Really…How Important Are Filter Changes?

If you are like the average homeowner, you probably don’t remember exactly when you changed your filter last. You’ve been told it’s important before, but honestly, how big of a deal can it be to skip it every now and then?

Maintaining your air conditioning system properly prevents you from having to rely on an HVAC service company, and allows you to use that money elsewhere. The most important thing a homeowner can do to protect their system and prolong its lifespan is to change the filter. Changing furnace and return air filters is crucial to your HVAC system’s performance.

The filter’s primary purpose is to protect your HVAC system’s internal components from any debris that may get sucked up into the return air duct. This includes the dust, dirt and random crud (pet hair is pretty popular) that you see built up on that long-neglected filter. Removing a dirty filter without replacing it with a new one leaves your system open to damages from random objects or debris getting into the internal components and knocking something out of whack. It also opens the door for a buildup of dirt and dust on your coils and other components, making your system less efficient and more costly. If you just leave the dirty filter on there, you are restricting airflow and causing the system to have work longer to do the same job.

In short, changing your filter regularly saves you money. It saves you money on your electricity bill, it prolongs the life of your system and it decreases the likelihood that you will require the repair services of an HVAC company.

Of course we still recommend regular system maintenance, but that’s another blog post for another day.