How To Change Hvac Air Filter

Home furnace air filter replacement - Thomas & Galbraith Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing

Cincinnati homes require regular upkeep and maintenance throughout the year. Irresolute furnace filters is one critical task that is oftentimes skipped – to the detriment of your condolement and the functioning of your home's heating and cooling equipment! With a dingy filter in identify, you risk compromising your comfort, free energy costs, and HVAC system

Thomas & Galbraith'due south NATE-certified heating and cooling professionals share why changing furnace filters must be done. Learn the true purpose of this organisation component, how oft irresolute furnace filters needs to exist performed, and the problems that ascend when yous skip this task.

From heating and cooling system maintenance that ensures a make clean filter to HVAC repair that counteracts the problems caused by a dirty one, we provide the services you need for a comfortable home twelvemonth-round. Call Thomas & Galbraith today to schedule service.

What Does a Furnace Filter Do?

Your furnace filter traps airborne contaminants to make clean your air, right? While yes, it does exercise that, that's non exactly its job – despite what about people believe.

The master office of a furnace filter is to trap airborne contaminants not for air quality purposes, but to keep them out of your heating and cooling system. Still, because the filter removes contaminants for the organization'south benefit, air quality also benefits from their removal.

How Oft Is Changing Furnace Filters Necessary?

Changing furnace filters is a chore that's frequency varies from one firm to the next. How ofttimes this job needs to be performed is greatly dependent on the blazon of furnace filter in place. If you have a peak downwards the filter replacement aisle at your favorite hardware store, y'all'll meet there are a lot of options to choose from – lots of different filter types to impact changing frequency.

Irresolute furnace filters needs to be completed every calendar month to every year – but similar in that location is a corking range of filters, at that place'southward a pretty wide range to how ofttimes they need to be replaced. Luckily, changing furnace filters doesn't depend on a guess. The filter's manufacturer provides the recommended replacement frequency within the production information that'due south included when y'all purchase a new filter.

To requite y'all a starting signal for what frequency you're looking at for changing furnace filters, size matters. Thicker filters take more than media available to capture contaminants, so a 5-inch filter requires less frequent changes than a 1-inch filter. Filter efficiency as well has an impact – this is expressed as MERV, which stands for minimum efficiency reporting value .

In general, this is how often irresolute furnace filters needs to be done:

For one- to 2-inch filters, replace them every 1 to 3 months
For three- to 4-inch filters, replace them every six to nine months
For 5- to 6-inch filters, replace them every 9 to 12 months

More Factors that Affect Frequency of Irresolute Furnace Filters

As nosotros mentioned, size and efficiency are two attributes that bear on the frequency changing furnace filters is performed. In addition, there are various factors specific to your Cincinnati area household that accept a greater impact on how often you really need a new filter.

Home Occupancy

The number of people living in a habitation affects the useful service life of a furnace filter. In a big household, changing furnace filters is done on a more frequent basis than homes with simply one or two occupants. People innovate many contaminants to the abode environment, then the more than people there are in your habitation, the more than contaminants there are for the filter to catch.

Furry Family unit Members

Pets are another major contributor of contaminants into the indoor air supply. Pets shed fur and dander, which are picked up by airflow and circulated throughout the home by the HVAC organisation. For every furry family fellow member living in your dwelling house, a filter'south useful service life is reduced by approximately 30 days, and then you're changing furnace filters more often.

Indoor Air Quality

If you have air quality problems present in the home, your furnace filter isn't going to last equally long every bit it does in a home with good indoor air quality. Indoor air quality equipment like air purifiers and air cleaners reduce contaminant book and so there's fewer particles for your furnace filter to capture – in homes without this equipment, the furnace filter is the simply line of defense against airborne contaminants, then the filter fills up faster.

Allergies

If members of your household suffer from allergies or asthma, changing furnace filters should exist done on a more than frequent basis. Doing then helps ensure contaminants that cause symptoms are removed from your indoor air supply.

