Is Your Air Conditioner Making You Sick?

An air conditioner is a necessity for most people. Whether you have a window unit or a central air unit, having a way to cool your home is important when the temperatures start to rise. While air conditioners can provide additional comfort for your office or living space, they can also cause health problems if not maintained properly.

Mold Growing in Ducts

Central HVAC systems have ducts to move warm or cool air from the blower to the rest of the house. Unfortunately, mold can accumulate in these ducts and cause breathing problems. Irritation in your throat, head and chest congestion, and wheezing are common signs that you might have mold in your home that’s giving your respiratory system grief. If you have these issues, you might want to have us check your system for mold.

Contamination

Buildings that are sealed tightly to improve energy usage can actually cause people to get sick. If there’s no draft bringing fresh air into a home or office, the air conditioner will just recycle stagnant air. If there are pollutants like dust or mold in this air, they will simply continue to circulate. The contaminants might even start to build up over time. Simply cracking a door or window open can help remove the old air while bringing in some new air for your air conditioner to circulate.

The Air is Dry

Cooler air tends to be dryer than warmer air. This means that sitting in a room cooled by your air conditioner for hours on end can lead to dry and flaky skin. Fixing this problem of dry and damaged skin can be as simple as getting some lotion to return some moisture to it.

Poor Filtration

HVAC systems tend to come with a filter that has the purpose of capturing contaminants that are in your air. As you continue to run your air conditioner, these filters can start to get dirty and catch fewer pollutants. This means that the air in your home or office will start to get dirtier. Additionally, a dirty filter will not allow your AC to run as efficiently and will wind up costing you more in the long run. Fixing this problem can be as simple as removing the old filter and replacing it with a new one. Most filters come with instructions to replace them every month.

If you’re concerned that your air conditioner is making you sick, be sure to give the experts at 4Front Energy a call. We would be more than happy to look at your system and provide you with the information you need to minimize any risks to your health.