About The Author: Travis Baugh is a Digital Brand Marketing Manager for Bryant, where he creates clear, helpful content to guide homeowners through heating, cooling, and indoor air quality decisions. His goal is to empower readers with the knowledge they need to choose the right comfort solutions for their home—confidently and comfortably.
What Is An Air Handler?
An air handler, often called a fan coil, is the indoor unit of your HVAC system responsible for regulating and circulating conditioned air. It pairs with a heat pump or air conditioner to filter air, control humidity, and distribute heating or cooling through your home's ductwork.
How Does An Air Handler Work?
The air handler's primary job is to intake air from inside the house, pass it over coils to heat or cool it, and then powerfully circulate that conditioned air back into your living spaces.
Without an air handler, the warm or cool air produced by your heat pump or air conditioner would have no way to move around your home. It effectively pushes the air out and ensures consistent circulation, acting as the driving force behind your indoor climate control.
“The air handler is basically the HVAC system's lungs,” Samantha Houchin, owner of The Weather Changers in Denver, Colorado, said. “It pushes the air out and moves it through the system. Without it, you wouldn’t have anything to circulate air throughout the house.”
Key Functions Of An Air Handler
An air handler performs three critical tasks to keep your home comfortable: circulation, filtration, and humidity control.
Air Circulation
The blower motor inside the air handler pushes conditioned air through your ductwork. Whether it is the middle of a freezing winter or a sweltering summer, the air handler ensures that the air reaches every corner of your home for consistent comfort.
Air Filtering
Before air is heated or cooled, it passes through an internal filter within the air handler. This removes dust, pollen, pet dander, and other allergens, significantly improving your indoor air quality and protecting the system's internal components from debris buildup.
Humidity Control
Air handlers play a major role in managing indoor moisture. By regulating airflow across the evaporator coil, the unit helps remove excess humidity during the cooling process. This prevents clamminess and mold growth, ensuring a more comfortable environment. Learn more about what humidity should my house be at?
Types of Air Handlers
Depending on your home's design and where the unit needs to be installed—like an attic, basement, or closet—there are three main configurations of air handlers: upflow, downflow, and horizontal.
Upflow Air Handler
Best for: Basements and crawl spaces.
In an upflow configuration, the unit pulls air in from the bottom and pushes conditioned air upward into the supply ducts. This is common in homes where ductwork runs above the unit.
Downflow Air Handler
Best for: Attics and upper-level closets.
A downflow air handler operates in reverse, pulling air from the top and pushing it downward into ductwork that runs beneath the floor.
Horizontal Air Handler
Best for: Tight attics or crawl spaces with limited vertical height.
This unit lays on its side and moves air laterally (side-to-side). It is ideal for homes with slab foundations or spaces where a tall vertical unit won't fit.
Why Choose a Bryant Air Handler?
Invest in comfort with Bryant air handlers, designed for seamless compatibility with our heating and cooling systems.
- Variable-Speed Technology: Enjoy ultra-quiet operation and consistent airflow.
- Energy Efficiency: Advanced motors reduce energy consumption, helping lower utility bills.
- Durability: Built to last, ensuring reliable performance season after season.
Connect With A Bryant Dealer On Air Handlers
Choosing the right air handler configuration is vital for efficiency and longevity. Whether you need a variable-speed unit for ultra-quiet operation or a specific size for a tight closet, a local expert can guide you. Schedule an appointment today to find the perfect match for your home’s comfort needs.
Explore Bryant Air Handlers
Choose a Bryant air handler for efficient and reliable air distribution in your home. Designed for seamless compatibility with Bryant heating and cooling systems, these air handlers ensure optimal comfort year-round. With features like variable-speed motors and quiet operation, Bryant air handlers provide consistent airflow while improving energy efficiency. Their durable construction and flexible installation options make them a smart, long-lasting choice for maintaining a comfortable and healthy indoor environment in any season.
Air Handler FAQs
An air handler circulates conditioned air throughout your home by housing components like the blower fan, coils, and filters, and works with your HVAC system to maintain comfort.
Another name for an air handler is a fan coil.
Yes, most ducted heat pump systems require an air handler to distribute heated or cooled air, unless you're using a ductless mini-split system with individual indoor units.
If an air handler goes bad, you may experience poor airflow, inconsistent temperatures, strange noises, or a complete loss of heating or cooling in your home.
An air handler and a blower are related but not exactly the same. The air handler is a broader term that refers to the entire unit responsible for circulating and conditioning air throughout your home (the filters, coils, and blower), while a blower is just one component inside the air handler – a motorized fan that moves the air through the HVAC system and into the ducts.
The air handler should run whenever your heating or cooling system is actively working to maintain your home’s temperature. For example, when your thermostat signals that the home is too cold or too hot, the air handler helps circulate the conditioned air through the ducts.
Some homeowners choose to run the air handler on a continuous fan mode to improve air circulation, maintain more consistent temperatures, or enhance indoor air quality. This can be especially helpful in larger homes with multiple rooms, as it helps distribute air more evenly.
Running the air handler all the time can increase energy use, as it consumes electricity and puts wear on the system. In most cases, it’s more energy-efficient to allow the air handler to cycle on and off as needed, in response to temperature changes or thermostat settings.
If a home uses a furnace for heating and an air conditioner for cooling, the system usually includes an air handler. The air handler houses the blower fan, heating coils, and possibly a cooling coil (depending on the system) to circulate conditioned air through ducts.
Homes with a heat pump for heating and cooling will also generally have an air handler. The air handler works with the heat pump to distribute heated or cooled air through the home’s ductwork.
If a home has a ductless mini split system, each indoor unit typically serves as its own air handler, so there isn’t a need for a central air handler.
Homes with radiant heating (such as in-floor heating) often don’t use air handlers because the heat is delivered through warm floors or panels rather than forced air.
An air conditioner cools refrigerant, while an air handler circulates that cooled air through the ductwork in your home.
A heat pump both heats and cools by moving heat energy, while an air handler distributes the conditioned air produced by the heat pump or AC.
Not always, but replacing both together ensures matched components for better performance and energy efficiency.
It typically looks like a tall indoor cabinet connected to ducts and refrigerant lines, often installed in a utility room, basement, or attic.
