The One Cost Effective Change You Should Make for a Safer Home this Winter
Falling temperatures bring our families indoors. During the winter months, we spend a good deal more time in our homes. It also means running furnaces and building fires indoors. All these things have an impact upon the quality of air in our homes. If you haven’t changed your air filter recently, you should consider doing so now.
Changing your air filter isn’t complicated, but it can save your family complications. Over time, dust, allergens, and other particles are removed from the air and lodged in your furnace filter. Forgetting to replace the filter is easy, but repairing your family’s health and furnace, well that’s not quite such an easy fix.
4 Reasons to Change Your Air Filter
1) Improve Your Health
One small step can help drastically improve the overall health and wellness of your family. Over time, inhaling things like dust, smoke, and pet dander can worsen asthma and allergies, cause irritation, and lead to long term health effects. Keep your family in your home and out of the doctor’s office by replacing your air filter.
2) Effectively Heat Your Home
Your furnace filter plays an important role. All air is run through the filter before circulating through your home. As the filter does its job removing and trapping these irritants, there is less room for air to move freely. In short, a dirty filter makes it harder for your furnace to effectively heat your home.
By not replacing your air filter, your furnace needs to run longer and work harder to heat your home. This can drive up your energy bill significantly each month.
3) Avoid Costly Repairs
A dirty furnace air filter can cost you more than just a high energy bill. Forcing your home’s heating system to work under this increased pressure can cause parts of the system to break and fail. Repairs can also cause down time. Simply replacing your air filter can cut down on repair bills, saving your family money and keeping them comfortable this winter.
4) Prolong the Life of Your Furnace
Those repairs and added pressure add up, and over time can cause your furnace to fail completely. We’ll be there to replace your heating system anytime you need us, but by following this simple tip you can prolong the life of your furnace.
When Should You Replace Your Air Filter?
When you should replace your furnace air filter depends on several factors such as the type of furnace and filter you have, and your family circumstances, like whether you have pets or not. Give our team a call to talk through your home system and family needs to develop a customized plan for keeping your furnace efficient and your family safe.
Generally speaking, you should consider replacing your filter between every 30 to 90 days. Thinner air filters, like two-inch options, need to be replaced more often than thicker four-to-six-inch filters. Pets shorten the lifespan of your furnace filter by increasing the amount of pet fur, dander, and dust that inhibit the furnace fans’ ability to move air through the filter resulting in strain on system components and reduced airflow.
Are All Air Filters the Same?
Thanks to rigorous industry standards, most air filters are generally similar. Air filters must perform to a certain Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, or MERV for short. The standard set ensures safety and performance ratings for most air filters. Check your furnace for a recommended filter brand or size. Many systems use a standardized two-inch filter. If you have questions about replacing your furnace air filter, contact our team today!