If you suffer from hay fever you’ll know what a blessing it is to be able to sit indoors in spring and summer with all the windows and doors shut, keeping the airborne pollen out while still being kept cool and comfortable. Then, in winter, you don’t keep the windows open as you have central heating and it would just let the heat out. In fact, you never need have fresh air in your home again!

And that’s where the problems start.

Air con and central heating can really dry out the air in a house and a lack of moisture in the air can lead to dehydration. You might ask “So what? I’ll just have another glass of water and I’m good!”

But it’s not only you who’s affected by dry air. You might also see:

• Wood shrink and warp meaning that varnish or paintwork can crack and chip, joints become loose, doors and windows start to stick or let drafts in

• Plants drying out and looking unhealthy or even dying because they need watering so much more frequently

• House dust becoming an ever more common problem. Dry air lets dust move about in the air more than moist air does. This means that it can get everywhere more easily making cleaning a harder job than it needs be.

Air conditioning units can become very expensive; if they are set too high or there’s a window open elsewhere in the home, an air conditioner will keep on working until the temperature is reached.

If your air conditioner is the wrong size it won’t work properly, insomuch as one that is too small won’t cool the whole home, just a room or at best a floor in a house while too big a unit will be difficult to control adequately, blasting out too much cold air and becoming a nuisance to adjust correctly.

Another problem that people experience is a health one too, the dry air makes eyes, noses and throats dry, even if you do increase the amount of water you drink. Skin can get dry and scaly while your hair becomes dull and brittle. And these symptoms aren’t restricted to humans, pets will suffer in much the same way, tropical birds which evolved in a particularly humid climate will become especially vulnerable to the effects of dry air.

So what’s the solution?

You could go without your air con. But that means overheating in the summer, a return to the stung eyes, streaming nose and coughing fits of a summer suffering from hay fever. Not really much of a health benefit at all.

The other answer is to consider investing in a humidifier. Now, the idea of having one machine to cool and dry the air and another to put the moisture back in might seem a bit like wearing a belt and braces but all things considered it makes sound sense. Dry air is more of a side effect than an intentional product of the air conditioner and so fixing the problem is something that should be considered. Not only does it make the air feel fresher, it prevents all of the problems listed above, although if things like furniture or antiques are warped it can’t fix them although it can prevent them from getting worse.

Of course they’re not without drawbacks of their own, again, the wrong size of humidifier will prove inefficient, too small and it won’t be able to deal with the space it’s supposed to be humidifying, too big and you run the risk of creating a whole different set of problems with damp and condensation.

Even The Smallest Elephants Find Getting Airborne A Struggle

The European Union is striving to limit the amount of gases which are released into the air, both in terms of variety and volume. The Union has 27 member states not including the UK and together they produce 4,177,817.86 thousand metric tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. That’s the equivalent of 596,831,123 African bull elephants charging through the skies of Europe every year (1,635,153 elephants every single day) . Even if Dumbo could fly those statistics would still be impossible since that amount of carbon dioxide alone (therefore not including all other forms of airborne pollutant) produced in Europe in a year weighs more than a thousand times as much as the weight of all the elephants alive on Earth today.

Europe’s contribution is 14.04% of the total carbon dioxide released into the air each year, the US produces 18.11% of the global airborne CO2 per annum and China almost a quarter, their industry, domestic and vehicle use of fuel produces 7,031,916,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year and as their economy changes ever more from agriculture and small industry to heavily fossil dependent energy consumption their contribution to the production of greenhouse gases is exploding. Put together those three market sectors alone cause more than 56% of the world’s gaseous carbon dioxide.

Fortunately a huge part of this carbon dioxide is take up again in plant growth which in turn releases oxygen into the atmosphere and stores carbon in its very structure. A natural carbon capture and storage programme if you will. However, there is still an excess of CO2 which stays in the atmosphere and it is this, among other gaseous and particular pollutants which cause global warming. If you also factor in the millions of litres of methane that animals produce and the gases and ash that volcanoes create then clearly ‘fresh’ air is far from free of all kinds of pollutants and irritants. Add tonne upon tonne of pollen in the summertime to all this and you’ll realise it’s almost a luxury that we’re able to see our hands in front of our faces thanks to all the stuff that’s in the air!

But What Can Any Of Us Do About It?

On the small scale every-one knows that it is necessary for us all to reduce our carbon footprint, share car journeys, avoid unnecessary flight, turn our thermostats down a little and insulate a lot as well as recycling everything that won’t compost.

