It’s necessary to keep your home’s air quality in check all the time, but it’s especially crucial during times of extreme air pollution, heavy dust, or nearby bushfires. Smoke from bushfires can linger for days, even weeks after the fire has been extinguished, depending on the wind and rain.
People with asthma and other respiratory conditions are particularly vulnerable to the long-term effects of this smoky pollution. Prolonged exposure to smoke, however, can cause health issues in the lungs, eyes, nose, and throat even in otherwise healthy inhabitants.
Using Your Air Conditioning System To Reduce Smoke In Your Home:
During a local bushfire incident, you can utilize your split unit or ducted air conditioner to get rid of some of the smoke in your home. Although air conditioners are not intended to filter smoke particles, they can be utilized to mitigate the problem.
You can direct certain air conditioners to bring in outdoor air. Turning off the ‘Fresh Air’ setting on your air conditioner may help alleviate this problem, since it will prevent it from continuously sucking in smoky air.
When the air outside is smoky, it’s crucial to keep your air conditioner well-maintained and clean so that it can do its job of clearing and refreshing the air within your home.
Smoke and allergens can settle not just on soft surfaces like carpet, furniture, and curtains, but also on hard surfaces like walls, worktops, and floors. Cleaning these areas thoroughly during and after a bushfire is essential for removing the lingering smell of smoke and preventing the redistribution of particles after they have been disturbed by the raging flames.
If you live in an area with more smoke pollution, you should have your air conditioner serviced and cleaned by the experts at marvellous.sg to make sure it will function properly in the event of a bushfire.
A household air conditioning service provider from https://www.airconservicing.org/ offers these suggestions for eliminating cigarette smoke and bettering indoor air quality:
- Consider Adding House Plants:
Natural air filters include houseplants like devil’s ivy and peace lilies. These houseplants will not only make your home feel more comfortable and pleasant, but they will also aid in purifying the air. Other plants like bamboo palms, philodendrons, and ficus are also good in purifying the air..
- Install HEPA Filters for Your AC:
Installing a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter in your central air conditioner is a good first step toward mitigating indoor air pollution from tobacco use. A high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter is a mechanical air filter that uses a very small mesh to filter out particles like dust, pollen, pet dander, and cigarette smoke.
Commercial AC maintenance specialists state that these filters are built to capture particles that ordinary air filters miss, significantly reducing allergy symptoms for home occupants..
- Invest in an Air Purifier at Home:
Finding a high-quality air purifier is essential if you smoke cigarettes inside your home. You may get rid of the white smoke that coats your skin and hair and decrease the residual scents by using an air purifier. If you want to know what kind of pollutant filtering unit is the best for your home, you should consult a HVAC technician.
Does Smoking Damage Air Conditioners?
Tobacco smoke contains carcinogenic particles that can linger in the air for weeks, months, or even years. If you smoke indoors while the air conditioner is on, there is a good chance that the smoke particles will be sucked up by the system and released back into the room for days, even months.
We all know that air conditioners include air filters to deal with dust and other particles, but cigarette smoke contains particles so large and numerous that they can quickly clog an entire filter. You may need to maintain changing the filter as often as once a month if you smoke a lot of cigarettes in your room.
Should You Run An Air Conditioner During Smoke?
During the summer, when wildfires are more common, many individuals have this type of inquiry. Remember that running an air conditioner inside a room is perfectly safe even if the air outside is contaminated with smoke or ash from a fire.
An air conditioner’s single function is to expel the room’s hot air and dust particles outside. This item safeguards AC functionality in the event of outdoor smoke. When there’s smoke in the room, there could be an issue.
Running an air conditioner is not advised if cigarettes or a fire are being smoked or burned within the room. Allowing your air conditioner to run will help purge the air within your home of dangerous substances like smoking. Ultimately, you may need to swap out the filter as well.
