Replacing a Furnace Air Filter

By Michael Forbes

Any time you use your heater or your central air conditioning, the air you breathe is being circulated through the furnace and the installed air filter. The furnace air filter removes things like dust and allergens from the air before pumping it back into your home. The filter can no longer effectively clean the air if it gets full. When this happens you will notice a drastic drop in air quality in your home. Replacing the air filter every one to three months will maintain a high air quality and lower your electric bill.

How often you need to replace your furnace air filter is determined by quite a few factors. If you use your air conditioning or heater every day, then more air is going to pass through the filter than if you were to run it only on days that are very hot or very cold. The time of year will also have an effect on how frequently the air filter needs to be changed. The seasons of Spring and Autumn are usually when pollen counts rise the most. This is when there are more particles in the air that need to be filtered out. Additionally, the filter will become stopped up even more quickly than during the other seasons and times of the year. The filter you choose to use will also have an effect how often you need to change them out. Some filters may be labeled as working for a full three months, but you should check them every once in a while just in case.

There are a wide variety different types of filters. Your owner's manual may have recommendations on which kind of furnace air filter to buy. Most filters are disposable, they are simply thrown in the trash when they become too full to clean the air. There are reusable filters becoming more widely available. Reusable filters reduce landfill waste and can save the consumer money over time as new filters do not need to be purchased each month. The big down side is that a reusable filter needs to be cleaned about just often as a disposable filter needs to be changed. Cleaning a reusable filter usually means just rinsing it off with a hose or faucet. For people with allergies, cleaning the filter can be problematic as all some of the allergens that were trapped in the filter may be released back into your home.

The more stopped up a filter becomes, the harder the heating and air conditioning system has to work to circulate the air. This can lead to higher electric bills. Regular replacement of your furnace air filter is a simple and low cost way of keeping your electric bills low. The jump in air quality in our home is another desirable result of regular filter maintenance.

Whether you want to use disposable filter or reusable filter, it will come down to your personal preference and furnace conditions. - 32378

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