Air Conditioners

The principle is the same as for a refrigerator; the physical rule that says that liquid that evaporates absorbs heat. There is a liquid refrigerant that’s led into an evaporation system. Low pressure makes the refrigerant liquid evaporate into a gas that cools air-conditioning flanges. The cold from the flanges is then blown out into the room by a fan. Heat is also generated from this process and has to be dissolved.

It depends on the size of the area being cooled and how cold you want it. For an area of 45 square metres, the cost is usually around 7 pence an hour, if you cool it down from approximately 27 degrees to around 21 degrees. For an area of 60 square metres, the cost is around one 8 pence an hour, and for 80 square metres, it is just under 17 pence an hour. However, this can vary as the price of electricity varies; this is just an indication of the cost. Cooling a bedroom on a hot summer night costs about 70 pence.

It is rarely allowed to install a fixed air conditioner in a rental apartment. It may be easier in a condominium, but you should always check with the building association, as the installation can be quite disruptive. The outdoor unit can be fairly noisy, which may be disturbing for the neighbours. You can do as you please with a portable air conditioner, but you should keep in mind that there must be a way to let out the hot air, for example through a window or a balcony.

The air conditioner itself does not make you sick. Bad maintenance of the air conditioner, however, can indeed be harmful to your health. It is very important to change filters every now and then. If you don’t do this, the filters will have the opposite effect; instead of filtering out bacteria, vira, pollen, and dust, a worn-out filter will start to spread the particles in the room.