Do I Really Have to Change My Air Filter?

Maintaining your home or apartment comes with an already long list of things to do, so it’s no surprise you may be wondering whether or not you really need to change your home’s air filter. The short answer, however, is a resounding yes — for a number of reasons that will not only protect your home but can even help save you time and money in the long run.

Dirty or old air filters can pose serious safety risks for your home. For example, home filters can become so clogged with dust and debris over time they can prevent air flow through the ductwork. This restricted air flow and debris accumulation then creates nearly ideal conditions for a ventilation fire.

Dirty air filters also mean dirty air circulates through the home, making the environment unpleasant, and in some cases, unsafe for people with asthma or other respiratory conditions. From fire hazards to indoor air quality concerns, making sure you check and change your home air filter regularly is key.

Even if you or anyone in your household doesn’t struggle with asthma, allergies, or other respiratory issues, a dirty air filter can noticeably impact your indoor air quality. Especially during summer months when it tends to be drier and dustier, debris and allergens that aggravate health conditions recirculate through the home if the air filter is too clogged to trap them properly. Changing the air filter helps prevent allergens from entering the home in the first place and works to eliminate them from your indoor air with every run of the cycle.

Think of your HVAC filter as your first line of defense in protecting your entire HVAC system. Dirty air filters cause fans to work harder, motors to expend more energy — taxing the system unnecessarily. All this extra work leads to more maintenance and repairs at best, and early burn out at worst. In most cases, it’s much more cost effective to replace your air filter regularly than to pay a technician to repair overworked components of your HVAC, or to have to replace it entirely long before you might otherwise need to.

If nothing else will convince you it’s worth replacing your HVAC filters, then maybe your monthly energy bill will. All the extra work the HVAC system has to do to compensate for a dirty air filter not only translates to early mechanical issues, but it also means the system requires much more energy to run. This added energy consumption racks up your monthly bill higher than it needs to be. By regularly changing the HVAC air filter, you can keep the system running efficiently and keep your utility bill a predictable expense.

If it’s time to change your air filter or you have any other questions about your HVAC system, visit our resource center, or call our HVAC professionals today (619) 762-3044 to get the answers.