That’s Fine Dealing With CO2 And Landfill, Is It Possible To Do Anything About The Atmosphere In The Home?

A humidifier will help keep dust down, literally, during the dry parts of the year. Summer is obviously dry but indoors winter can be too, with central heating turned on (even at a degree or two below normal) it can leave the air dry and therefore dust can blow up and get into convection currents more easily. A humidifier makes this far less likely as dust finds it harder to move about in a moist atmosphere.

But keeping dust down is only half of the story. If you suffer from hay fever or other allergies to particulates such as pet dander an air purifier might be a better long term answer. Air purifiers use a variety of filtration methods to keep air at a quality you can enjoy. And they run at such low power levels that they consume less energy than a domestic lightbulb, meaning that they contribute negligibly to your carbon footprint. So effective are they that they not only clean pollen and dust from the air they can even control the passage of airborne viruses while filters using carbon can clear bad odours and theoretically absorb toxic gases. However, if you think you smell gas you should vacate the building immediately and call the National Grid on 0800 111 999.

Here is what you need to know…

Why do air conditioners drip?

Many people naively think that air conditions are akin to fans and simply cool the surrounding air but as the name suggests, such units also conditionthe air, removing water to reduce humidity levels within a room. The cooling coil or evaporator absorbs the moisture in said room and then the airborne water is collected in liquid form but some settles on the cold surfaces within the unit.

Image: jeff_golden, FlickR

Picture this…

Picture an icy cold drink poured into a glass, with condensation on the outside of it and you’ll find the process easier to comprehend.

How much water should my air conditioning unit drip?

It is hard to give a specific answer to this question because it does vary between different models and this is also dependant on the humidity levels and temperature of the environment in which it is placed. As a guide though, a hot summer’s day will see a window air conditioning unit drip around 2 gallons of water it has collected from its surrounding atmosphere, whilst a central conditioning system can collect up to 20 gallons on such a day.

Please note: Whilst many people will choose to reuse and/or divert this collected water for the purposes of landscape irrigation, you should not drink this water for this could cause lead exposure and other contaminants.

Where should my air conditioner drip from?

Condensed water should always leak from the back of an air conditioning unit whenever it is in operation. This is because water drips from the cooling coil into channels that should be angled towards the back of the unit. If water is dripping from elsewhere then you most likely have some sort of problem with your unit.

Help! Water is dripping from the front of my unit!

This is probably a result of incorrect installation – the back of the unit should be positioned slightly lower in order to aid proper drainage of the collected water.

Help! Water is dripping from either side of my unit!

This problem could be caused by air leaks within the unit. If your air conditioner is not properly sealed this could see the surrounding, non-conditioned hot air turning into condensation droplets the second it comes into contact with the cooling parts of the system.

Insulating your unit can help with this problem and can also help boost efficiency and reduce energy bills.

Help! My air conditioner is not dripping at all!

If your system does not drip at all, there is a high chance that it is failing to do its job of conditioning the surrounding air. It is possible that the internal drains are blocked. Calling someone out to service your unit is the best call of action in this instance.

Help! Why is there ice in my air conditioning unit?

This means that your device is malfunctioning and you should call someone to service it immediately.

Wimbledon and Humidity Woes

Wimbledon fans have been hoping for glorious sunshine to accompany 2011’s tennis tournament which began last Monday. Instead the weather has been largely poor with the ever-promised UK heat wave never quite coming to fruition. Scorching temperatures have only occurred for short moments and at random intervals during this year’s event thus far.

But did you know that the weather – or more specifically; the level of humidity – can have an effect on how a game of tennis pans out?

It has been scientifically proven that high humidity can increase the mass of tennis balls and this can affect how high a ball will bounce after impact with the ground. In addition to this, humidity affects the ways in which racket strings behave.

In fact it was reported by The Telegraph last week that Britain’s current number 1 (and also ranking as the world’s 4^th best player) Andy Murray’s first game against Daniel Gimeno-Traver was affected by a change to the levels of humidity after the roof of the court was closed due to bad weather.

“[The roof] definitely slows the court down”, commented Murray after the match.

The Science Explained

The most common racket strings are made from “gut” (read as; animal intestine) and are usually provided with a coating in order to reduce the material’s tendency to unravel whenever it becomes humid or wet (such coatings have different levels of success). Many varieties of racket string absorb moisture caused by humid conditions and this can soften and loosen the tension of racket beds. The softness of a string bed can indicate how much moisture has been absorbed (i.e. the softer it is, the more moisture likely absorbed).

