Portable Air Conditioning Archives

Health Concerns and the benefits of air conditioning

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Climachill

portable air conditioning Air 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.

Air Conditioner taking longer to heat the office in Winter

Posted on November 18, 2013April 6, 2023 by Climachill

Why is the Air Conditioner taking longer to heat the office in Winter?

cold image

To answer this question you need to understand how an air conditioner works, an air conditioner moves heat from one place to another – as simple as that, this is why they are also referred to as ‘heat pumps’.

When you set the air conditioner to cooling mode, the refrigerant within the system absorbs heat from the indoor air and this is then moved to the outdoor unit where it is expelled to the surrounding outside air (if you feel in front of the outdoor unit you will see the air coming out of it is warm).

When you set the air conditioner to heating mode, the refrigerant within the system absorbs heat from the outdoor air and this is then moved to the indoor unit where it is expelled into the office (if you feel in front of the indoor unit you will see the air coming out of it is warm).

When it’s cold outside there is less ‘heat’ for the refrigerant to absorb which in turn is then transferred inside thus it can take longer for a system to heat an office when it’s cold outside. Modern systems for the UK market can provide heating to a room down to an outside temperature of -15C but it takes longer to do this.

The use of timers means you can start the Air Conditioner system before people arrive at the office (thus the room can be heated & be comfortable before staff arrive). When the temperature drops to below 0C we recommend that people keep their systems turned on in heating mode throughout the night but at a lower temperature (say 18C), this means the office temperature doesn’t drop that low which means it won’t take as long to heat up to the preferred temperature set point.

You might think that this is a waste of electricity but there is evidence to show that you actually use more electricity in trying to raise the temperature in an office from say 12C to 22C than by leaving the system to ‘tick over’ at 18C overnight before raising it to 22C.

So, now you know why the Air Conditioner takes longer to heat the office when it gets colder outside!

Why Is My Air Conditioner Not Blowing Cold Air?

Posted on November 8, 2013April 6, 2023 by Climachill

portable air conditioning What a problem to have, your air conditioning is not blowing out cold air!

Reason 1 – User Error

If your air Conditioner not blowing cold air, first of all, check that you have set the system to ‘cooling’ mode, this is normally the snowflake symbol on the controller, if it’s on the ‘snowflake’ symbol make sure you have set the temperature lower than the current room temperature (if the room temperature is 23C and you have set the system to 24C it won’t blow cold as the set temperature is higher than the room temperature) – these might sound obvious checks but we do get these sort of phone calls.

Reason 2 – Clogged Filters

If the indoor unit filters are clogged this restricts airflow getting into the unit, if the airflow is restricted then the performance of your system will be seriously affected, if you know how to access the indoor unit filters have a look, if they’re dirty give them a clean, if you haven’t had your system serviced recently then now is the time to book a service, cleaning filters is just one of the tasks our engineers carry out when servicing an air conditioning system.

Reason 3 – Component Failure

If your system is definitely set to ‘cooling mode’ and the set temperature is lower than the current room temperature then the indoor unit should blow out cold air, if it doesn’t then there is a problem with the system. Most modern systems have a ‘self-diagnosis’ function and the system should enter into a fault mode and a fault code displayed, this is either in the form of an error code (such as E1) or in the form of a blinking led sequence (example – one of the led lights on the unit will flash in a sequence such as 3x blinks then a pause then 3x blinks again). If this happens try to make a note of the fault code and give us a call with the fault code – this can save time in getting your system repaired, for example, a 2010 LG wall-mounted system may display a fault code of the green led light continuously blinking once, then a long pause before blinking once again, we can look this up and know that there is a problem with the indoor temperature sensor, we know that it is highly likely that the indoor temperature sensor is faulty and your system requires a new sensor, as such we can order the new sensor and then come along on one visit to repair the system thus getting your system repaired as quickly as possible.

