How Your Skin is Affected by Air Conditioning

It’s hard to argue with the comfort that your air conditioner provides, but there are some A/C effects that can irritate your skin as the A/C dries out the air. The ideal indoor humidity ranges between 30 and 50 percent. When it’s drier than 30 percent, the air starts to take a toll on your health. Since nature abhors a vacuum, it will start to take moisture from your skin to compensate.

Air conditioners dry out the air by condensing the water vapor in it. Whenever your system runs, cold refrigerant circulates through the evaporator coil inside the air handler. As the warm air from your home hits it, the moisture in the air condenses on the coil. At some point, the humidity may drop below 30 percent, at which time you may start to show the effects of dry indoor air.

Signs of Dry Skin

Itchy, chapped skin, or rashes indicate that the humidity is too low. You may also experience skin cracks on your hands and feet that can be painful and susceptible to infections. Skin moisturizers will help prevent your skin from becoming overly dry as long as you choose a product that doesn’t use perfumes or …

Ensure Home Comfort with This Spring Cleaning Checklist

Do you have a checklist for your spring cleaning? Making a list can help keep you organized when warmer weather rolls around and it’s time to get your house and yard in order. There’s something about writing down your tasks that helps us remain committed to actually doing them. And then, when the mission is accomplished, you can tick each item off.

One task you should add to your list, if you’re not doing it already, is some preparation for home comfort — meaning, the HVAC system and all the equipment that goes along with temperature and indoor air quality control.

Here are a few spring cleaning tasks to perform in your home.

Spring Cleaning Checklist Remove the cover from your air conditioner’s condenser if you use one. Check inside the unit for any rodent or insect nests and if you find something, have the critters removed. They can cause damage. Clear away any weeds, debris, grass or leaves from the unit so that it doesn’t interfere with air flow. Also remove overhanging limbs, shrubbery that is growing too close or yard furniture and tools less than 2 feet from the unit. Check inside your home for obstructions covering your …

Your Spring HVAC Preparation To-Do List

The arrival of spring signals that it’s time to get your HVAC system ready for the coming cooling season. Preparing your HVAC before the heat and humidity settle in primes it to run efficiently and reliably, so you can enjoy a comfortable home all summer long. Here are some key spring HVAC tasks to tackle:

Replace Your Air Filter

A clean air filter helps maintain the airflow that keeps your HVAC system working properly. Going forward, check the filter every month, and replace when you see any debris accumulation, or every three months at minimum.

Clean Up Around Your Outdoor Unit

Good airflow through the condenser coil is crucial to the heat exchange process, so tidying up the area surrounding your outdoor unit is an important spring chore. First, rake up and remove any yard debris that has collected over the winter. Then, clear away overgrown grass and weeds, and trim nearby plants and shrubs to allow two feet of airflow clearance all around the unit.

Check Your Ductwork

Ductwork that’s damaged, leaking or uninsulated can waste up to a third of the conditioned air produced by your HVAC system. To curb that energy waste and increase your comfort, have …

How Furniture Can Affect Your HVAC

Technology has advanced to the point where energy efficient furniture does exist. It can store and release energy to charge batteries, run lights, or provide the same HVAC effects your furnace or A/C does. While it’s not ready for the market yet, it shows that furniture is, and will continue to be, a part of the home that can contribute to your comfort.

Comfort and Heat

Some products used in homes offer more comfort than others, especially with regard to thermal management. Upholstered (with padding) furniture is far more comfortable year-round than hard plastic chairs. The fabrics and internal padding absorb heat and moisture, keeping you warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. A hard plastic chair, for example, does not absorb moisture. It feels cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

Insulating Value of Furniture

Even the wood that furniture is made from has some insulating value, which is a property that contributes indirectly to comfort, especially when it’s cold. Wood products that are less dense and lighter in weight. They can hold more air than dense wood. The ability to retain air in small pockets is a basic characteristic of most insulation products.

Color …

What’s Involved in Laundry Room Ventilation?

Adequate laundry room ventilation makes a difference in this humid climate, especially as the weather heats up and the humidity builds and doing the laundry creates plenty of both. Between the warming weather and the conditions in the laundry room, it could become uncomfortable and unhealthy.

Dryer Venting

The first step in assessing the condition of the laundry room is to look at the dryer’s venting. The hose should vent to the outdoors and be no longer than 25 feet. The current building codes require solid metal vent pipes for dryers and the old corrugated vent hoses are now obsolete.

Check the vent annually or more often if you do a lot of laundry and remove the lint. It’s even more important to clean the vent and lint screen if you use dryer sheets. They create a residue that coats the vent and the lint screen., reducing the airflow. When the lint screen develops a coating, even less air goes into the dryer and it will run much hotter, which could start a fire.

Using Fans

An exhaust fan will pull the heat and humidity from the laundry room as long as you can vent it to the outdoors. Although …