The air filter in the AC system is small but plays a vital role regarding the home’s comfort during all the seasons. It’s responsible for cleaning the air that the system blows into your home. Although important, many are times homeowners ignore its existence. From a professional’s point of view, the air filter should be cleaned often and replaced when faulty. The regular checkups enable your AC system to run more efficiently and hence allowing clean air into the house. If neglected, the system may still do the cooling job correctly, but also contaminate the air. Thankfully, today, the AC systems come with digital thermostats that remind the homeowner automatically when it’s time to clean or replace the filter. Without saying much, there are ways that a faulty air filter can affect your health.
1. Respiratory irritation
As stated earlier, the air filters’ work is to ensure that all the air blown by the AC system is filtered and is safe. They prevent contaminants such as mold spores, pollen, dust, and other airborne particles from making their way into your home. Therefore, a faulty or dirty filter means that the air will blow into the house and undergo no filtration. You may not have allergies, but whenever these contaminants fill up your house, you may sneeze, as well as, have irritations on a daily basis. It’s for such reasons that the air filters require regular maintenance. Remember, the filter efficiency decreases as it fills up. The irritations caused by the contaminants trigger inflammations of the respiratory system’s delicate membranes. As a result, you may experience discomfort in your home and hay-fever-like symptoms (a runny nose and sneezing).
2. Exposure to heat-related diseases
Imagine your home without working AC system during the summer, for example. The situation itself sounds unbearable. That’s why you require an AC system fitted in your home to keep the temperatures cool even during those warm seasons. Various studies have revealed that people spend about 90 percent of their day indoors, and this means many hours of suffering if the AC system breaks down. As stated earlier, the filter’s efficiency reduces with time because the dust particles and other contaminants get trapped and hence blocking the usual passage of air. The blockage means that your AC system has to work more than usual to blow air into the house. In return, minimum energy is left to carry out the cooling task. Besides, the distribution of air is also a challenge.
At first, the circulation of air may not raise the alarm. But, with time, it may become a big deal because the system won’t be able to cool the temperatures during the hot days. This abnormality results into discomfort in the house and sweating. Besides, the failure may lead to heat-related diseases such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and which are common during the hot climates. Therefore, you must regularly check the air filters to ensure that the AC system isn’t overworked as this may lead to total failure, and which require expensive repairs.
3. Aggravation and development of respiratory conditions
In addition to the respiratory irritations, contaminated AC system can also trigger or worsen a pre-existing health condition. Not long ago, Mendell worked in close collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to study the health issues related to AC systems. According to the research, the contaminated AC system worsens the allergies and asthma problems. Pollen, dust, and mold spores can trigger a severe asthma attack. However, the effect is based on one’s state of health and age. For example, children breathing contaminated air are more likely to develop asthma as compared to the adults. Therefore, you must ensure that your home has a working air filter for the sake of your health and that of every family member and pets. If possible, you can set it and forget it with FilterBuy.
Also, higher exposure to the dirty air can trigger other health complications such as mold allergies. You may start experiencing cold-like symptoms such as coughs, itchiness, watery and red eyes, sneezing, and runny nose. These symptoms may resemble those of respiratory irritation but are more severe. Besides, the high levels of potential allergen can see even adults who have never shown any signs develop an allergy.
The air filters in the AC system are small but very crucial. They filter all the air that the AC blows into a home or a building. However, with all the vital task, many people tend to ignore its presence until it’s too late. A faulty air filter can result in various health complication as explained in the article. Therefore, you must ensure that your home’s air filters are cleaned and checked on a regular basis for the sake of your family’s health.