Reason 4 – Low on Refrigerant

You might notice that the system is blowing out cold air but that it isn’t as cold as it once might have been, as it’s still blowing out cold air the system might not enter fault diagnosis mode but you are sure the system isn’t working correctly, in this instance the system might be low on refrigerant (the substance contained within the pipework of the system). In this instance you will need an engineer visit to check the refrigerant levels of the system (we can do this by taking pressure and temperature readings from the system and by also removing the refrigerant from the system whilst weighing it out and then checking the weight of the refrigerant removed with the factory charge weight as indicated on the outdoor unit data plate), if the system is low on refrigerant then there is a small leak somewhere and an engineer would need to find/repair the leak before putting the correct weight of new refrigerant back into the system.

The above tend to be the common reasons as to why an air conditioning system doesn’t operate correctly if in any doubt consult an expert Air Conditioning Company with trained FGas Qualified Engineers, a good engineer will relish the challenge of testing his knowledge & skills in order to diagnose a fault and get your system fully working again.

Call our service team for any air conditioning issues you may have.
01273 803820

Why Is My Air Conditioner Leaking water?

Posted on November 5, 2013April 6, 2023 by Climachill

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?

Posted on October 31, 2013November 22, 2022 by Climachill

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.

Air Conditioning In The Workplace

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Climachill

The Dangers of Excessive Heat in the Workplace

In the summer months, when the temperatures soar for a short while, there can be some very real consequences attributed to by excessive heat in the workplace. Over exposure to extended periods of hot weather can increase the risk of a sizeable amount of heat related illness. Workers who are employed in outdoor work are at risk of the elements for prolonged hours, as are those who work in hot environments, such as bakeries, miners and fire-fighters. In general, the younger and fitter you are, the less at risk you are. This however, does not always apply and it is wrong to think that you can easily dodge the side effects of heat in your workplace.

One such illness is heat stress. This indicates the first signs of danger and can lead on to other more damaging effects, such as heat stroke. The initial signs of stress from heat can cause irritability, sweaty palms and forehead, headaches and dizzy spells. Without proper intervention, this can then lead on to heat rashes or cramps, which usually indicate a growing cause for concern. Once the worker experiences some of these symptoms, it is crucial they let somebody know and attempt to cool down. The worst case scenario for a worker in an overheated climate is to suffer from heat stroke, which is a more aggressive form of heat exhaustion. This can sometimes lead to black outs, and people die every year through not heeding the warning signs of onset heat stroke.

Overheated Office

Preventing the effects of heat in the workplace is an extremely important job of any employer. There are many ways of doing this, such as installing air conditioning, opening windows, introducing fans, letting workers take short breaks, allowing drinks to be consumed and letting the team know about the dangers. Alongside this, there should always be someone within the vicinity who has first aid training and who can assist in any emergencies, should they occur.

Excessive heat can result in the raising of your body temperature to dangerous levels and this can happen very quickly, if nothing is done to stop it. If you or someone else begins to feel chills, suffer from slurred speech or experience dizziness in hot weather, then try to act immediately and seek help. Wearing suitable, light clothes can offer some respite from the heat, but most important of all is to become aware of your own body’s signals when in danger.

Air Conditioning Security Cages

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Climachill

Trying to prevent Vandalism

If your premises are in a ‘high risk’ area and you are worried that your air conditioning equipment may be vandalised then we can supply & install Air Conditioning Security Cages in order to try to prevent vandalism.

We were asked by a customer in Croydon to replace 2x Air Conditioning systems which had been vandalised beyond repair, he was concerned that the new equipment would also be vandalised thus we suggested we supply & install Security Cages for the outdoor units.

Air Conditioning units can be vandalised for a number of reasons, the ever increasing scrap price of copper, having a football kicked at one to it being used as target practice for a bb gun, see https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=704605162886884&l=4643b6e07e

We quoted 2x Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Systems which we can offer with a 5yrs warranty (subject to 6monthly servicing carried out by us) together with Air Conditioning Security Cages for the outdoor units.

Our client was not only impressed with the speed of our quote turnaround but our quote for a premium product with a class leading warranty term was comparable with another quote offering a more budget system with only a 3yrs warranty term.

We carried out the installation together with installing Security Cages for the outdoor units, 3yrs later and the systems look & act as good as new with not a sign of any attempted vandalism.

For a free no obligation quotation contact Climachill on 01273 803820 | sales@climachill.co.uk

Why Install Portable Air Conditioning?

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Climachill

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.