Why and How you need to manage your AirCon!

The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems that keep your home from being a scorching desert in the summer and a desolate tundra in the winter can make you a happier, healthier person, or not, depending on how you operate them.

Effective ventilation enhances our physical and mental health, which is no surprise, because logically shouldn’t “breathing better” do just that?

The single best thing that you can probably do to breathe mind, body, and mood elevating air is to open your windows and let the outside air in (but only if the air outside is healthy to breathe and a comfortable temperature for living).  Opening the windows flushes out all the musty smells that can be disheartening to smell and moving air seems to be healthier, higher-quality air, whether it is or it isn’t.  Open windows do a better job making the air inside your house good for breathing than plants do, even if you have lots of potted plants inside your house.

Letting in fresh air can lower the carbon dioxide levels you’re experiencing which helps your brain and your body perform more effectively, in short, it can make you smarter and healthier.

We also sleep better when the windows are open, as long as temperatures and outside noise levels make doing so possible.

An added plus: moving air that is actually warmer can seem cooler than nonmoving air that is at a lower temperature; air that moves intermittently, as wind naturally does, brings the most psychological benefits.

When you are ventilating with HVAC systems: research consistently shows ventilation rates from 30 to 40 cfm/person are best for wellbeing and cognitive performance.  For the same reasons, if you can, note the carbon dioxide levels in the spaces that you use and keep them below 1,000 parts per million; even better results ensue if you can bring them down to around 600 parts per million.

If you’re heating, try to install radiant, in-floor heat when you can.  It’s not only an environmentally friendly choice, but it will also make it much more likely that your feet are comfortable warm and when our feet are warm enough, it’s much more likely that we’ll be satisfied with the temperature in a space overall, whatever it is.

Researchers have found that it’s best for humans to be in spaces that are around 72 degrees Fahrenheit (except when sleeping when around 65 degrees Fahrenheit is better) with 40% to 70% relative humidity. In these conditions our mental performance and wellbeing will be good, but heating or cooling to this temperature (depending on the season) may not be viable in any particular space—for example, because of energy costs or sustainability concerns.  Using predominantly cool or warm colour schemes in an area can change perceptions of temperatures there by up to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, with cooler colours leading a space to feel slightly cooler and warmer colours to it being perceived as a little bit warmer.  When the lighting in a space is a warmer colour we also tend to feel a little warmer than we do under otherwise identical conditions except that the colour of light is cooler.

When you spend some time thinking about HVAC systems, it’s likely that you’ll think and feel better.