Health Concerns and the benefits of air conditioning

portable air conditioningAir conditioning has, in the past, struggled to shake off a slightly negative image. This was due to energy consumption, but what many people fail to realise is, that times have moved on in the last few years. Old stigmas are hard to shake, but air conditioning designs are actually beneficial for us is many ways, so what are the health benefits of air conditioning?

Not only are they cost effective, they can also heat homes, as well as cool. They don’t use up valuable fossil fuels; they are portable – they can be moved around and come in sleeker styles than ever before. Often seen as a luxury for the super-rich, air conditioning units are nowhere near as expensive to buy as they once were either.

Not only that, but air conditioning is actually good for your health. So, not only is there mobility and economical bonuses involved, but positive health implications too. Not many people think about how air conditioning actually affects the surrounding air, but it’s definitely worth considering as an added benefit.

During intensely hot days in the summer, the weak and vulnerable are usually the first to suffer. Having air conditioning blowing cool air around can dramatically lessen the effects of dehydration or heat exhaustion. Promoting comfortable surroundings is a huge health benefit that air conditioning provides.

The quality of the air is radically improved by having air conditioning. If you have an allergy, then be rest assured that the air conditioned room will reduce the amount of irritant particles in the atmosphere. As well as this, you won’t have to open the windows as often in summer, helping combat pollen intake, as well as noise pollution.

Cleaner air – benefits of air conditioning

Surrounding yourself with cleaner air is positive for your health in lots of ways. It helps fight against build up of mould in your property too. This is another major factor that creates respiratory issues. Mould can leave your health, as well as your property with some very negative side effects. Allowing it to develop and spread in unseen areas is a big gamble. Having air conditioning ventilating your home will help in the protection against mould issues.

Air conditioning solves many problems and not just controlling the temperature of the interior atmosphere. It isn’t widely known enough, just how beneficial to your health it is to have air conditioning installed. With so many great properties for promoting a healthy lifestyle, you should look into investing in air conditioning.

Why Is My Air Conditioner Leaking water?

air conditioning services sussex

Air Conditioning Indoor units when operated in ‘cooling mode’ create water, this water is collected into an indoor unit drain pan and is then either gravity fed away or pumped away if your indoor unit is leaking water something has gone wrong.

Reason 1 – Bad Installation of Indoor Unit

Is your indoor unit level? If it isn’t then the water could be spilling out of the indoor drain pan before it can be drained away, we have been called out to clients who have leaking indoor units to find the units haven’t been installed correctly by their previous A/c contractor.

Reason 2 – Bad Installation of Gravity Drain Pipe

Does the gravity drain pipe actually have a gravity fall on it? Water won’t flow uphill so if the drain pipe has been installed with an uphill gradient it won’t drain and water will eventually drip out of the indoor unit.

Reason 3 – Blocked Drain Pan / Gravity Drain Pipe

An indoor unit draws air into it from the room, this is through indoor unit filters, filters cant trap 100% of the dust that is in the air & so dust/dirt can find its way into the indoor unit drain pan, if this collects & builds up over time the drain pan or drain pipe can become clogged, if it becomes clogged enough it can restrict water flowing through it enough that water backs up and eventually drips out of the indoor unit.

Reason 4 – Pump Failure

If your system couldn’t have a gravity drain pipe then your contractor would have chosen to install a condensate removal pump, these are specifically designed to pump the water to a suitable outlet, a pump has moving parts thus at some point it can fail, if the pump fails then water will back up and eventually drip out of the indoor unit.  Some pumps have filters which require cleaning every 6months (as per pump manufacturer recommendations), if the filter isn’t cleaned then water won’t flow through the filter to the pump mechanism and so can back up and drip out of the indoor unit.

Is Your Outdoor Unit Leaking Water?

It is normal for an outdoor unit to leak water if the indoor unit has been set to heating mode unless the water leaking from the outdoor unit could cause a slip hazard in the form of turning to the ice during the Winter months then this shouldn’t be a cause for worry.

The above tend to be the common reasons as to why an air conditioning indoor unit leaks water, regular servicing of your system in line with manufacturer recommendations will help prevent water leaking from your Air Conditioner, and during a service visit an engineer will use specific chemicals to clean an indoor unit which helps break down any blockages within the drain pipe, they will also check the pump operation to ensure that it is working correctly at the time of the service.

What Temperature Should I Set My Air Conditioning/Heater To?

portable air conditioning
There are 2x modes which allow a temperature set point to be made, cooling mode and heating mode.

