all criteria
Even when careful precautions are taken, such as only airing rooms in the early hours of the morning, allergens such as pollen, mould spores or bacteria do not stop at the front door and windows and enter the interior.
Air conditioning units can largely remove airborne allergens from the indoor air so that people with hay fever, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis or allergic asthma suffer significantly less from the symptoms of their illness.
Five important rules must be followed when using an air conditioning unit to ensure that it is really
beneficial for allergy sufferers, asthmatics or atopics:
1. The room temperature should be no more than 5 °C lower than the outside temperature. Low temperatures in combination with dry air can dry out the mucous membrane unpleasantly.
Asthmatics in particular also run the risk of irritating the bronchial tubes, which can lead to coughing and breathlessness.
2. Ideally, the humidity indoors should be between 40 % and 60 %.
3. Air conditioning units filter pollutants, viruses, bacteria, allergens
and mould spores from the air, but only if they are properly maintained on a regular basis. It is therefore particularly important that the air conditioning unit is serviced regularly (usually once a year) to ensure that it is working properly and does not contain any germs, mould spores, etc.
4. To maximise the benefits of the air conditioner, the air must be cooled continuously (controlled at a lower power level).
5. The choice of a suitable model should be based on the size of the room and ideally orientated so that the air is evenly distributed throughout the room. The European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF) awards allergy-friendly air conditioning units (exclusively not permanently installed) that achiev a measurable improvement in the air quality for the specified room size in everyday operation.
The criteria are based on the principle that lower exposure to allergens is generally beneficial.