Beds with the wrong or an inconsistent tension can affect the speed and spin of the tennis ball after impact.

Mark Kidger – an aerospace engineer who has written several books including The Physics of Cricket – argued that it is the tennis ball (and not the racket) which is central to the changes in play resulting from increased humidity.

“The roof traps the humidity inside the court [...] You’ve got 15,000 people inside, all breathing and sweating away, and then there is the moist surface of the grass, which will be releasing more water vapour into the atmosphere”, began Kidger, as he explained his theory to the Telegraph Sport.

“The ball will suck in some of that water vapour and so become a little bit heavier and slower, both through the air and especially off the court. When it bounces, it will sit up nicely to be hit rather than rushing through as normal”, Kidger claimed.

When the All England Club had the roof installed back in 2009, nine air cooling machine were concurrently installed which switch on whenever the rood is closed. Although these machines pump 143,000 litres of chilled air through the arena every second, this is clearly not enough to deal with the high moisture levels.

Perhaps the club should invest in a colossal dehumidifier (or two hundred!) to deal with the increased humidity cause by roof closings. Players of Wimbledon and the rest of us will inevitably face more bad weather before the tournament comes to its end!

Japanese professionals have been advised by the Government to ditch suits, collars and ties in favour for attire one would be more likely to see on a beach, namely loose Hawaiian shirts and open toe sandals as part of an initiative named ‘Super Cool Biz.’

Image: magical-world, FlickR

The power consumed in Japan is at its highest during the humid late spring and summer period and it is highly suspected that the many air conditioning systems in otherwise stuffy work environments are one of the biggest culprits for this.

With the recent earthquakes and resulting tsunami which saw the colossal nuclear power station in Fukushima cause several caustic explosions, saving energy in Japan is more important than ever and so the imitative aims to see many company restricting the use of their air con in the future.

Don’t expect to see many Japanese office workers – who are known for being immaculately dressed – take advantage of the advice however. According to Richard Lloyd Parry, the Tokyo correspondent for The Times newspaper, employees follow the lead of their employers, many of which are unlikely to drop their own smart appearances.

In light of this fact, we think that funding should be steered towards researching, developing and installing more energy efficient air conditioning systems so that at least the amount of energy being zapped will become lesser than current levels.

Keeping the air conditioner running at an optimum level will not only save you money it’ll save you power and therefore keep the greenhouse gasses which are thought to add to global warming down too.

Failing to keep your air con properly maintained can mean that the efficiency drops by about 5% per year. That might not sound like much but when you consider that’s 5% more discomfort and 5% more in price every year you can see the advantage of spending a few minutes making sure your unit is running perfectly.

Keeping your air conditioning unit can prevent bigger problems down the line too; changing filters and seals when they start to look worn means that you won’t experience a costly and uncomfortable breakdown later on, like anything, prevention is better than cure.

There are few pointers which will tell you when you need to have a service, some are obvious and some not so much.

If your house isn’t cooling as it should or the humidity is increasing then it’s worth checking that filters, seals and coolants are all intact and at the right levels.

These are obvious signs but it’s still important to have an annual inspection even if you don’t notice any stand-out problems. Other things which can be checked are the controls, compressors and electrical parts are checked for wear, dust and other damage. Depending on the type of air con unit you have exterior coils could need to be checked for damage, dirt and corrosion. You’ll also want to check the air flow and calibrate the thermostats.

If you rely heavily on your air conditioning it might be worth considering a professional come service your equipment if all that sounds a bit daunting, it might not be cheap but it would be far more expensive to call an engineer in an emergency.

Keep your air conditioning unit cool by keeping it in the shade, this means it will run more efficiently and won’t be recording the wrong temperature and therefore working harder then it need to maintain the correct temperature in your home or office. You should also try to keep pets, plants and loose fabrics clear from the machine as fur, foliage or folds can all interrupt the flow of air and make the equipment have to work harder.

If you can, try to keep your thermostat set above 25 degrees. For every degree below 25 degrees you go you’re adding 8% to your energy consumption.

Make efficient use of your timer. If your house is empty all day it’s not worth keeping it cool all day long so set your timer so that the AC comes on half an hour to an hour before you come home rather than relying solely on the thermostat. No point paying for cold air which you’r enot going to enjoy.

