The Importance Of Clean Air Conditioning Filters

Your family’s health and the condition of the filters in your air conditioning system are connected. Are you aware of the quality of the air your family is breathing?

This is a good question to pose to yourself.

As we go about our day-to-day activities, we are faced with a myriad of health risks. Recreational activities, flying in a plane, and driving a car can expose you to environmental pollutants, so you’re constantly exposed to health risks. Since some risks cannot be avoided, mitigation measures must be considered. For instance, regularly changing your air conditioning system’s filters can help mitigate these risks.

Air pollution is a serious environmental hazard, so you must consider indoor air quality in your home. Since homes are well-insulated and sealed to enhance the energy efficiency, a lot of airborne contaminants are usually locked up in the house. Since the average person spends 90% of their time indoors, they are exposed to many pollutants. Please note that indoor pollutants are usually five times greater than outdoor ones; some homes may even be 100 times more polluted than the outdoors.

To make homes, offices, and business premises safer, indoor air pollution has been identified as one of the top 5 urgent public health risks by the EPA. This means that the performance of your air conditioning filters is more crucial than ever before.
Common types of air contaminants found in a typical home include; dust mites, dust, dirt, pollen, mold, pet dander, and smoke. In addition to being hazardous to your health, these contaminants can also trigger allergic episodes.

Clogged air filters can reduce indoor air quality significantly, and this can contribute to or lead to the development of asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and bronchitis.

Poor indoor air quality can cause dry eyes, headaches, nausea, nasal congestion, and fatigue. Children, the elderly, and other consumers who already have respiratory diseases face a greater risk.

The first line of defense is having a well-functioning air conditioning filter, as it can prevent most of these issues. A quality filter can prevent minute particles from getting back into your home’s air supply by trapping them. This means your family will have clean air to breathe, so they’ll not develop watery eyes, runny nose, or sneezing. Be sure to change your filter regularly.

If you fail to clean or replace your air filter regularly, air contaminants will still find a way around the clogged filter and get into your air supply. Additionally, the clogged filter will restrict airflow through the unit, which will lower the efficiency and performance of the unit. Reduced airflow through the unit means that air contaminants will remain in the room, so they will still be inhaled by everyone in the house.

During the hot summer months, airborne contaminants are usually more prevalent and can become a big issue because most people usually stay indoors to keep cool. To reduce the health risk to your family, be sure to change your air conditioning filter regularly. Filters that are in good condition can be cleaned to remove contaminants and reused.

The frequency of changing air filters will differ from one family to the next. The number of occupants, the presence of pets, daily activities in the house, and the number of trees and plants around your home will all affect the frequency of filter replacement. The general rule of thumb is to change your filter every 2 or 3 months or when they get clogged.

Homeowners need to balance cost and indoor air quality. If you can afford to replace your filter every 60 days, that’s okay. If you can’t, consider cleaning the filter every month until you notice signs of wear. This is because if you replace your filter too frequently, you may end up spending a lot of money on your air conditioning system. However, a few extra dollars spent on a new air conditioning filter is nothing compared to the good health of your family, so the sooner you replace the filter, the better.

Depending on your home’s specific needs, be sure to change your air conditioning filters regularly. While this may seem like a small task, it can have a huge impact on the health and overall well-being of your family.

Choosing The Right Air Conditioning System

When it comes to air conditioning, you have many viable options.

However, the two most popular air conditioning systems are room air conditioning and central air conditioning.

Now, let us talk about central air conditioning. When you have central air conditioning installed in your home, this system cools your house using a system of ducts. The hot air is transformed into cool air. This cool air is pumped into the house through the ducts, which cools your house. One advantage of the central air conditioner is that it gives you a uniform temperature throughout the house. This means that you are not likely to have a scenario where some rooms in the house are cool while others are warm. For the central air conditioner to achieve the desired results, your cooling system must work hard to deliver cool air all over the house.

On the other hand, room air conditioning operates differently. The room air conditioner is also called the wall air conditioner or the window air conditioner. This cooling system is limited because it can only cool a certain amount of space. This A/C is mounted on the wall or the window of a specific room in the house. These air conditioners are single self-sustaining units. They work the same way your car’s air conditioner works. They take away heat and humidity from outside and transform this hot air into cool air. This cool air is pumped into the room where the wall air conditioner is located. Because these air conditioners have a rather limited cooling capacity, they can’t be used for large spaces. For instance, if you have a wall air conditioner and you want to cool many rooms on the ground floor, this is not likely to work. However, if you have this air conditioner in one room and you close all the doors and windows in that one room, this cooling unit will cool the room perfectly. Note that hot air usually rises. This means that if you are cooling one or two rooms downstairs, the hot air will rise to the rooms above, and this will be inconvenient for the people upstairs unless, of course, they have their own cooling units.

Both cooling units (the central A/C and the wall A/C) have advantages and disadvantages.

Central Air Conditioning

ADVANTAGES

This system cools the whole house and uses just one thermostat.

In this system, there are features available to stop pollutants from entering your home, and this improves air quality. In addition, many filters are used in this system, and these filters take out pollutants.

Central air conditioners are very easy to operate.

They don’t take up much space in the house or even outside the house.

Central air conditioners are usually very efficient, and they save you money because they work effectively.

Central air conditioners do their jobs quietly.

You don’t have to carry out repairs when you buy a central air conditioner. Brand new central air conditioners come with warranties on both services and spare parts. In case anything happens (which is very unlikely), all you have to do is call up a technician.

DISADVANTAGES

You need regular maintenance if you are using these air conditioners to prevent pollutants in your home, so make sure you have the phone number of your local Langhorne air conditioning company ready!

The central air conditioner is expensive, and installation takes time. You also need a relatively large system in order to cool your home efficiently.

The outside unit of this A/C might be destroyed by adverse weather conditions. Again, overgrown shrubs and trees can affect the efficiency of your A/C or even damage it.

In the event that this air conditioner packs up or breaks down, you will spend a lot of money to repair or replace it.

Window/Wall Air Conditioning

ADVANTAGES

If you live downstairs, you might need just one cooling unit for the entire ground floor.

These A/Cs are easy to install, easy to replace, and easy to store.

Window/wall air conditioners are relatively inexpensive. This makes them the perfect option for people who have a limited budget.

DISADVANTAGES

These units cool only one room at a time. It follows that if you are cooling one room and you close the door to another nearby room, that other room will get inconveniently hot. Again, hot air rises, and this means the rooms upstairs will get very hot if they are not being cooled. If you want to install different window air conditioners for different rooms in your home, this means you will end up using more power. The result is that your electricity bills will be on the high side.

Removing these cooling units and installing them in another room can be quite inconvenient.

If you install these air conditioners in the window, you have effectively blocked the window. This means there will be no view or air from that window.

If you have a number of these units installed in your home, your energy bills are likely to be on the high side.

Now you know everything you should know about both the central air conditioner and the window air conditioner. Hopefully, all this information will help you make the right decision. A central air conditioner may cost you more to buy and install, but it will save you money in the long run. On the other hand, a window A/C may seem like a good idea initially, but in the long run, it is not cost-effective.