goodmorning mom's i was just wondering how many people use window units to cool there homes...i have always used them for my home and have never had a problem but for some reason these last few weeks it has been bothering my allergys :( is anybody else having the same problem?? thankyou!!
Don't have them but it sounds like you have mold growing in them. They just need a good cleaning. Do you get them serviced every spring?
The problem is water gets in them and can grow mold which is pulled in through the intake. This happened at my grandparents house that they didn't use. So when we stayed there and fired up the units no one could breathe.
In the spring and the fall the jet stream changes and brings in a lot of stuff from other places, some of it is even from other countries. I always notice a lot more allergies when it does this. I think it is just a normal thing. I have a really hard time when there are lots of fires in California. I can sometimes smell smoke and am always itching in the throat and eyes if I go outside. When turning on a window unit it is always a good idea to wash the intake areas with the hose very well and to make sure the filters have been changed or cleaned.
Yes, but not for a few more months! We have a home from the late 60's so no central air. Try to clean it really well, including the filter and get an air purifier in your bedroom and see if that helps.
Nope. Not allowed in our HOA.
It probably needs to be cleaned out and the filter changed.
I don't have window units but Texas has had very
High pollen counts so it may just be that affecting you. If you look up a pollen website with 12 being the highest. It has been that high.
I have a couple of small ones to supplement the central air. Sometimes I just want to cool one room, not the whole house. I haven't had any issues with allergies, but I think Jos right. I think you can but a filter for the front that will cut down on some of that stuff too. As a quick fix you can do what my McGyver bil did. He stretched 2 layers of pantyhose across his. It cut down on the dust his was blowing in but let the air flow.
I don't know about the allergies being affected (we all have them in the house, and nothing much seems to help), but we've been using window AC units (here in Texas, also) since our central air compressor went out October 2009, I think....
We bought 7 used ones for less than $300 total.... and I think our electricity bill is less, since we are "zonal" cooling. We usually cool the bedrooms only at night, and the LR/Kitchen area during the day. 2 years ago, when we first started this, our highest summer bill was about $350, compared to almost $500 the summer before! For the most part, we only cool the rooms that are being used at that time.
I think we are able to keep the house cooler in general, too. Our old central air compressor was running almost 12 hours straight, and struggling to keep it cool at 82 degrees inside....
Even last summer when we had a record breaking summer (almost 90 days of triple digit temps, I think?) the house was very comfortable. We weren't using all of the rooms, though, since we didn't have a houseful. (2 of the units were in the converted garage - two bedrooms out there weren't being used.)
Your window units may have reached the point where they need to be cleaned and dried out on the inside. Some window units have filters that can be replaced. The other possibility is that Spring has arrived and is bothering your allergies, just like me!
