During scorching summers, air conditioners are excellent companions to endure heat and humidity. They cool the house, ensuring you are comfortable and happy. Unfortunately, using the air conditioner isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
AC repair services experts report that when you spend long periods indoors, you are bound to experience “air conditioning sickness.’ A condition characterized by cold, stuffy, weak feeling.
At this time, you have a strong urge to go outside, take a walk, and breathe fresh air so you can recover from the uneasiness. So if you are wondering, can air conditioner make you sick? Yes, it can.
To help you understand the situation better, here are 5 ways the air conditioner is making you sick and what you can do about it:
You don’t clean the air filters.
When is the last time you cleaned or replaced the air filters? Air conditioners don’t pull fresh air from the outside—they circulate old air, which means if you don’t clean the filters, the same dirty air keeps circulating, putting your health at risk.
When you go for a long time without cleaning the air filters, animal dander, mold, dust, and viruses are bound to accumulate in the filters, and they get circulated via the air conditioner.
When you inhale these materials, you increase your chances of getting sick. The condition is worse when you suffer from allergies.
To avoid getting sick, keep the air conditioner filters clean at all times. At least once every three months, inspect the filters and, if dirty, clean them. If they need to be replaced, go ahead and do it. When getting replacement filters, go for high-quality ones that will last for a long time.
You keep the air conditioner running all the time.
When you keep the air conditioner running all the time such that you turn your apartment into frozen tundra, you put your health at risk as you are always in a cold environment. Keeping the air conditioner running all the time makes your body less bearable to hot weather, so you want to stay in the cold, which makes your sick. It’s like a never-ending cycle.
To stay healthy, make it a habit to shut off the air conditioner from time to time. For example, when you aren’t at home, or you are sleeping, turn the unit off. If you don’t like turning it off completely, lower the temperature, so you raise the house temperature.
By doing this, you give your body temperature a chance to regulate itself. At the same time, you save energy, so you have a lower energy bill at the end of the month.
You set the temperature too low.
The same way keeping the air conditioner running all the time exposes your body to a lot of cold, it’s the same thing that happens when you set the temperature too low—you are exposed to ultra-low temperatures that are known to make you sick.
To avoid this, you should raise the AC temperature, ensuring the house is warm, which reduces your chances of getting sick. While you are at it, remember to clean the air conditioner, so the circulating air is clean and fresh.
You don’t open the windows.
If you ask many people, they will tell you the air conditioner draws clean air from the outside, which isn’t the case. When you rarely open the windows, it means the air-conditioner circulates the same old germ-ridden air, which increases your chances of getting sick.
You need to make a habit of opening the windows so fresh air can get in and start circulating in the house. Fresh air boosts your immune system, so you don’t get sick.
You have allergies
When you have allergies, then you blast the air conditioner, you are bound to experience aggravated respiratory problems such as nosebleeds, sinus infections, and bronchitis.
Have you noticed your skin drying out and your nasal passages and sinuses getting irritated? You must be getting sick. HVAC repair services Fairfax providers recommend you shut off the air conditioner so the house can go back to normal temperature.
It’s also wise to invest in a room humidifier that will help you balance the air moisture in the house.
