Air conditioning is a true lifesaver. With a simple flick of the switch, you’re swiftly enveloped in cool, comforting air. It’s a blessing during scorching summers, transforming your home into a haven of relaxation, free from the discomfort of sweating. However, our growing reliance on air conditioners has prompted experts to voice concerns about potential health risks.
These risks are especially pronounced when air conditioning systems are not properly maintained. Poorly maintained units can become breeding grounds for allergens and mold, contributing to indoor air pollution. That’s why it’s absolutely crucial to consider regular maintenance with the assistance of HVAC experts such as those at blueoxenergy.com and similar platforms.
But you may wonder, can air conditioners genuinely be harmful, irrespective of whether they are maintained or not? The answer is yes! Read on to learn about this in detail.
Leads to Dry eyes
Have you ever noticed that if you turn on your air conditioning, your eyes get itchy, watery, and red? In fact, it might be that your eyes are watering because of your air conditioner. Air conditioning units, while being great at keeping you cool in the summer, can be bad news for your eyes and increase your risk of dry eye disease. Dry eye disease is a group of eye disorders that occur when the eye doesn’t have enough moisture.
Air conditioning systems stop the air from getting stale, but they also dry out the air in your home. Dry air can cause eye irritation, red eyes, puffy eyes, and a scratchy throat, among others. Experts say that prolonged exposure to air conditioning and evaporative coolers pushes moisture to compensate for the drying effects of cold air. But this can cause your eyes to become chronically dry and, ultimately, irritated. Dust air ducts can also contribute to dry eyes, so it’s important to invest in regular air vent cleaning to remove dust and improve indoor air quality.
Dry skin
When the summer heat gets unbearable, it’s hard not to jump into the car and crank up the air conditioning. But sometimes, the cool air feels so good that we forget that the AC is drying our skin out. While you may not think of your skin as a highly sensitive organ, it is, which means it doesn’t take kindly to dry out. In fact, the skin is the body’s largest organ, and it’s constantly renewing itself. So, when your air conditioning is on all day, day after day, your skin is vulnerable to dehydration and itching.
Air conditioners help keep our homes comfortable year-round, but ironically, they can dry out our skin. During the summer, it can strip our skin of its natural oils, causing them to become dry, itchy, and flaky. In the wintertime, indoor air can be very dry, causing the skin to become itchy, red, and flaky. It’s a good idea to reduce the duration of your air conditioning use and, if possible, use a humidifier.
Dehydration
Air conditioning leads to dehydration. Yes, you read that right. Air conditioning: not the cold itself, but knowing that it makes your home’s humidity level drop. And since humidity is the first step to dehydration, air conditioning leads you to water loss, which, in turn, leads to dehydration.
It’s a vicious cycle, but it’s one that can prevent many healthy people from realizing the dangers of dehydration. Dehydration is more than an inconvenience, it can be life-threatening, and it’s something you need to be careful of.
Asthma and allergies
If you’re noticing an increase in allergies or asthma symptoms, then it may be time to call in a reliable HVAC service (like those at https://www.sandri.com/) for a tune-up of your home’s air conditioning system. So, what is the connection? Unserviced air conditioners, over time, become repositories for dust, pollen, spores, and various other allergens. These culprits lay hidden within the system, only to be circulated indoors when the unit is in operation. Regular cleaning and maintenance are, therefore, needed to bring down the allergen buildup, as these operations significantly diminish the chances of irritants being dispersed into your living or working space; even those sustained through moisture build-up.
Old or malfunctioning air conditioners can sometimes also mess up the moisture content of your house, leading to the growth of mold and other such hazards that can further reduce air quality, thereby worsening symptoms of asthma. Mold, if detected in your house, either by yourself or with the help of companies providing mold testing in Tyrone, PA, or elsewhere, should be dealt with immediately to prevent its spread. Such fungi thrive in areas with excess moisture and low air quality. Maintaining your home health has a direct impact on your family’s physical health.
A recent study found that the indoor humidity level in your home may be responsible for worsening your asthma. According to this research, indoor humidity levels above 60% may worsen your asthma symptoms-and asthma is one of the leading causes of people visiting hospital emergency rooms. Indoor humidity can be controlled with dehumidifying dehumidifiers, which can remove moisture from the air in your home. These dehumidifiers can also help control your allergy symptoms and asthma.
Headaches
Headaches can be debilitating. They can interfere with our concentration at work and impact our quality of life. But did you know that your AC could be causing headaches? An air conditioner can emit a variety of chemicals that can aggravate allergies and trigger headaches.
The air conditioners we put in our homes keep us cool on the hottest summer days. They also keep our homes clean and free of odors. However, it can also result in headaches, especially if your home is not properly ventilated. According to researchers, cooling your home with your air conditioner adds moisture to the indoor air. And it can exacerbate the symptoms of a headache by causing a series of changes-and reducing oxygen-that make your headache worse.
Headaches caused by air conditioning usually start slowly. First, you experience a dull ache, which intensifies over the next few hours. Then you realize the pain is behind your eyes or on either side of your forehead. Finally, the pain becomes a type of pulsating or throbbing sensation.
