Refrigeration and air conditioning are two words that you might think mean the same thing. However, there is a difference between the two. Refrigeration refers to cooling, while air conditioning involves taking the hot air out of space and replacing it with cool air. This can be done by using an apparatus that supplies thermal energy from cold temperature to high temperature in refrigeration or by removing heat from inside a room for example, such as through ventilation or evaporative cooling.

While the two may seem similar, they serve different purposes. Air conditioning is designed to cool space while refrigeration refers to cooling products. In addition, air conditioning uses an apparatus that takes the hot air out of the room and replaces it with cold temperatures such as through ventilation or evaporative cooling. Refrigeration on the other hand has an apparatus that supplies thermal energy from cold temperature to high temperature in refrigerators for example.