10 Modern Air Conditioner Settings Explained

Once upon a simpler time, figuring out how to properly use an air conditioner wasn’t difficult at all – just find the ‘on-off’ dial and then the other one that cranks it up to fill your room with cosy cool air. Over time, however, while an air conditioning unit certainly got a lot more sophisticated, it’s difficult to argue that understanding all those modern air conditioner settings got any easier. In fact, when many people look at a modern air conditioner remote control, the blood drains out of their faces!

So, let’s take a deep dive into all those air conditioning symbols, buttons and settings that fill today’s remote controls and instruction manuals – and try to make things just a little bit easier for everyone:

All those air conditioner settings & symbols explained

• On/off: Clearly the simplest of all the air conditioning settings, you’ll either find a helpful ‘on/off’ label or the universal I/O power symbol – basically a capital letter I in a semi-circle.
• Plus/minus: The next easiest aircon symbols to navigate are the plus/minus buttons, which are always grouped together. Press ‘plus’ to raise the temperature and ‘minus’ to make it cooler.
• Snowflake: We all know that snowflakes are cold, but it can still be one of the most confusing of the new air conditioner settings for some. But it’s actually extremely simple: if you press or see the snowflake button, you’re putting your unit into ‘cool’ mode. If you don’t see it, you might actually be heating your room rather than cooling it.
• Sun: This is the exact opposite of the snowflake symbol, meaning that your system is now in heating rather than cooling mode.
• Fan: But if you see a fan, your unit may actually be in neither cooling nor heating mode. Instead, it’s just circulating ambient air for you, which can be enough when all you want is a breeze or a little ventilation.
• Fan speed indication: This is usually a progressive series of lines in combination with the fan symbol, letting you know just how hard you’ve asked the fan to work. The more lines you see, the harder the fan is working and the more intensely the air will be blowing.
• Automatic: By putting your unit into ‘AUTO’ mode, which may be denoted by air conditioner symbols resembling circling arrows, you don’t need to worry about whether it’s in the manual cooling (snowflake) or heating (sun) modes. Just set the temperature, and your system will take care of the rest.
• Swing: Your unit may also have a symbol that indicates whether the air conditioner’s air outlet is physically moving or has moved in order to direct the flow differently.
• Turbo: Some modern air conditioners also have TURBO mode, which will ask your unit to work particularly hard to change the temperature of a very cold or very warm space. Just be mindful that this mode is far less energy efficient.
• Dry mode: Another common feature of modern units is ‘dry mode’ – which is almost always denoted by a teardrop symbol. This mode should be enabled to get rid of sticky humidity as desired.

Need help with your air conditioning settings?

Hopefully, this short guide will make it just a little bit easier to navigate your way around a modern air conditioning system remote. If you’re having trouble with your unit, Your Electrical Expert can speed to your location in and around Brisbane, Gold Coast & beyond to carry out fully-licensed repairs, servicing and replacements across the full spectrum of air conditioner brands, technology types and problems. Get in touch with the friendly team today!