If you have a furnace in your home to provide winter warmth—and chances are high that you do; furnaces are the most common form of home heating system—one of its essential components is the air filter. The air filter is there to protect the inside components of the furnace cabinet from debris that can come in through the return vents. If your furnace shares the same cabinet with the air conditioning system, the same filter will work to protect both.
It’s important that you change the air filter on a regular basis (or clean it regularly if your furnace uses a permanent filter). During the winter, when the furnace will run frequently, you should change out the filter once a month. At other times of the year when the comfort system isn’t working as often, you should change it every two or three months. Doing this is an important part of keeping a furnace running efficiently and effectively, and it will help you avoid unnecessary repairs in the future.
You will still need to schedule annual maintenance for your furnace from professionals, however. Call Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning, where we have more than 40 years servicing furnaces in Colorado Springs, CO.
The benefits of changing the furnace filter regularly
It only takes about a month of regular operation for a furnace filter to trap enough debris inside it that it will start reducing the airflow into the cabinet. This will become a serious problem for the furnace, because it will force it to work harder to circulate air. The strain will cause an increase in your heating bills, and it will also mean a reduction in the airflow from the vents. You will start to notice a drop in comfort as this happens, so you will end up paying more money to receive less comfort.
Worse, a clogged air filter can start allowing debris inside the furnace cabinet. Dust and dirt in a furnace will damage components such as the blower motor and spread grime over the burner or the pilot light, causing them to fail. If dust develops inside the furnace, the stress on the motors will eventually cause them to burn out and require replacement. In some extreme cases, a furnace filter can become so clogged that it actually collapses and falls into the furnace, causing a large amount of damage. We hope you never allow your furnace to reach this level of congestion!
Changing the furnace filter is one of the few maintenance tasks for your heater that you can do on your own. For the rest, you must contact technicians.
Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning offers a Residential Energy Savings Agreement for furnaces in Colorado Springs, CO that will give your heating system the tune-up and cleaning it needs.
