Two Changes to Make to Your Home’s Heating and Cooling System if You Become a Wheelchair User
If you recently became a wheelchair user, you may need to have an HVAC contractor make some changes to your home heating and cooling equipment. Continue reading to find out what you may need to ask them to do.
You may have to make changes to the control system you use to operate your HVAC equipment
A lot of heating and cooling systems come with control panels which can be attached to walls. If your current system has one of these, you may need to have an HVAC contractor to change its location so that you can continue to operate it now that you use a wheelchair. For example, if the panel is currently in a room upstairs that you have stopped using due to your new disability, then you'll need the HVAC contractor to relocate the panel to a room on the ground floor and have them put it on a section of the wall which you can comfortably reach when you're sitting in your wheelchair.
Additionally, if you don't have a handheld remote for your HVAC system, or if the one you have is broken, you should ask the HVAC specialist for a new remote or alternatively, see if they can fix the one you already own. The reason for this is as follows: prior to becoming a wheelchair user, you may not have really needed a remote, as you could quickly walk or run up to the control panel and adjust the temperature. However, moving around in a wheelchair can be tiring, as well as quite tricky if you have to pass through any narrow hallways in your home. As such, a handheld remote that you can keep in your pocket could be useful for occasions when you're far away from the control panel in your home and want to change the temperature.
If you have a single split system, consider switching to a multi-split system
If you already have a ducted system, then you may not need to make any changes to it. However, if you have a single split system, then it might be wise to ask the HVAC specialist to help you switch to a multi-split system.
The reason for this is as follows: when you were fully mobile, you may not have been as reliant on your HVAC system as you are now and so may have been quite happy to make do with having one interior unit that was located in, for example, your living room, as if you were in another room and you were too hot or cold, you could easily pop over to your wardrobe and either remove a garment, put on a few extra layers or grab a blanket. Even simple actions like this require a lot more effort when you're in a wheelchair.
Additionally, you may find that your body temperature fluctuates a lot more frequently when you use your wheelchair; for example, you might find that you get very warm each time you manually move your wheelchair and that you get cold very quickly when you're in a fixed position for a while (because you're not able to wiggle your legs around to boost your circulation). As such, you may now need to manage the temperature in your entire home, rather than in just one room. Having a unit in each room of the property will allow you to do this.
For more information, contact a local heating and cooling service.