Is it time to think about replacing your air conditioner all together? If you’ve had it for some time it won’t be nearly as efficient as a new one thanks both to wear on the old unit and energy efficiency developments in brand new units. Expensive repair and maintenance will only increase while buying a new, energy efficient model means that you should only have to worry about cleaning the filters each month.

When you’re installing the AC make sure you read the instructions properly and mount it correctly if it’s not a floor standing unit. Urban Green issued a report on April 14 which said that the average air conditioner leaked as much air as having a 6 inch hole in the wall. That’s still air that’s got to be paid for so, to save money and power, make sure everything is ship-shape.

If you use an air conditioner which fits into an open window make sure you close up all the gaps around the unit so that the cold air stays indoors rather than blowing straight out and cooling down the neighborhood leaving you even more hot and bothered than before!

A couple of other tips which seem counter-intelligent in addition to keeping windows and doors tightly shut is to keep the curtains and drapes closed too, keeping the sun out means that the cool air isn’t then warmed by the action of sunlight. You should also make sure that you clean the filters regularly, once they start to block they can quickly increase the amount of work the AC unit has to do, driving up costs and output down. Even when you have the air con on, try using a ceiling fan too, this will move the cold air around so that you don’t get one room that’s too cold while the others remain too warm.

Get that right and you should have the most energy efficient, comfortable home on your block.

The need for air con is clear at least in commercial environments during inclement or hot and humid weather.  A survey of facilities management professionals conducted by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) reveals the most common complaint from workers about the HVAC system was the temperature being too cold or too hot.  Complaints about indoor-air quality came way down the list as did complaints about noise.  The most common solution adopted by staff to things being too hot was the use of personal fans (66%) or stripping off!  When too cold, 60% of employees surveyed used personal heaters (despite being told these were a fire hazard) or resorted to extra layers of clothing. 57% said their company did not take other simple steps like relaxing the dress code during summer to improve comfort levels.

The other approach to employee whinges about levels of work comfort appears to be sleight of hand and doling nothing!  An astonishing amount of respondents admitted to being “psychologically sneaky” by saying they would make an adjustment in response to complaints, but not actually do anything.  After  a couple of hours, they  follow up to find out if the ‘adjustments’ made any difference and most times, are assured by staff that things are” much better thank you”  when if fact they haven’t actually physically done anything to change the temperature.

If temperatures are centrally controlled and cannot be regulated by individual occupants it will be difficult to accommodate what could be varying work condition requirements,  whereas air conditioning systems that  are zone-controlled, allowing facility managers and individual occupants to adjust the thermostat can quickly provide localised control.  However, judging by the placebo effect of simply saying something’s been done, perhaps more companies will just install thermostat controls without even wiring them up?

Many people might now be considering a portable air conditioning unit for use in the home or office as the nights lighten and the days warm up.   Folk who want to keep cool and reduce their energy consuming carbon footprint in the process are increasingly turning to evaporative coolers.   These use the simple process of evaporation to achieve a cooling effect and while they aren’t as effective as more conventional air conditioning units, they do have the advantage of being far more compact and easier to position as they don’t need an exhaust hose.  The only moving part  that consumes any electrical power is a fan which blows air through a moist fibrous matrix mat,  so they are much more energy efficient.

Evaporative coolers tend to have a large water tank filled with cold water or a mixture of cold water and ice (some models allow you to add more ice).   This water is then fed over a filter mat, air is sucked in through the unit and blown out through the moistened filter and it’s the mechanical process of evaporation that provides the cooling effect – exactly the same as occurs when we sweat.  Because there is no compressor, evaporative coolers are far quieter than air conditioner units, but that same lack of compressor also means that they are not as effective as air conditioners in cooling down a larger room.  Evaporative coolers are less controllable too as they don’t have a method of regulating the air temperature which is being expelled – all you’ll get is cold and a bit colder if you add more ice.  They also need to be in a room with plenty of ventilation otherwise the humidity will rise and the moisture being introduced to the room will cease to evaporate.

To work at their best, they need to positioned by an open window or door.  It’s advisable to have another window or door open on the other side of the room which will push air out and create a good through-flow of air.  Despite all these seeming drawbacks, evaporative cooling appeals to some as it does have much lower running costs than refrigerant based portable air conditioners and evaporative units are certainly much cheaper to buy initially.  The need to have a door or window partly opened to create a “flow-through” effect however may mean they are not the ideal solution for places where there are allergy sufferers and more conventional air conditioning units that can operate with doors and window closed may be the better option.

