Summer comes every year with intense sunshine and high temperatures. You can deal with the heat with a fan, or better, you can use an air-conditioner. People nowadays are using more and more air-conditioning systems in their homes and their offices. However, not many people take notice of how the temperature at which they set their air-conditioner will affect their own health.

On hot summer days, the outdoor temperature often reaches more than 30oC and people often set the temperature in the room lower than 20oC. It may be enjoyable if you just stay in your room. However, when you get outside, you will feel extremely hot because of the big difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures. This sudden change is very harmful to your health as your body cannot adapt to a significantly different environment in such a short time and you can easily catch a cold.

Normally, the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures should be around 8oC and you should not stay in the air-conditioned room for more than two hours. Keeping the temperature in your room at a fixed level is also advisable as it doesn't only save the electricity also is good for your health.

Although it is a pleasure to be in an air-conditioned room during hot summer days, your body will have dehydrate from the effect of your air-conditioner. Good advice is to drink a lot of water and even keep a bucket of water in your room as well. This will help reduce the dryness in the air and make you feel more comfortable.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Air Conditioning
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