We have discovered the best white noise machine in the world: the air conditioner! With three young children in our house, we make use of our unit to help lull them to sleep at night. We bought the split air conditioner when our initial child was born. Though we initially purchased it for its cooling power, we’ve since learned that is also an excellent way to get the kids to fall asleep. It also has other health benefits for kids.
We reside in a neighborhood far from the stress of automobile traffic. However, we are merely 5 minutes away from the main road where the automobile traffic runs around the clock. Since we live far from the main road, we assumed that the quantity of dust and particles in the house was practically non-existent. Exactly how much the dust can travel from the highway and even from far off place? It seems extremely unlikely. However, we were wrong. Keep reading to recognize exactly how we learned.
Studies indicate that microscopic dust can trigger allergic reactions in young children. Moreover, allergies can often lead to asthma in children. Because of these concerns, we decided to install an air conditioner unit in the kids’ bedroom because our children (all below three years old), spend most of their time sleeping and also playing there. We had two goals: 1) to stop the dust from coming inside and 2) to limit the growth of other microscopic microorganisms where the kids spend most of their time.
In the past few months, however, we began to notice that the cooling in the kids’ room had declined. We called in an HVAC technician to inspect our air conditioner system and to help us figure out why it is not cooling as it should be.
The service guy opened up the filter case of the interior system and he showed us the amount of dust (jet black color) in the filter. We were taken aback! The dust was undermining the performance of our air conditioner. The unit was so stressed that it struggled to pump cooled air through the blocked filter. It was also using much more power than it normally did.
We found out there are generally two reasons why an air conditioner fails to work as it should:
1. Dust is shutting down the air circulation system.
2. Freon, the coolant, for the unit is inadequate.
In either case, you need to call in a professional to check out the unit. That is exactly what we did. We got a recommendation from our neighbor and the technician arrived the next day. He quicly diagnosed the problem: a saturated air filter.
We wondered to see exactly how the air conditioner was cleaned out. The technician used pressurized spray water from a nozzle to clean out the filter in the back yard. We are amazed to view the amount of dust pushed away by the water when he began to cleanse the filter. The water was virtually black!
After he cleaned out the system and put it back together, the air conditioner was less noisy and it cooled much better.
The truth is that, we should have been having our air conditioner cleared out at least once every three months to keep it running at its optimal level. The quantity of dust, you could find in your home, is astounding. And a lot of the dust and dirt will go straight to your air conditioner’s filter.
Keep your home free of dust by making using of air filters wherever possible in your home. You can use one in your air conditioner or in an air purifer. And remember to regularly clean out the filters on these units. This will help to keep the air quality in your home clean and pure for you and your kids.
