If you’ve been thinking about air conditioning your nursery, you’re not alone… lots of new mums and dads living in South East Queensland want to install nursery air conditioning.
You’ve got air con in other rooms, such as your lounge room and bedroom, so why should bub suffer in a hot nursery?
The good news for all parents is that air conditioning a nursery with a small room air conditioner is usually very simple and inexpensive.
Of course you could always put in a ceiling fan; the trouble is that when it gets really hot, all fans do is push the hot air around the room – it won’t actually cool a nursery. And what about when winter gets here? A ceiling fan won’t warm a nursery either, not like a top brand reverse cycle air conditioner.
A qualified Home Air Conditioning specialist, such as Acer Services, can recommend and install a highly affordable air conditioner for your nursery.
In this blog, we’ll take a look at some of the common questions we get asked from mums and dads about nursery air conditioning.
According to a recent article on Baby safety on the Live Strong website, “keeping your baby cool during the summer months is important to reduce the risk of your child overheating and to decrease the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).”
The article also points out that infants are more susceptible to heat stress, so the use of air conditioners protects against heat-related illness, as well as conditions such as heat rash, dehydration, heat stroke, and heat exhaustion.
They recommend that the temperature of a room “should be comfortable for an adult in light clothing” and reference a Parents article that suggests that cool temperatures – between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius – can also help improve your baby’s sleep. (NB. This is an article for a colder climate, so Acer Services suggest adding a few degrees…between 21 and 23 degrees would be more realistic.)
Naturally, air con can make your baby too cold and that can lead to issues as well, worst case scenario being hypothermia.
When the nursery air conditioner is on and baby is sleeping, you should check their body’s temperature every hour or so – not by feeling their hands or feet (as this can be deceptive), but by touching their neck or chest.
Acer Services have quite a few tips to make the most of nursery air conditioners.
The golden rule is to make sure that the air con isn’t blowing directly onto their cots or bassinets.
Direct blasts of chilly air can seem like a good way to make baby cool when it is particularly hot and humid, however over time infants can definitely become too cool, especially if their arms and legs aren’t covered by a sheet or light blanket.
On the other hand, be aware that a mattress raised around the edges or toys and blankets surrounding your baby may restrict air flow and make him/her hot and uncomfortable.
Make sure baby isn’t over-dressed for the hot weather – one more layer than you are wearing is the rule of thumb – and do not wrap them too snugly.
To make the most of the air con, open all windows and doors for a few minutes first to let the ambient hot air out, before closing them and turning on the air conditioning.
Also be aware that outside temperatures and the humidity can change fairly quickly, so make sure the room hasn’t become too chilly. (Tip: Keep a thermometer in the nursery and keep an eye on the temp.)
If your nursery air con unit has a timer, use it.
Another piece of good advice is not to take baby straight from the air conditioned nursery to outside the home, or another room that might be hot and humid.
Babies take longer to adjust to temperature changes than adults, so give them time to acclimatise before exposing them to situations where it might suddenly be 10 degrees or so hotter.
If you do have to take them to another room without air-conditioning, it’s a good idea to lay baby on a thin mattress or cotton sheet on the floor as it will be much cooler for him/her down there. This is because hot air rises.
Furthermore, and this might seem strange coming from an air conditioning company, ask yourself if the air conditioner really needs to be on as much as it is in the nursery.
Unless it’s unbearably hot, you can keep baby fairly cool with a damp washcloth or a light spray of cool water from an atomiser. Or this might be where an electric fan will suffice.
Also you can keep the nursery cooler by drawing the curtains or keeping the blinds down to keep the direct sunlight at bay.
Surprisingly little.
In fact, according to Origin Energy, you can run a small room air conditioner, say a 2.5kW reverse cycle A/C unit, for just 22 cents an hour.
And given that unless it’s stifling hot or bitterly cold, you won’t be running the air conditioner in the nursery all night and all day, so your energy bill won’t send chills up your spine.
In short, nursery air conditioning gives you one less thing to worry about – and you definitely won’t have to worry about it running up a huge bill.
For more information and advice about nursery air conditioning – or to arrange a free quote – speak to the friendly, helpful air con experts at Acer Services, simply click here to contact us.
