The Truth Behind 4 Aircon Myths

Myth 1 – Bigger aircons are better
than smaller ones.

You know the saying, “Bigger is better”? When it comes to aircons, that isn’t always true. Granted, bigger aircons tend to be more powerful, but depending on your home, more power may not be exactly what you’re looking for.

When choosing an aircon, it’s important to consider and the size of the room you plan to put an aircon in and the model’s horsepower (hp). For small rooms (up to 13sqm), aircons operating below 1.0 hp should be sufficient. For medium rooms (up to 23sqm), we’d recommend aircon models that use 1.0-1.5 hp. As for large rooms (up to 41sqm and above), you’d need a 2.0 hp or higher aircon, or maybe even multiple aircons, to cool them efficiently.

“But what if I want a more powerful aircon in a smaller room so it can cool the room more quickly?” you may ask, and that IS a good question!

Consider this analogy: imagine owning a high performance sportscar that can reach incredible top speeds, but only being limited to driving in a cramped, one lane road prone to traffic. Sure, you’d have a lot of potential power, but if you’re crawling at a snail’s pace for most of the time, you’re just burning fuel.

A similar situation happens when you use an aircon that’s larger and more powerful than a room needs. Yes, it could most likely cool your room more quickly thanks to its larger capacity, but once the room reaches the desired temperature, that larger aircon takes a lot more energy to maintain that temperature. That means increased energy costs in the long run which could have been avoided by using a smaller, less powerful, but more energy-efficient aircon.

Myth 2 – Your aircon can run efficiently no matter where you install it.

Not at all. There are good spots and bad spots to place your aircon, and the situation can also be changed depending on how your room is currently set up.

First of all, your aircon needs ample space with good airflow to make sure the cold air actually gets to you. It seems obvious to mention but placing your aircon so that it’s facing the back of a couch or other piece of furniture would limit the amount of cold air that could otherwise easily circulate around the room.

Next, if you turn on your aircon in a room where there’s an open window or during a warm, sunny day even if the window is closed, it will naturally take longer to cool the room. If you want a better chance of cooling your room in a decent amount of time, you’ll have to pull down the blinds, use your aircon after sunset, or install your aircon in a room where it won’t have to compete with other sources of heat. However, if using an aircon to offset hot areas in your home was your intent all along, then you’ll just have to be patient for the aircon to cool your room or spend extra on both a stronger aircon and its accompanying energy costs.

Lastly, there’s a reason why aircons are placed near the ceiling, and this has to do with concept of convection currents. In short, it’s the behavior and cycle of hot air rising and cool air sinking. This same principle also dictates the weather and the occurrence of weather events such as storms.

When we apply this knowledge to aircons, we find that it’s more efficient to install aircons as high as possible so that the cold air they produce blankets the entire area, as is the case with split type aircons and centralized HVAC systems. If you’ve ever wondered why the window type aircon just above floor level in your room seems to take a long time to cool the entire room, it’s because it takes extra time to build up that cool air!

Myth 3 – Aircons can cause you to catch colds.

Strictly speaking, it isn’t cold air that causes diseases; it’s the viruses, bacteria, and molds already present in the room circulated in the air by aircons that may cause diseases. Fortunately, many modern aircons come equipped with air filtering technology meant to capture these airborne contaminants before they do you harm. If that isn’t enough, air purifiers come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can perform the more dedicated job of cleaning your air.

Myth 4 – Aircon cleaning and maintenance are only important when your aircon isn’t cooling properly.

It might seem like the only time to call the technician is when the aircon is making funny sounds, it takes unreasonably longer to cool, or it’s just completely busted. However, you might consider it important to regularly schedule your technician to check up on your aircon given all the benefits!

An aircon that is regularly maintained and cleaned can lower its electricity usage by 20-30%, meaning more efficient, generally quicker cooling, allowing you get the most out of what you spend on electricity. Furthermore, part of the cleaning process includes cleaning out the filters, which ensures that your aircon is effectively removing harmful microscopic contaminants from the air. You’ll also be able to avoid and most likely prevent a full breakdown, which will definitely be more of a hassle and money sink than just having the maintenance done. On a final note, don’t forget that there’s the added convenience of letting the experts take care of your aircon rather than you spending time trying to figure it out and do the maintenance yourself.

There you have it: 4 common myths about aircons you can filter out of your memory. And if you ever hear them again from someone you know, you can enlighten them too and give them the truth of the matter!