Why can't you turn on the air conditioner with the window open?

Modern branded air conditioners can hardly be called a very whimsical or even capricious technology. They are quite reliable, durable and resistant to high loads. But even the best equipment can be “driven” in just a year, violating the basic rules of its operation.

Not using climate control equipment when indoor windows are open is one of these rules. It is prescribed in almost every user manual for air conditioners. Why should it be followed, and what will happen if it is violated? Considering that every room in which people are located needs ventilation, it is useful for everyone to understand this issue.

Dispelling myths

Ventilation is very beneficial for human health, but only if the air conditioner is turned off. When the split system is turned on and operating, the window and doors must be tightly closed. Then you will be able to avoid drafts, and as a result, colds, sore throats and runny nose. After all, when the air conditioner and the window are open at the same time, cold air flows across the floor, and this can contribute to hypothermia of the lower extremities.
An open window is also very dangerous for an air conditioner. If you want it to last longer, you should not subject the installation to excessive and unnecessary stress. When the window is open, the air temperature in the room rises, which makes the air conditioner work more efficiently. To lower the temperature to the set value, the compressor works faster and without stopping; high performance increases wear on the components of the entire system. When the air conditioner operates at high power, the filters become clogged, which will require urgent cleaning or a complete replacement very, very soon. After all, with huge air flows, dust and sand enter the room from the street.
If the air conditioner was operated daily with the window open and a breakdown occurred, the warranty is not valid. That is why you will need to spend money on repairs. After all, the manufacturers of many modern split systems clearly indicate in the instructions that the installation should not operate with open windows, and drafts should not be allowed.

If I open the windows, I'll get sick!

There is such a myth - supposedly cold air from the cabin mixes with hot air from the environment and all at once a disease.

Is this not clear to me at all? For example, outside + 30 degrees, inside + 22, +23 degrees, even if you open the glass, mixing will occur - cold air will come out and warm air will come in, nothing bad will happen. What will make you sick? YES and the difference is only + 7 degrees, this is not critical.

Why can't you open the windows when the air conditioner is on?

On the Internet you can read outright nonsense that when the windows are open, the volume of air in the room increases. It is unclear who came up with such a thesis, but it wanders from article to article.

If you open a window, the volume of air in the room or office will remain the same. It just mixes more actively with the outside. Because of this, there will be a constant outflow of cold air and an influx of warm air. But there is one caveat.

As you know, cold air is heavier than warm air, so it tends to sink down into the room. That is, at a height of up to half a meter from the floor there will be a cold layer, and above that there will be a warm layer, which leads to negative consequences. Now let's talk about them in more detail.

Consequences for human health

Air conditioning running with the windows open has a negative impact on human health. According to the laws of physics, warm air weighs less than cold air. Using technology under such conditions, the following results: cold air falls down, and warm air rushes up. At the same time, the human body is warm, and the feet are cold.

As a result of such exploitation, a person catches a cold and symptoms of colds appear.

Multi-split system: purpose, types, installation

How to properly ventilate an air-conditioned room

Any room where people are located must be ventilated periodically, even if an air conditioner is installed there. And so that ventilation does not have negative consequences for humans and climate control equipment, it must be done correctly.

Expert advice:

The room should be ventilated before starting the air conditioner.
If the device operates throughout the day, turn it off periodically, after which you can open the windows for ventilation.

These simple tips for the proper operation of climate control systems will help create a pleasant coolness in your home and office, eliminating rapid wear of air conditioner parts and colds among people staying indoors.

What should I do?

At the very beginning, I’ll tell you what to do. If the car is very hot, you can first open all the windows (or at least the front ones) and drive a few hundred meters there, the incoming air flow will cool the interior. Excessively hot air will leave the car - then you can close the windows and turn on the air conditioning, it will simply reach its capacity faster and cool the interior faster.

This is the best way to cool the interior in hot weather. It doesn't matter what you have installed, air conditioning or climate control

However, not many people do this.

Work hard - look for a master

When there is a constant flow of warm air in a room, the overall temperature rises. The air conditioner tries to bring it to the desired level and works with greater efficiency. This affects it - all parts wear out faster.

The air conditioning compressor experiences the greatest load. In normal mode, it turns on and off periodically, and most of the time it is idle. If a lot of air enters the room, the load on the compressor will increase.

If ventilation is abused, the life of the compressor can be reduced significantly. And it is the heart of the air conditioner and its most expensive part.

Shall we breathe in the dust?

The air outside the house is not clean. There is a lot of dust and dirt in it. And most of it will settle on the air conditioner filters. Of course, this is not critical; you can clean the air conditioner yourself. But a considerable part of the dust will pass through the filters, fly around the room, and you will breathe it.