So air conditioning has come on leaps and bounds, but have you ever wondered exactly how these gizmos turn your stuffy, unpleasant sweatbox into a chilled out heaven of tranquility? You might imagine that blasting out cold air is a simple process, but it is much more complex than a glorified hair-dryer.  Whether they are  through the window or wall units or portable air conditioners, they don’t in fact produce their own cold air.  Rather they suck in the stagnant air in the environment and recycle it, reproducing it at a lower temperature.

To go into slightly more detail, an air con unit contains a loop of refrigerant gas that expels heat when compressed and absorbs heat when expanded, thus transferring the heat from the room outside. The air cools when it passes over the surface previously cooled by the refrigerant gas. When that refrigerant  gas expands in the loop, a fan sucks in warm air from the room and blows it onto the cold coils, reducing its temperature (think of it as the opposite of what happens in a fan heater).   In the loop, the warmed expanded gas is pumped to a compressor where it is “squashed”.  As it’s squashed the heat is expelled and blown out the unit by another fan. In a portable  air conditioner the hot air is pumped outside through a hose and in a wall-mounted  air conditioner the outside unit does this. The compressed gas is then pumped back into the loop where is expanded again and so the process continues. This system is the same as the one used in a fridge or freezer.

This is the basic system every air-con unit is based around, though as a rule of thumb, the bigger the unit, the more complex the innards. Different types and sizes of units are used for different proposes.  For example, the unit found in a shopping mall will work differently to that of an in-car system, though they both operate on the same basic principles and even a portable air conditioner will use similar technology. Unfortunately this type of air-conditioner will slowly be phased out over the coming years, making way for more eco-friendly versions because the Freon gas used as the refrigerant is harmful to the ozone layer.   So don’t say goodbye to your faithful desk fan just yet!

If the forecasts of just how sweltering this summer is going to be are anywhere near correct, then air conditioning will be essential for virtually anyone at home or in the office.  They will probably be a life-saver if you have a conservatory.  If temperatures do reach the stratospheric heights predicted, you could wind up with a very effective blast furnace in which you could smelt steel instead of a comfortable room outdoors!  They could also, very literally, be a genuine life saver for the elderly in particular if we do indeed get a real heat wave!

Portable and window air conditioners are the ideal temporary or permanent cooling solution for offices, cafés and restaurants, kitchens and domestic environments when the weather turns really hot and sticky. Window air conditioners can provide a year-round solution by fitting permanently in the walls of a building or the supporting brickwork of an extension or conservatory.    They’re also suitable for temporary installation through sash windows for example.

Many people think that air conditioners lower the temperature simply by somehow pumping cool air in when in fact any unit recycles warm air in a room back as cooler air. In some senses, an air conditioner is essentially a refrigerator without the insulated box and uses the evaporation of a refrigerant, just like a fridge, to provide cooling.  Some air conditioners can cool and help clean the air as well.  Some indoor units have filters that catch dust, pollen and other allergens as some can also function as dehumidifiers, taking in excess moisture  from the air and using  it to help cool the unit.

If you are considering a portable unit, you should also be aware of the limitations on just how “portable” it will be.  All portable air conditioning  units require a hose to be fed out a window or door to extract the hot air produced by the compressor. This does limit where they can be situated, but you can get hose extensions so you can reach a convenient window or other opening.  “Through the wall” vent kits to go with portable units are probably a better solution.  They allow you to maintain a sealed room rather than leave doors or windows slightly open. This improves the overall cooling efficiency, but does of course require a hole to be drilled through the wall and some installation work.

Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I’d like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air.

In West Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground is where I spent most of my days
Chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’, all cool
And all shootin’ some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys, who were up to no good
Started makin’ trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
And said, “You’re movin’ with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air.

It means that portable air conditioners are true climate control systems, useful throughout the year – not just the summer.

The heat pump technology means that some of the thermal energy used to change the temperature of a room is extracted from the outside air. This transfer of “free” energy reduces the energy consumption to allow the portable air conditioner to provide more heating energy to a room than the energy it consumes in electricity.

By using a heat pump air conditioner in the winter you’ll be able to provide more heat to a room than the energy it consumes making it a much more cost effective way of heating than convector heaters, oil filled radiators or fan heaters.

For instance, 3.6kW of heat from an electrical heater, like a fan, convector or oil filled rad, would cost 43p per hour whereas a heat pump air conditioner could supply the same heat for just 15p per hour.

So why buy a regular portable air conditioner to use for just a few months of the year when you could have a true climate control system that’s useful for eight months of the year, and reduces your energy bills?