You’ve likely heard about your air filter from friends, family, and even our blog a few times. It’s a component that’s almost universally used in every forced-air heating and cooling system and it’s also vital to your home efficiency and comfort. While you might not know too much about it now, we hope that by the end of this blog post, you’ll be an informed customer who is ready to change your air filter on a regular basis.
A clogged air filter isn’t doing you any favors, and it’s likely causing harm to your air conditioner or heating system. We can change it when you schedule air conditioning maintenance in Rockledge, FL–but it’s certainly something that you can do on your own.
Don’t be afraid! After reading this guide, we hope you’ll be more comfortable with changing your air filter on your own, so we can focus on providing maintenance to the other components when you do schedule service with us.
The Reason Your System Has a Filter
Let’s start with some basic facts. Every heating or cooling system that treats the air in your home is going to have a filter. This is due to the fact that these components need to cycle through a lot of air and they can often get dirty and broken when the air is filled with contaminants.
Sure, an air filter definitely benefits your home comfort since it removes contaminants that you don’t want to breathe in, but it’s not primarily there to help your air quality. The air filter mainly keeps the components of your air conditioner or heating system safe from dust and debris, extending the lifespan and improving system efficiency.
The cleaner your indoor air is, the less likely your system is to get gunked up and run for longer. This benefits your home in a number of different ways, but all of them depend on the status of your air filter.
Changing the Filter
So, how does one get started with changing the air filter? It’s simple!
The air filter is located in the return air duct, which is basically the air duct that leads into your AC unit. You’ll usually be able to tell which one this is by either seeing where the airflow goes in and out, or by noticing an arrow symbol that clues you into the direction of airflow.
Once you’ve located the filter, as long as the AC system is turned off, feel free to remove it and examine it. If it’s a disposable air filter, it should be thrown away and replaced by a new one. Your local hardware store should have plenty of these for sale. Just make sure you get the right size and material.
If the air filter is a reusable one, simply clean it with a damp paper towel and put it back. This should be enough to keep your system in good shape if you can do this every 1-3 months!
When to Call for Help
If you’re noticing some problems when you try to change your air filter, or you’re just having trouble locating it in the first place, then you can always call our team for support.
Schedule maintenance with Complete Air & Heat, Inc. Making families happy on the Space Coast since 1975.