The Curious Case of Air-conditioner and Pests

Hello peeps, this is Loke again! Hope you’re doing well and that my first article was helpful for you to spot some pests at your home ;)  I’ve been receiving a lot of questions from you guys on google form and one stood out in particular, which is regarding one of the greatest invention in this modern world: AIR-CONDITIONER.

Join me to discover the otherwise unknown side of air-conditioner, let’s go!

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The weather is pretty hot lately for the past few months. An easy solution to cool ourselves in these testing times will be turning on the air condition, also known as the air-conditioner colloquially. Did you know that air-conditioner is actually a useful tool to combat a very elusive, almost invisible insect in the house from a pest management perspective?

Let me introduce you to the booklice. Measuring at only 1-2 cm, you really have to squint your eyes to spot them. They are actually pretty harmless and feed mostly on moulds that grow on plaster ceilings or walls if the environment is very humid. Although booklice are not known to carry any diseases or bite, they could make your skin crawl if they start to swarm together! If you just moved into a new home, you may notice booklice on plaster walls as it takes up to 12 months for the walls to completely dry up.

The good news is, getting rid of booklice is pretty easy. Booklice have a problem to regulate water loss through their exoskeleton. If you install and use air-conditioner at the booklice-infested area, the humidity of the area will reduce and cause the booklice to dry up, thus killing them.

While air-conditioner will help greatly in booklice issue, but it can also be a perfect entry point for rodents, especially rats, to enter your house. During the installation of air-conditioner, installer will need to hack the wall for piping which can create gaps. If these gaps are not properly sealed off, rats can easily enter your home as they can squeeze through tight spaces as small as 1 cm. So please make sure your contractors do a thorough job during the installation of air-conditioner and seal up any gaps to prevent any rat intrusion in your home.

In case you are “lucky” to encounter these pests, just stay calm and send me your questions for more pest prevention tips. If you need our help in getting rid of them, don’t forget to call us at 1300 881 911.