Does My Home Really Need Air Conditioning?

Older homes are often not built for central air or heating, leading a lot of people to believe that it is not really necessary. Here are a few things that air conditioning does for your home, not just the people living in it.

Temperature Control

The first and most obvious benefit of air conditioning is temperature regulation. A hot home makes it harder to sleep at night. If you have to run the stove, oven or clothes dryer without air conditioning, you have to time your use of the machines very specifically to avoid making the home that much warmer. In an area like Sacramento with summer highs consistently in the low 90s, keeping indoor temperature down by 10 or 15 degrees can really make a difference in a household’s ability to function normally. Vulnerable populations, including the very young, older people and those with chronic health conditions, rely on a consistent temperature for their health and safety.

Humidity Stability

While the air conditioner is best known for its ability to regulate temperature, humidity control is quite possibly even more important. Regions that are on the extreme of dryness or humidity can cause damage to a home’s systems and structure over time. Since many pieces of equipment in the home produce humidity as well as heat, removing humidity using the air conditioner is crucial to home comfort. It is also a vital service in the home to prevent the spread of mold.

Indoor Air Quality

The era when people used to sit on a hot summer porch with the door open all evening have passed by for most of us. To keep a home properly cool, it is important not to sabotage heating or cooling efforts by leaving windows or doors open all the time. However, it is also useful for improving the home’s indoor air quality. A home with inadequate ventilation accumulates a lot of dust, outdoor allergens, as well as emissions from environmental contaminants and man-made pollutants. Ventilation is also a practical and necessary function of the air conditioner. Without it, your home will feel warmer, but it will also feel stuffy.

Sensible Use

Technological innovations that might have been considered unnecessary by people living decades ago are not uniformly useless. Most of them have practical applications that make life easier or more comfortable, or simply allow you to live reasonably in the modern world. Having an air conditioner does not mean you have to blast it constantly to the point of freezing. By making reasonable settings on your thermostat for the summer, you can remain cool without having to spend a ton of money accomplishing it.
When you have an air conditioner, you do not need to feel bad about using it. If you understand what it does, you will know how important air conditioning is to your family’s happiness. For more information about air conditioning for your home, contact the Sacramento HVAC experts at Ace Heating and Air Conditioning.