Air conditioning systems don’t have a long history in homes. Not as long as electricity and indoor plumbing, for example. Central air conditioning installations only became common in the 1970s. Since ACs started spreading, homeowners have wondered if these cooling devices might cause indoor health complications.
For the most part, they don’t. Air conditioning systems pose no major health concerns to a household unless a major refrigerant leak sends chemical refrigerant into the living spaces—a rare occurrence. But the way ACs operate can have a negative effect on some individuals, such as headaches.
We don’t really have a nice, dry heat here in Lousiana. Our summer season isn’t just hot. It’s sticky and it’s muggy. That level of humidity can cause some problems on top of discomfort. Remember, your air conditioner has a dehumidifying effect in your home. As refrigerant evaporates to cool the air in your house, it draws moisture out of the air. That moisture collects on the coil before dripping off into the condensate drain.
The thermostat is a small but essential appliance in your home. It’s easy to overlook, but think about the job it does: it controls the comfort levels in your house and the fans circulating the air. (If you have a humidistat as part of the thermostat, it also controls humidity levels.) Unfortunately, people often have misunderstandings about thermostats, and this can end up raising their comfort costs.
Summers in Louisiana bring both heat and humidity—and everyone knows this is an unpleasant combo! No matter how hot it is, a high level of humidity will make the heat feel worse. This is because the moisture in the air makes it harder for the human body to release heat through perspiration. With more heat trapped in the body, people feel even hotter than the air around them.
Your air conditioner probably isn’t running right now, and you may not have to turn it back on except on occasional days for the foreseeable future. After all, it’s late autumn now and the official start of winter is less than a month away—this is what we in the HVAC business called the “heating season,” when furnaces and other heaters do the heaviest of their workload for the year.
Making upgrades or full replacements to your air conditioning system are good projects to schedule during fall and even winter. After all, you don’t often need the AC working during these seasons, so you can take time to plan for the best outcome and won’t have to worry about being without a cooling system while the work is done.
It’s October, so why are we writing a post about air conditioning? Because there is no better time than the fall to make significant upgrades to your HVAC system, whether it’s the heater or the AC. This is when you’ll find our expert technicians have extra time to help you with installing and maintaining equipment. If you believe your current AC just had its last productive summer of cooling, you’ll find it straightforward arranging for a replacement 
The Halloween Season is when we can expect the crisper, cooler weather to arrive. But there’s no guarantee we’ll experience this break from the heat all month long. The hot weather can linger far into the fall, so we can’t stress enough that you must keep a watch on your AC system during this period so you won’t end up with an emergency.
