An air conditioner is an essential appliance for any Perth home to get through the long summer heat. However, for some people, keeping the house cool requires a steep trade-off. Some allergy sufferers claim that their home air conditioner makes their symptoms worse.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, certain types of air conditioners may re-circulate dust and other pollutants throughout the house, and a poorly maintained unit can become an ideal habitat for allergy-aggravating mould spores.
In a previous blog post, we offered a few tips for eliminating allergens from your home in general. Below, we’ll give you air conditioner–specific tips so you can stay cool this summer without aggravating your allergies.
1. Request Regular Servicing and Maintenance
If you live in or near Perth, going without air conditioning for the summer is simply not an option. However, evporative air conditioners provide an ideal environment for airborne pollutants such as dust and mould to thrive. Evporative air conditioners bring in air from outside so your unit may blow out air filled with a variety of irritants that will make your allergy symptoms worse.
Reverse-cycle air conditioners are a completely sealed unit and the air is recycled through your house without bringing air in from the outside. With a reverse cycle system any dust & allergen particles are trapped in the filter so can’t traveling through the unit and into your house which makes a reverse cycle system a much cleaner choice or air conditioner.
Getting your air conditioner serviced regularly will also ensure that your unit is working its best and not using excessive electricity.
2. Avoid Window-Mounted Air Conditioning Units
As the name suggests, window-mounted air conditioners sit on window frames, either through an open window or to replace a glass window that has been removed. Poorly fitted units can allow outside air to enter your home, bringing with it a whole host of airborne pollutants.
Allergy sufferers should consider other air conditioner types to cool their homes, such as split systems or ceiling cassettes.
3. Your AC System’s Outdoor Unit
Most homeowners know what needs to be done to clean their air conditioner’s indoor unit, but some systems require a little extra effort. For instance, evaporative air conditioning systems pull air from outside, cool it, and then release it into the home. As a result, the quality of air that gets circulated around your house depends heavily on the air quality immediately surrounding your system’s outside unit.
With a reverse cycle system the outdoor unit just requires a hose down once a year to remove any dust and dirt sitting on the unit.
4. Types of Filters for air conditioners
To ensure your air conditioner traps as many airborne pollutants as possible, invest in an electrostatic or high-efficiency particulate arresting (HEPA) filter. Electrostatic filters are the best choice for most residential air conditioning units as they can trap up to 90% of particles while only minimally restricting air flow.
HEPA filters are the ‘gold standard’ of air filters, trapping 99.7% of particles, but they’re impractical for use in most air conditioning units because they severely restrict air flow.
Daikin have a range of split system air conditioners that use a sophisticated titanium apatite photocatalytic air purification filter which traps even microscopic airborne dust particles, absorbs bacteria and viruses, and even breaks down odours.
Allergy symptoms can be frustrating at the best of times, but there’s no need to suffer through the summer months in a hot house to stop them from getting worse. Get in touch with ACSIS Airconditioning Warehouse to discuss allergy-friendly air conditioning options, such as reverse-cycle heating and cooling systems.
