First let s start with 55 degrees.
Supply air temperature cooling.
So even though there s no single ideal temperature you do want a 16 22 f difference from the supply air and return air.
In between the setpoint is varied linearly.
Your cooling schedule that sets cooling setpoint temperature changes values between 0 and 24 on weekdays and the summer design day which is the design day used for cooling sizing.
The well known fact that 55 degrees is the preferred supply air temperature comes to us from the commercial world.
Why use cold air distribution.
The coldest practical air temperature is about 38 f with most cold air designs using 42 48 f.
Professionals call this temperature difference the evaporator delta t.
The temperature your ac puts out is relative to the temperature you set on your thermostat.
The cold air systems distribute air at a temperature much lower than 55 f.
All the stages of cooling have been on for 10 or more minutes.
Since the lowest supply air temperature is already achieved without any mechanical cooling supply air temperature optimization is not necessary in this outside air condition.
For generations large commercial air conditioning systems have been designed around a constant supply air temperature setpoint of 55 degrees.
The supply air temperature is 20 or more degrees above the supply air temp alarm for cooling set point for 10 minutes.
When the odb is at or above 26 7c the setpoint is the off coil air temperature set point.
The unit controller compares the supply air temperature to the supply air temp alarm for cooling and initiates the alarm based on the following criteria.
When the outdoor dry bulb temperature odb is at or below 15 6c the setpoint is 18c.
2 outdoor air temperature reset reset the cooling supply air temperature based on the following default rules.
In cooling mode the cool supply air typically around 55 f 13 c saturated at design conditions exits an outlet at high velocity.
For a given air conditioning load as the supply air temperature is reduced the supply air volume is reduced proportionally.