The mother-in-law didn’t turn on the air conditioner, causing a pregnant woman to get heatstroke and be sent to the hospital. At what temperature should the air conditioner be turned to save electricity and be healthy?

The summer solstice is approaching, and the temperature is gradually rising. High temperature warning signals have been issued in many places in China.

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In the past two days, there was such a social news: On June 10, the temperature in Guangdong reached 38 degrees. A mother-in-law refused to turn on the air conditioner, causing her pregnant daughter-in-law to suffer from heat stroke and was sent to the ICU for emergency treatment, which almost caused a death. Netizens said that the cost of ICU treatment is not more expensive than the electricity bill?

I believe that the mother-in-law did not have the subjective intention of letting her daughter-in-law suffer from heatstroke. It was more of a habit accumulated from her life philosophy. She believed that running the air conditioner all day was a waste of electricity. In order to save money, she would rather let people suffer a little. It doesn't matter if the weather is hot, it will pass after a while.

There are many similar cases in the past:

An old lady in her 70s from Anhui Province was used to being frugal. In order to save electricity, she only turned on a small fan, which led to symptoms of fatigue and fever. The emergency doctor said that fortunately she sought medical treatment in time, otherwise her life might be in danger.

In order to save money by not turning on the air conditioner, a 58-year-old man living alone in Wuhan kept himself covered in heatstroke during the hottest days of summer, which led to acute renal failure due to heat stroke.

If turning on the air conditioner is a healthy way to cool down, then let’s answer the first question that the elderly are most concerned about: Which is better, the air conditioner or the electric fan?

The World Health Organization recommends not using electric fans when the temperature is above 35°C, because the sweat on the skin will be taken away, which will aggravate heat stroke, especially for the elderly. Expert Zhu Yehua said that this is because in a very hot and dry environment, electric fans will turn into "hair dryers". The hot air that is higher than the human body temperature will not only fail to lower the body temperature and relieve the pressure on the heart, but will increase the risk of heat-related diseases or even death from heat stroke.

Therefore, whether to use fans or air conditioners in hot weather should take into account the overall climate conditions, not just the temperature but also the humidity.

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In most parts of China, especially in the south, the summer temperature basically exceeds 35%, so it seems unrealistic not to use air conditioning. Let's answer the second question that the elderly are most concerned about: At what temperature should the air conditioner be set to save the most electricity?

Expert Ding Zong gave two scientific conclusions:

1. The temperature between 26℃ and 30℃ is acceptable.

There is a common saying on the Internet that the best temperature for air conditioning is 26℃. But if you look into it in detail, it is a very complicated matter to know how much the air conditioner should be set, because the feeling of "coolness" is subjective, and it is necessary to consider the temperature, humidity, wall heat conduction, sunlight, dynamic changes in the room, etc. Therefore, just adjust the temperature to a comfortable level for yourself.

2. Setting the temperature higher will indeed save more electricity.

We all know that air conditioners are power hogs. They consume a lot of electricity, and the lower the temperature is set, the more electricity they consume. But how much does power consumption change? According to a 2015 study on a room air conditioner in Maoming, Guangdong, it was found that if the air conditioner setting temperature is reduced from 26℃ to 25℃, power consumption will increase by 47.89%. If the air conditioner setting temperature is reduced from 27℃ to 25℃, power consumption will increase by 134.35%, which means that the power consumption is doubled and then increased.

If the indoor area is large, we can use air conditioning and fans together. We can adjust the temperature of the air conditioner appropriately and use it with an electric fan at the same time to speed up the circulation of cold air in the room, distribute the cold air more evenly, create a more comfortable cooling effect, and save electricity.

In addition, the air filter of the air conditioner needs to be cleaned frequently. Especially for cabinet air conditioners, its filter is close to the ground, and the chance of inhaling dust is much greater than that of wall-mounted air conditioners. In the season of using air conditioners, the air conditioner filter should be cleaned every few weeks. After washing, it should be dried. Wet filters may cause the fins and coils inside the machine to become damp and scale, which will not only reduce the performance of the machine, but also increase power consumption. After the outdoor unit has been used for about 3 years, it should be thoroughly cleaned by professional air conditioner maintenance personnel. Experiments have shown that after the filter is cleaned, the wind speed increases by 1.5 times; if it is cleaned every 2 weeks, it can save about 5% of electricity; and if it is not cleaned for a year, 25% of electricity will be wasted.