Is Aircon Bad For Your Lungs? Fighting hot weather has always been a problem. Luckily, smart people invented aircon, which sends streams of cool air all over the house, creating a pleasant ambiance.
While receiving so much praise and admiration, air conditioners can cause some health issues too. Mostly, it happens because of spending too much time in an air-conditioned room and using the unit wrongly.
By doing so, some people may experience respiratory problems. In this article, we will explain how aircon may affect the lungs and how to avoid it.
The connection between aircons and respiratory system
The air conditioner will always provide fresh air in your room if you pay proper attention to its maintenance. If you fail to maintain your air-con regularly, it can accumulate fungus, dust, and mold that are bad for your health.
If you live in an area with high humidity, fungus and harmful bacteria will grow on internal parts of the unit. This is inevitable, and the only way to deal with it is to clean the conditioner on regular basis.
If you don’t do that, germs will start traveling through the room, causing breathing problems. While working, the aircon will blow harmful bacteria, helping it spread out through the house.
Another factor that encourages germs to spread is the lack of ventilation. With windows shut, the bacteria stays isolated and can’t escape the room. This increases, even more, the risk of getting sick with air-conditioner lung.
This condition is specific to people living in environments with high levels of contaminants. In our case, we speak about people who inhale the contaminants aircon spreads.
Getting into the lungs, the dirt and germs harden the substance exchange, leading to breathing difficulties. The symptoms of this condition include: cough, chills, fever and sometimes loss of appetite.
Fortunately, this disease has several stages of evolution. It all starts with a mild form. And if you manage to reduce levels of contaminants in the air, the symptoms will disappear.
If you continue not to pay attention to aircon cleaning, the condition may evolve into chronic lung disease. This is why you better invest money in a cleaning service than in disease treatment.
How to prevent breathing problems when having an aircon
While the above-described condition may seem quiet dangerous, it will not happen if you know how to behave with an aircon. There are some easy steps to follow that will allow you always fill up your lungs with fresh air.
1. Clean your aircon regularly
There couldn’t be anything easier than taking a cloth and cleaning your air conditioner. Just 15 minutes once a week will keep any health complication at bay. If mold and dust accumulate on internal parts, you can call out a technician to do the job professionally.
You will benefit from it even more because technicians use special chemical agents that stop bacteria growth for a long. You need to understand that your biggest enemy is not the air the aircon blows, but mold. If you remove contaminants from the air, it will not harm your body.
2. Refresh your room
To make the air less dry, you need to open the window every 20 minutes while using aircon. It will not only reduce dryness, but will also help germs escape the room and make the air more breathable.
3. Spend more time outside
We know how awesome it is to stay under the cool stream of air. But you need to moderate your aircon use. Excess dry air can be bad for your respiratory system. This is why you need to spend more time outside where humidity is a little bit higher.
And the sun gives you vitamin D that you can’t get indoors. Taking a walk in the park, jogging or cycling are great options to energize your mind and keep your lungs healthy.
Is Aircon Bad For Your Lungs? – Conclusion
To conclude, aircon can be bad for the lungs only if you use it wrongly and excessively. You need to do three simple actions to ensure that you never experience any breathing problems. Cleaning your aircon will make air fresh and mold-free.
Opening the window every 20 minutes will help harmful bacteria escape the room. While spending more time outside will help you not become an aircon addict and avoid air dryness. If you follow these simple rules, your aircon will become your best friend and will never ever harm you.