You are currently viewing Why the type of air conditioner you have matters in a COVID world

Your type of air conditioner matters. Some pull in outdoor air. Others simply recirculate indoor air.

If you have air conditioning in your home, no one is saying that you need to give up on it entirely. When it’s sweltering out, air conditioning can be essential not only to help you function but also to avoid heatstroke.

But if you are going to spend time in a cooled space with other people, it may be worth understanding a bit more about the cool air you are breathing. Basically, all air conditioning falls into one of three categories.

— The unit cools both indoor and outdoor air.

— The unit cools and recirculates only indoor air.

— The unit relies entirely on pulling in outdoor air. (These are uncommon outside hospitals and labs.)

Centralized air systems, such as those common in office buildings, dorms and some large apartment buildings, often fall in category one. Jimenez and other building scientists involved in coronavirus prevention are currently advising owners of businesses and buildings with category one systems to adjust the ratio to pull in more outdoor air, an enterprise that can be costly. Take a casino in Las Vegas, which is kept cool enough to keep people gambling inside while it feels like 120 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Cooling that hot outdoor air will be more expensive than recirculating the already cool inside air. But given that keeping customers healthy is also a priority, more are willing to revisit their approach, Jimenez said.”

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If you’re using multiple window AC units to cool your home, you may want to think about upgrading to a central system. For one, many of these window units cool and recirculate inside air which could potentially keep the dangerous viruses such as COVID in your home. Furthermore, running multiple units at once is likely to require more energy usage that a central AC system. Your electricity bill will probably be much higher as a result.

Considering getting a central air conditioner system? Call Apple Valley Eagan Appliance at 952-953-0080 for expert advice and installation. We offer a variety of cooling services for your home or business.