You can say that when the windows are closed, the air conditioner drives dust around the room in the same way. But keep in mind one fact - with each pass through the filter the air becomes cleaner. And with constant access to warm air, it can pass through the filter only once, and even then not in full.

This is what a dirty air conditioner filter looks like.

How an air conditioner works - why it can break down when the windows are open

I hope it’s no longer a secret that Most air conditioners do not take air from the street

. During the installation process, a hole in the wall is made not to “capture” air from the street, but to connect two units with copper pipes. Through these tubes, the two blocks exchange not street air, but temperature (or rather, freon at a certain temperature).

How do we get cold air:

1. During the cooling process, the indoor unit “sucks” air from above and passes it through cold tubes (with freon), then blows the cooled air into the room.

2. After the freon has released cold air into the room, it moves outside, where it gives off heat to the surrounding air (through the radiator of the external unit).

Within the framework of today’s article, such a simplified version of how “split” works will be suitable for us to understand. In fact, this process looks a little more complicated. If you are interested, you can read in more detail the operating principle of the air conditioner refrigeration circuit.

Now we understand the principle of cooling, but how does it maintain the desired temperature in the room? It's simple! A temperature sensor is installed in the indoor unit. As soon as the electronics of the “conder” understand that the temperature has been reached, the compressor turns off (the freon stops moving through the tubes). When the temperature in the room rises, the compressor turns on again. Maintaining the desired temperature, the motor turns on and off.

Now let's return to the topic of our article. If the windows are open, then the cold air from the room constantly goes outside! And since the electronics “understands” that the required temperature has not been reached, the Compressor does not turn off

AT ALL!
Because of this, energy consumption increases
.
Also, the disadvantages of such operation include increased clogging of
“split” filters.

When can you open the windows with the air conditioner on?

You cannot do without access to fresh air, especially if there are several people in the room (for example, in an office). What can you advise in this case?

Open the window for summer ventilation, do not swing it open;
Do not be in a straight line between the window and the air conditioner (the air follows the shortest path - in a straight line);
If you are an office worker, ask your boss to arrange fresh ventilation;
It is better to open several windows slightly than to keep one wide open (the flow of cold air will be evenly distributed throughout the room);
If the room is stuffy, ventilate it as needed by opening the window for 2-3 minutes.

Operating principle of the air conditioner

In domestic conditions, three types of air conditioners operating on different principles can be used.

Supply type air conditioners operate using air from outside the room.

The recirculation type uses air masses only inside the building for its operation.

Recuperative types of air conditioners can operate on both the first and second principles.

But all three types of devices work on the principle of cooling the air passing through the system with a cooler, which is freon gas. This is where the answer to the question of whether to open a window or not when the air conditioning system is running comes from.

Several reasons why you should not turn on the air conditioner with the window open.

Don't confuse ventilation with ventilation!

Ventilation involves the flow of fresh air from the street. But with traditional air conditioners, air does not come from the street!

The air is taken directly from the room. At the same time, the room temperature remains the same. This “FAN” VENTILATION mode is found in almost all modern air conditioners.

The most “advanced” models have special devices capable of taking air from the street, i.e., performing VENTILATION. The outside air in them undergoes thorough filtration, after which it enters the room. Such devices are very expensive and extremely rare.

How to turn on ventilation mode

Ventilation in air conditioners is activated using the remote control. The inclusion algorithm is quite simple:

Since the ventilation mode in traditional air conditioners does not supply fresh air from the street, the use of this function does not exclude the banal ventilation of the room. Now you understand what ventilation means in air conditioners. I wish everyone good luck! Leave comments if the article was helpful!

A conventional air conditioner cools the air in a room. But at the same time, it does not provide an influx of fresh air; only powerful and functional duct air conditioners and air handling units can cope with this. As a result, an unfavorable stuffy microclimate is formed in a room without a sufficient amount of oxygen. In this case, the question arises: what will happen if you turn on the split system and at the same time open the window? However, experts strongly do not recommend doing this.

You don't know why you can't open a window when the air conditioner is running. Today we will tell you more about this. If it is very stuffy and hot outside in the summer months, then keeping the doors ajar while the device is running is pointless and even in some cases dangerous, because:

equipment does not function efficiently under such conditions, and the room will still be very hot;
in such a situation, the device works constantly, as a result of which all internal components wear out and break faster;
Such an enhanced operating mode can also lead to maximum electricity consumption and significant financial costs.

If you want your home to feel fresh and cool, then you should know why you should not open the window when the air conditioner is running. In a room, when the window and door openings are closed, the air becomes dry and cold, but if they are opened, the operation of the device will be reduced to zero.

Experts say that when the windows are open, the volume of air in an apartment or house increases significantly and is regularly updated. As a result, if an air conditioner is installed in this room, it will be forced to work hard and spend a large amount of electricity to reduce its temperature. In this case, the newly cooled air mass will exit the window opening onto the street. Thus, a vicious cyclical circle is obtained.

