Can aircon run 24 hours? Yes! But can you leave aircon on 24/7? We understand how essential air conditioners can be inseparable in our daily lives. Air conditioner not only provide us with comfort but also relevant for maintaining the required environment for various electronics such as computers.
Can you figure out a summer season without an aircon? It’s torturous, right?
While its uses serve us properly as a necessity, running air conditioner 24 hours a day is a norm for many, even when not at home. Most individuals may not be aware of the consequences of such action, either directly, indirectly, or both. But, let’s get deep in looking at why we should reduce aircon running hours in a day to be on the safe.
Why running aircon 24/7 is a bad idea
Running air conditioner 24 hours a day affects you personally
Do you have an idea about what running your air conditioner 24 hours every day can do to the environment? The first negative impact has materialistic nature and could be more personal.
A report given in 2009 indicated that averagely, over 40% of households consume energy through heating and cooling systems. This helps understand how such massive energy consumption is dangerous to the consumer’s pocket. But, considering that other electronics’ electricity bills aren’t counted in that percentage, is it really worth it?
Looking at the conversation about energy usage, it’s clear that running your air conditioner nonstop in only spike the household’s energy consumption more than expected. In other words, you’ll have to pay more on bills, twice or three times more. Unless you also consider buying energy-efficient air conditioners to save you a little bit.
The environment
The other effect is on the environment. You may fail to relate, but when the environment is affected, who is the next victim? It definitely those living within it. Most individuals don’t know the huge effect running an aircon for long hours causes to the surroundings.
It was discovered that a household’s aircon running per year accounts for over 35% greenhouse gas emission. Some may claim that recent aircons are labelled environmental friendly. However, that doesn’t suggest that they are and can possibly decrease the emission to zero percent.
They may likely be emitting less than before, but think about having it run whole 24 hours every day. Would you expect a big change? Of course, not. In short, we mean the longer you concentrate on cooling the inside, the outside worsens by increasing in warmth.
Is aircon water safe for plants?
Leads to a dirty aircon filter
The appliance itself suffers from running throughout without cooling down. After a longer period of use, you’ll realize that its air filters are getting clogged by dirt. You may not tell easily until the time it begins producing warm air, instead of a cooling effect. But don’t worry because this may not be a big deal since air conditioners aren’t hard to replace.
Continual accumulation of solid dirt by the condenser coils can be the ideal issue as it results in clogging. Further use without enough breaks contributes to drastic clogging, which destroys the unit’s compressor directly. Remember, simultaneous damage to the compressor and condenser is the worst mistake that could cease the system’s entire functioning. You may think about repairing it, but get ready for spending expensively in the frequent future charges on the same.
How to clean aircon filter to prevent this?
Negative effects on your health
As the air conditioner’s user, you should know that your health is at risk. We earlier stated that running it for 24 hours daily clogs its air filters. Nevertheless, it could start by hurting your health before the condenser is reached. Partially clogged filters potentially carry minute dust specks likely to cause cold or fever.
Will you even realize the source of your sickness? It even more dangerous to individual allergic to dust. You may undergo an allergic reaction without warning, which might slowly gear to a condition leading to the cold. For this reason and many others, allergic people should never run their inverter aircon for a whole day every day.
Financial damages
Do aircons use a lot of electricity? Running an air conditioner 24 hours per day every week has various causes- for instance, deteriorated physical conditions, environmental, and financial damages. A simple air conditioner making you experience sickness, pay more bills, and risking the environment’s safety, not forgetting it’ll completely break down after some time of usage.
All these should convince you to change your aircon’s operation. Undoubtedly, it may be circumstances may force you to have it run for long hours, but at least not every hour each week’s day. A good scenario for having no choice of running the appliance in a room without enough windows, which may only have the aircon as the only pick. Houses with improper air ventilation probably fasten air heat up in the room, and this may be a major concern during the hotter days. In such a case, it’d be best to turn off your aircon’s thermostat when leaving the house and back on when you return.
At night during sleep, most individuals can deal with warmth better when sleeping, meaning it’s another good time to cool the appliance down. By doing so, it’ll reduce the negative consequences that only end up hurting you personally. But remember, regardless of the method you might opt to lessen the disadvantages, reducing your air conditioner’s functioning duration is the best.
The bottom line
After looking at the effects an air conditioner running 24 hours daily can cause, we now understand the need to reduce that time. It poses a danger to the environment, your pocket, and worst of all, your health, and not failing to mention the conditioner itself.
These negative effects may not all be seen at once. It might take time, but the day you’ll notice, the damage may be irreversible. The good news is that you now have a better solution to lower its negativities, reducing the running hours per day.
Another option could be buying appliances that run automatically depending on the room temperature. For example, the aircon automatically switches off when reaching the temperature set on the thermostat. It’ll turn on immediately when there’s a temperature rise. We recommend the new google nest thermostat. This device worth the money. What is the common thermostat problems?
Can ac run for 24 hours? Yes but reduce air con running hours will reduce your bill!
Dr Joe Strachan is a Paediatric Intensive Care (CHiP) expert
