers incorporate programming functions, shown as the following symbols…
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These let you schedule your cooling or heating based around your lifestyle. For example, you get home from work at 6pm, so you can program the A/C to start up at 5.45pm.
For more expert help and advice on air con symbols – and how to choose an air conditioner with the features and functions you REALLY need, talk to one of our friendly, helpful team members. Simply click here to contact us.