As a result, the equipment will constantly work, which will lead to frequent breakdowns and wear. Such air exchange is not optimal, since it negatively affects the functioning of the equipment. In this case, the amount of electricity used to operate the device will lead to large financial costs.

The most common reason why windows should not be opened when the air conditioner is on is the possibility that the filters installed inside the device can quickly become clogged. When the window opening is open, a large amount of dust, pollen and small particles of debris enter the room. In this case, a dirty filter leads to ineffective operation of the device, indoor air pollution and possible breakdown of the device.

A sharp increase in air volumes.

When the windows are open, the amount of air in the room increases sharply and in significant volumes. An air conditioner operating on the recirculation principle for cooling has temperature sensors, and the arrival of more heated air forces it to work harder to cool the increased volume of air masses. To do this, more energy and resource of the device are spent, and cooled air will go out through open windows, and lighter heated air will enter the room. This will have a very negative impact on the operation of the air conditioner, since the device will constantly increase its operating power. And of course, the electricity consumption for increased operation of the air conditioning system will increase significantly.

Increased fuel consumption

When you turn on the air conditioning (or climate control), some write that fuel consumption increases. This is logical, they open the windows to ventilate the interior and save money. This is not always worth doing! Why?

Consumption increases by an average of 1-3% under different driving conditions. The slower you move, the less it grows
On the highway, you may not notice the economy at all, when you are moving at speeds above 60 - 70 km/h and your windows are open, a parachute effect is created, which also slows down the car. It turns out that again the same 2 - 3% are spent on this effect, of course this is not comparable to the consumption of an air conditioner, but fuel consumption is increasing.

Of course, if you are stuck in traffic jams, the consumption here will be higher, because you have to pay for comfort. But on the highway there may not be any savings at all

Now there is a useful video version, watch it

Finally, is it possible to open the windows when the air conditioning is on? Of course you can, why not? Nothing will break and you won't get sick. But I personally don’t see the point in such an act at all. Because the cold air will evaporate very quickly, and you will waste the energy that was needed for cooling.

Personally, I always travel with climate control, the air is directed into the windshield and my feet, the interior windows are closed, and usually the temperature is set at +22 degrees Celsius. Very effectively saves from almost any heat.

That's all I have, I think it helped, sincerely your AUTOBLOGGER

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How to deal with stuffiness?

To make the room pleasant, it must be regularly ventilated. Here's what experts recommend for rooms with air conditioning:

Ventilate according to a specific schedule. Open the window for ventilation for 5 minutes every 1–2 hours. Turn off the air conditioning system while ventilating. Restarting is only permitted with the window tightly closed.

By following these recommendations, it is easy to maintain comfortable conditions in the room. In this case, the air conditioning system will not experience excessive loads, and its users will not risk catching a cold or receiving a huge electricity bill.

Catch a cold in the summer? Easily!

Research shows that the most common illness among office workers is the common cold. And most often they get sick in the summer! The reason for this is drafts, which provoke a sharp temperature change.

If you have an open window and someone opens the door to a room or office, even for a few seconds, most of the air will be “blown” out of the room. The temperature rises sharply by several degrees. The air conditioner immediately turns on the compressor and begins to bring it to normal.

Such drafts and temperature fluctuations will not harm if they occur a couple of times a day. They are even useful, as they give the body a shake-up and are somewhat similar to hardening. But if this happens all the time, you’re in trouble, call a doctor.

The main reason why you want to open a window when the air conditioner is running is the flow of fresh air into the room. Simple air conditioners do not provide this, but this is possible with air conditioning systems with supply and exhaust ventilation. The supply system supplies fresh air to the room, and the exhaust system removes polluted air from it. But these solutions have an appropriate price.

What is a comfortable temperature for a person?

For the human body, comfortable temperature ranges range from 18 to 25 degrees above zero. If the air is cooler, we begin to feel chilly and freeze; if it is higher, the person quickly overheats, performance decreases, and if the air is too high and the room is poorly ventilated, even heat stroke is possible.

In hot weather, to avoid uncomfortable conditions, using an air conditioner is an excellent solution to the problem.

Prepare your wallet - utility workers make money

When a regular, non-inverter air conditioner operates in a room with the windows closed, most of the time it simply circulates air. The compressor turns on when the temperature rises above the set temperature. In “idle” mode, energy consumption is minimal.

When you open a window, the room temperature will constantly rise. Therefore, the compressor will turn on more often. Electricity consumption will increase accordingly. The actual power consumption of an air conditioner can increase by 2 or more times. Therefore, do not be surprised that you will have to pay extra for fresh air.