Here in North Carolina, summer’s the season when mosquito repellent is a good idea outdoors. Measures to avoid bites include limiting time outside—particularly in the a.m. and late afternoon/early evening hours—wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts, as well as applying mosquito repellent to exposed bare skin. Inside your house, you have an additional ally that you might not even realize: your air conditioner.
Here are four ways your HVAC system helps discourage mosquito activity and prevent bites.
Keeping Your Cool
The higher the temperature, the more energetic mosquitoes become and the more likely they’ll bite. For most species, temps around 80 degrees create the most active environment. In houses with functioning air conditioning, room temperatures are usually below the mosquito-preferred range, therefore activity is inhibited.
Reducing Moisture
Mosquitoes are naturally attracted to humid zones because it indicates standing water to lay eggs. Dry air, on the other hand, creates less desirable surroundings. The evaporator coil of a central air conditioner extracts water vapor from the air to make the cooling process more efficient. In most air conditioned homes, indoor humidity remains around 60% or less, a dry environment that is less attractive to mosquitoes.
Moving Air
Mosquitoes identify warm-blooded creatures, like you and your pets, by sensing carbon dioxide released in normal respiration. The presence of fresh CO2 in the air helps mosquitoes locate bite-worthy targets. Cool, dry air circulated throughout a house by the HVAC system disrupts the trail of carbon dioxide and makes it harder for mosquitoes to identify promising targets.
Blocking Access
Mosquitoes need a way to get into your house. In summer, open doors and windows are common in homes without A/C and tiny flying insects are more likely to find a way to enter. However, air conditioned houses are usually kept tightly shut to keep the coolness inside—which also helps keep mosquitoes outside.
A properly maintained HVAC system is a good supplement to recommended mosquito repellent practices. For all your home or business HVAC needs contact Jackson & Sons.
Jackson & Sons, Inc.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Eastern North Carolina (including Wayne, Johnston, Greene, Lenoir, Pitt and Duplin Counties) about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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