Spring is just around the corner and for some people that equals suffering through hay fever. But have you ever wondered whether your air conditioner could help with your hay fever symptoms?
To answer that question, you’ll first need to know how air conditioners affect hay fever and the air quality in your home, so you can best manage it.
What Is Hay fever?
Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is when one experiences cold-like symptoms such as itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing and sinus pressure that is not caused by a virus. Hay fever is an allergic response to allergens found outdoors or indoors, such as dust mites, pollen or pet dander.
List Of Symptoms
Symptoms of hayfever can include any of the following:
- Sneezing
- Coughing
- Runny nose or nasal congestion
- Fatigue
- Itchy nose or throat
- Swollen eyes
Causes
Hay fever is usually caused by allergens found outdoors or indoors but can also worsen at a particular time during the year, namely spring.
Common causes of hay fever include:
- Dust mites and pet dander
- House dust
- Fungal spores
- Pollen
- Air pollutants
How Do ACs Affect Hayfever?
Environment Within Your Air Conditioner
It’s important to check the condition inside your AC. For one, ensure that it is dry.
Wet surfaces can be a breeding ground for mildew and mould, which will mean that when you turn on your air conditioner, you’re blowing these irritants into the room. Breathing in this unhealthy air can cause hay fever symptoms to develop.
Making sure to regularly clean and service your air conditioner will help avoid this. We recommend giving it a good clean every other month, especially your air filters.
Environment Within Your House
Your air conditioner can also be making things worse if there are airborne irritants already present in your home, such as pet dander, dust mites, bacteria, mould, mildew and indoor air pollution.
This is because when you turn on your AC, you’re constantly recycling the air within your home that already contains these irritants. This can cause allergic reactions and lead to hay fever.
To prevent this, make sure to thoroughly clean your home and vacuum it regularly, especially if you have carpets and curtains.
Proper AC Maintenance Can Help You Avoid Hayfever
If your air conditioning unit is properly cleaned and well maintained, it can actually help reduce the occurence of hay fever. This is because a well functioning air conditioner would be able to filter the air and trap allergens inside the unit.
The air filters within the air conditioner work to trap dust and other types of particles before the clean air is released out into the room. If you’re not cleaning your air filters and air conditioner regularly, these filters get blocked and cannot work effectively.
How To Maintain Your AC?
Clean Filters
Blocked air filters and coils are big issues as they can lead to other problems in your air conditioning system. When the air filter or coils are clogged, the entire system can fail prematurely and stop heating or cooling.
To avoid this, make sure to routinely clean and service your air conditioner.
Clean Around The Units – Both Indoor And Outdoor
It’s just as important to clean the outside parts of your air conditioning system as well as the inside. Generally, you can do a quick clean of the internal parts, especially the air filters and coils.
For the outside unit, you should clean around it to make sure that trapped leaves and dust are removed. Letting dust and fallen leaves gather around your air conditioning unit could get in the way of it functioning properly.
This debris can restrict airflow and cause the system to overheat so make sure you regularly clean your outdoor unit as well.
Professional Servicing
Getting your air conditioning system regularly serviced is another important thing to do to prevent future issues. Your air conditioner should be serviced at least once every year but if you’re using it for both heating and cooling functions, it would be good to get it checked twice a year.
What To Expect From A Routine Service
A service usually includes a trained technician checking to see if all parts are functioning properly and if the settings are accurate. Air filters, coils and other crucial parts are thoroughly cleaned and other parts are replaced if needed.
Looking For A New AC?
When hay fever strikes, we recommend staying indoors as much as possible so that you’re not exposed to allergens (especially from pollen in Spring) and instead, are breathing in pure air in the comfort of your home.
You can maintain the quality of your air with a good air conditioner. Before jumping into purchasing a new AC, you should first know how to pick a quality air conditioner and also how to pick the right size AC for your home.
