Why are air conditioners harmful for the planet?

In a few years before, air conditioners were considered the symbol of luxurious life in society but nowadays it becomes the necessity for human beings. It is very difficult to stay cool or comfortable without the use of AC. Everybody welcomes the positive of air conditioners but at the same time, it also needs to address the harmful effects of air conditioners on the planet and on human beings as well.

It is a very well known fact that the functioning of AC is to do conditioning of Air. In doing so, they are collecting the heat of the room or closed area and throwing that warm air into the environment. This extra heat increases the temperature of cities that compel the peoples to turn on the AC for more time.

 

Air conditioner requires the electricity for the functioning and this electricity comes from the power plants. These power plants release the pollutants in the environment especially CO2.  In addition to this, the cooling agents of AC are chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) & hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) are also responsible for global warming. AC releases harmful chemicals to the environment in the situation of leakage as well.

Air conditioners are not only bad to our earth but also for the health of human beings as well. AC is responsible for increasing the symptoms of low blood pressure, arthritis, and neuritis, dry skin, fatigue, inability to deal with the heats of summer, etc. Air conditioners are also known to circulate air-borne diseases such as Legionnaire’s Disease, a potentially fatal infectious disease that produces high fever and pneumonia. Due to the continuous use of AC, the filters also start behaving malfunctioning and they pass harmful compounds from the environment to your home or office that are responsible for several types of human allergies related to nose, eye and throat infection.

Some tips that might help in protecting the environment

Though there are few disadvantages of AC to our planet, it becomes the necessity of these days. Whether you are at home or office, it is not practical to sit in the sun scorching summer. What can we do in these circumstances? The solution is to optimize the functioning of your AC. Here are a few recommendations to optimize the functioning of your AC at the home.

•    If you are looking to purchase new AC, then go with an Inverter AC, if possible. The cost of Inverter AC is more in comparison to traditional AC, but it will provide significant savings on your electricity bill in the long run. Also, have a look for energy star ratings, energy efficiency ratio, etc.

•    If there is any leakage in the AC, call the technician immediately. The chemicals coming out from the AC due to this leakage is depleting the ozone layer of our environment.

•    Clean the filters of your AC in every two weeks. It ensures the smooth air flow to the coils and cools the room quickly.

•    The amount of time requires to cool your room depends upon several factors like the area of the room, facing of the room towards east or west, a number of members in the room, etc. It is highly advisable to avoid the frequent opening of door or windows to stop the entry of warm air into the room.

•    Set the temperature of your AC at the comfortable level 24~27 degree and avoid the on and off of the AC.  Switching on or off consume more power in comparison to set the temperature at a comfortable level.

Solutions to reduce the impact of AC to the environment

In the previous section, we have recommended a few methods for optimizing the performance of AC. Organizations and several environment authorities are also working to minimize the effect of AC on the environment. Several types of refrigerants are used in the AC industry until now. The most common types of cooling agents are CFC, HCFC, and HFC, etc. These cooling agents are dangerous to our environment and also responsible for the depletion of the Ozone layer.

As per latest news, these gases will be phased out from the Indian market very soon and will be replaced by environment-friendly hydrocarbons cooling agents (R-290 & R-600).  The impact of these gases is very less on the environment.

Conclusion

The ac is polluting our environment and it is a very sensitive issue. We need to address it now to make our planet pollution free and healthy. Being a responsible citizen, we can opt for inverter AC with the best cooling agents available. We are also very hopeful to see better solutions due to the advancement of technology.

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