The answer to this question is that there is no answer – everyone is different and will therefore like a different temperature, from our experience the general norm setting in cooling & heating mode is around 22C.

Setting Air Conditioning Temperature

Setting your Air Conditioner lower than 21C in cooling mode is normally regarded as too cold and is generally a waste of electric in trying to cool the room this cold, likewise trying to heat a room to higher than 24C is generally a waste of electric – most people set their home thermostat to approx 22C so you should set your Air Conditioner to the same temperature.

You shouldn’t set the Air Conditioner to the lowest cooling setting (generally 18C) – this is far too cold for an office environment and likewise you shouldn’t set the temperature to 30C in heating mode, both of these simply waste electric.

Keep Cool in the Office

Temperature set points can cause arguments within an office environment; we have found that men generally like the temperature lower compared to women, we have one customer whom has a mixed office and on a service visit we found that the women had all moved to one end of the office whilst the men had all moved to the other end of the office, the office had 2x air conditioner units and they found this way the men & women each had their own system – a tad extreme but nonetheless solved the office bickering.

In summary we would recommend a temperature set point of approx 22C.

Why Install Portable Air Conditioning?

portable air conditioning

Portable Air Conditioning gets a generally negative press, but as research continues and the advancement of technology improves, air conditioning units will become better received.

It is a fact that more and more homes use air-con now, as a means to regulate the heating within the property. In the USA, it is incredibly popular and has become the norm to have air-con installed.

Within businesses, air conditioning is crucial, to keep customers and workers on the floor comfortable in extreme temperature fluctuations.

Heating & Cooling

It is not as often well known that air conditioning offers both heating and cooling functions. Most of us would already know only that they cool an environment, but is through heating too where their advantages lie. Each function is easily adjustable through manual buttons or a remote. Alternatively, you can set the temperature automatically. Air conditioning is a simple and flexible method of controlling the interior climate of your building.

A further benefit of adopting an air-con system for your property or business is that they can prevent air-borne mites, fungi and odours such as smoke. As a result, the air quality will improve in the surrounding location and be a healthier place to dwell.

The biggest gain that you can have with air-con is the potential to control the temperature. In certain parts of the world, air-con can transform a property from almost unbearable to comfortable. In places of work, such as offices, maintaining a neutral temperature will increase productivity and all round staff morale.

Having air-con reduces the level of humidity as well. It is the humid, muggy air that we find particularly uncomfortable to deal with and this can lead to tiredness and irritability. With air-con installed, these feelings are eliminated and you can also keep the windows closed, so as not to let in bugs and other insects which thrive in the heat.

By shutting out the outside air, you are also reducing noise volumes and exterior pollution. This is beneficial especially in the city. In places like shops, it is proven that customers will spend less time in those places that do not have air-con. This is simply down to comfort and so these kinds of businesses need to have these units installed to keep afloat.

Air conditioning is a great way to regulate the micro-climates around us and make sure we can work to our best. Through filters and growing technology, the units can also help reduce harmful particles in the air, helping combat allergies.

Air Conditioning Servicing

Air Conditioning Servicing  – its so important!

Air Conditioning Servicing SussexFilters, Filters, Filters…. keep you filters clean on your portable / installed air conditioning system and not only will the system work better but it will cost less to run as it will use less electric – basic air conditioning servicing is critical for the system to function correctly.

Dirty / Clogged Filters restrict airflow and is one of the most common causes of problems with systems, the less air that enters a system the less air that exits it, if air cant get into the system then it cant be cooled, this means the system cant work as well as it should and the air conditioning doesn’t work effectively.  This not only results in less efficiency but less efficiency means increased running costs so it costs you more to run to get less out of the system.  Who wants to pay more to get less??

You are also damaging your system by not keeping your filters clean, components such as fan motors have to work harder / longer when airflow is restricted, this naturally reduces their lifespan as they are overworking, the compressor will also have to work harder as system pressures will also increase, clean equipment will always work better, be more efficient, consume less electric and last longer. The morale of the story – Air Conditioning Servicing !

Keeping your filters clean is one of the easiest tasks to do but is probably one of the most important!

If you have a portable unit the filters will be on the side and will normally slide out, brush them off and then put them back in – a really simple task.

Air Conditioning Servicing throughout Sussex – If you have an installed system and want someone to take care of filter cleaning for you then give Climachill a call or email for a free no obligation quotation for a service/maintenance contract – cleaning filters is just one of the tasks our engineers undertake during a service.

01273 803820 | sales@climachill.co.uk