I have to be honest here: I’m one of those strange Perth creatures who looooves winter. Give me a cold windy morning any day to wake me up and get me energised! Plus I get to wear my jackets and boots, my absolute fashion weakness. I’m going to miss them over the next few months, summer clothes just aren’t quite my jam.
The hot days just kill me. My co-workers joke that I’m a vampire, hiding indoors with aircon from the sun and the heat until the cooler evenings (the traditional vampire! I don’t sparkle.) Walking inside to an air-conditioned room for me is like water to a man in the desert, with my very own ‘praise the Lord!’ arm gestures as I come in.
Last weekend we had our first taste of the oncoming hotter days (everyone tells me it was mild, but come on people, it was over 30 degrees!) You might not need it as early as me but chances are you’ll be using your air conditioner on the near horizon. But after a long winter of disuse, you need to give the old breezer a bit of TLC before making it do the hard yards again – for it’s sake, but more importantly for your health.
Think about it – air conditioners blow (beautiful, wondrous, life saving) cool air around the room, and any accumulated pathogens such as dust, allergens and dirt will consequently be blown around as well. Not only can this cause asthma and allergic reactions, but any fungi or bacteria can cause more serious health reactions, such as legionnaire’s disease.
Here’s a disgusting story for you too! A couple of years ago we turned on an air conditioner in the games room for the first time of the season and it started with a real CLUNK DA CLUNK noise. We turned it off and on again – CLUNK CLUNK DINK. Hmm. So we thought maybe if we ran it for a minute or two whatever was blocking it would fly out. And it sure did after a few seconds – three lovely chunks of lizard, to be exact. EW.
This is a dramatic example obviously (and a scarring one!) but there are more serious health risks. Contaminated water droplets in your unit can spread diseases and flu like reactions to an entire building.
Start by wiping away external dust with a wet cloth or running your vacuum nozzle over it, but it’s best to have your air conditioner properly cleaned professionally after a season of inactivity before you begin using it again. An air conditioning technician will check for blockages and clean your system/unit thoroughly, including fins, coils, filters and hard to reach areas, removing dust, dirt and any bacterial contamination.
Then you can sit back with your ice cold water and refreshing cool breeze and pretend it’s a balmy 20 degrees again. Excuse me while I hide out until May.
-Em from the Look Local WA team
