You may not realize how important it is for your family’s health to change the air filter in your home regularly. Keeping up with regular HVAC maintenance can help your system last longer and also save you from costly emergency repairs. Certain factors can affect how often you should swap out your air filter, let’s explore those in more detail.
Allergies
Depending on the composition of your home (specifically how many people and what amount of space you are heating/cooling), you may need to change your air filter more frequently. In an “average” suburban home, the air filter should be swapped out every 3 months or so. If you have a pet like a cat or dog, or if anyone in the home suffers from allergies or other chronic respiratory conditions, the filter should be changed every 60 days to prevent discomfort.
Energy Efficiency and Cost
If you notice that your heating system isn’t running as hot as you’d like, or your air conditioner isn’t cooling your home as well as it used to, it’s possible that a dirty air filter is interrupting the air flow. Since the system is working harder to push air through, your energy bill will be higher without a satisfying temperature. Changing your air filter regularly can help reduce the average $2,200 spent annually on your home energy bill by 5 to 15 percent.
Maintaining a Healthy HVAC Unit
A dirty air filter can affect your family’s quality of life just as much as it can affect your HVAC unit’s lifespan. Dirt stuck in an older filter can end up polluting the entire heating system and lead to costly repairs or emergency service if the system tries to work too hard to maintain normal air flow. A burnt-out motor or the replacement of an entire system is much more expensive than buying a pack of replacement filters to keep on hand.
Overall, replacing your air filter regularly can increase your peace of mind as well as improve breathing conditions for your family and your HVAC unit. If you have any questions about how your specific HVAC system should be serviced, the experts at L&M HVAC would be happy to answer!