A new air conditioner can keep your home cool and comfortable, while helping to protect delicate houseplants as well as flooring surfaces in the home. When a home is overly warm and humid, timber floors can absorb this moisture from the air and then become warped and damaged, and carpet padding may also absorb excess moisture and humidity, allowing mould and mildew to form. Before you start shopping for a new air conditioner, note a few details about the features you might consider, and which can make for a cooler and more comfortable home interior overall.
Fan
The fan of the air conditioner is vitally important, as this is what creates airflow to push cool air into the home and to also remove warm air and humidity from a space. Plastic blades may not be the most durable and may not be strong enough to create the airflow needed for a large room especially. Metal blades will create more airflow, and may also be stronger against damage from debris that might otherwise bend, nick, and chip a plastic blade. Blades with dimples, like a golf ball's surface, can also create more airflow and more cooling.
Evaporative
An evaporative air conditioner works by removing humidity from air that is cooled and circulated. This can be a good choice for homes where you may have cigarette smoke, cooking odours, and other such irritants in the air. As your home's air circulates around the air conditioning unit to cool, removing humidity that holds odours and allergens can make that air cleaner and cooler, and also remove those bad odours. Evaporation is also good for very humid areas, such as tropical locations or those near a beach, where that humidity may still get trapped in the home, even with the windows closed and the air conditioner running!
Energy efficiency
Homeowners are often confused about the term energy efficient, thinking that this means an air conditioner will use less energy to operate. This isn't always the case; this term simply means that more energy will be used for actual cooling and circulating of air, and less energy is needed to run other parts of the equipment. An energy efficient unit may use the same energy as your old unit, but deliver more cooling capacity with that same energy, so that your utility bills don't necessarily go down, but your home is more comfortable. An energy efficient model is also very important for larger homes, where you'll need even more power to create cooling and airflow for that larger space.