Heating & Cooling Usage

When your habitation'southward heating and cooling equipment is heavily operated, filters have a shorter useful service life – air is circulated more frequently, then the filter has more opportunities to pick up contaminants and go clogged. In the summer and wintertime, homeowners are typically changing furnace filters more often than they are in the fall and spring.

Dirty Furnace Filter Disasters

When changing furnace filters is forgotten or skipped, various problems arise in Cincinnati households. Dirty furnace filters spell disaster for heating and cooling equipment, dwelling house comfort, and indoor air quality.

HVAC Organisation Damage

Heating and cooling equipment similar furnaces and air handlers are filled with many fragile components. Without filtration, airborne dust, dirt, and other droppings enters the various chambers of the unit and settles on its components. Contaminants accumulate and worsen the performance of the equipment, even causing impairment to components.
When filters are clogged but the HVAC system continues to run, air doesn't move through the system properly. With the dirty filter blocking its path, heating and cooling equipment expends more energy to push air forth. This extra piece of work stresses the organization'south components, using more free energy and dissentious equipment.
Airflow blockage caused by a muddied filter raises the temperature within the HVAC equipment, causing it to overheat. Later it cools, it starts back up again, but the problem persists – this is an effect known as brusque-cycling, and muddy filters are the most mutual cause. Short-cycling leads to HVAC organisation damage that requires repair and early on full organization failures, in add-on to excess energy consumption, higher utility bills, and diminished indoor condolement.
Every bit contaminants period through the HVAC system due to a dirty filter, they collect within the condensate drainage components and clogs form. Clogs finish condensate from draining out of the home, and it may spill over which results in water impairment to HVAC equipment and nearby areas. Plus, excess condensation increases indoor humidity levels which disrupts comfort.

Poor Comfort & Air Quality

Because airflow is restricted when changing furnace filters is forgotten, living areas practise non receive the proper amount of heating and cooling. Information technology becomes hard to maintain comfort levels and homeowners often notice hot and cold spots.
When the filter is covered in contaminants, in that location is no more surface area left to trap new contaminants passing through. Therefore, those contaminants remain in the air supply and move back into your dwelling house where they cause allergy symptoms, respiratory bug, bodily irritations, and dirtier surfaces no matter how frequently you clean!

Never Forget Some other Filter Change!

Changing furnace filters is so very of import, non only for your HVAC system but for your household. It's all too easy to skip a filter modify when your HVAC equipment is tucked away out of sight, but this of import task must be made a priority.

Information technology'southward smart to check your filter monthly to assess its condition. Sometimes, your system may require changing furnace filters early, but it'south difficult to tell if you lot never look for yourself! Have a peek at the filter once a month and replace it when you find its surface media is completely covered in contaminants.

Because changing furnace filters is so important, here are a few strategies to help ensure you remember to perform this essential habitation maintenance chore.

Mark monthly filter checks as well as changes at the appropriate interval on your wall calendar or inside your day planner.

If you lot prefer your smartphone's calendar app, schedule reminders with an alarm that sounds to catch your attention.

Link checking and changing furnace filters with other of import tasks you complete each month. Every bit the filter's condition can touch on how much energy the system consumes, check information technology when you pay your monthly utility bill! Practise not file that beak away until you check or change your filter.

Thomas & Galbraith Delivers the Care Your HVAC System Needs

Changing furnace filters on a regular basis has great impacts on abode comfort and indoor air quality, every bit well as the functioning, energy efficiency, and longevity of your HVAC arrangement. Ensure your comfort system receives the professional person care it needs – maintenance tune ups remove debris and takes care of filter changes. If the damage of a dirty filter has already been done, our skilled technicians work to counteract the issue to restore performance.

Telephone call Thomas & Galbraith today to schedule heating and cooling services, including HVAC repair and heating and cooling melody ups.