Furnace Filters: Change Every Month?

Hopefully you know that your home’s furnace uses a filter which needs to be changed periodically. While this article focuses on furnaces, the same concepts apply to your home’s air conditioning units which cool the air in your home. Let’s look at the role filters play in protecting your furnace and your family.

What Role Does a Furnace Filter Play?

While the furnace manufacturer will provide recommendations for changing your filter, you should also consider the needs of your family. If you have pets and/or someone suffers from allergies, it might be important to change the filter more often than the manufacturers recommendation.

• Remove particles that can damage the heating coil and/or fan.
• Help the furnace run efficiently as particle buildup makes it harder to draw air into the furnace (intake).
• More expensive filters can also improve air quality by removing pollen, bacteria and mold spores.

There are many different types of air filters, so you’ll want to find the one that meets your manufacturer’s recommendations and the needs of your family members. This list is provided by FurnaceFilters.com where you can find more information and shop for your filters:

• HEPA Filter: HEPA filters are among the most efficient filters on the market. They operate at an efficiency rate of over 99 percent and remove almost all of the animal dander, mold spores, pollen, and dust mites that pass through heating and air conditioning units.
• Charcoal Air Filter: Charcoal filter is the common term for an activated carbon filter. The activated carbon is extremely porous, which increases the ability of the filter to absorb particles. Charcoal filters are ideal for the removal of odors caused by tobacco smoke, chemicals, and gases.
• Pleated Filter: The pleated furnace filter is a good option for efficiently removing particles from the air. The filter material is pleated, or folded, in order to increase its overall surface area and consequently trap more particles. The pleats will also increase the life of the filter.
• Electrostatic Filter: Electrostatic filters are a great way to improve air quality without decreasing the efficiency of your heating unit. Air passing through the filter generates static electricity that collects the airborne particles. Since the filter material is relatively thin, airflow reduction caused by electrostatic filters is minimal.
• Electronic Filters: Electronic filters operate much like the electrostatic filters. Instead of airflow generating the static electricity, the electronic fileter relies solely on electricity. Electronic filters have the same benefit of minimal reduction in airflow.
• Metal Filters: Metal filters provide a convenient, cost-efficient option for homeowners. Metal frames are used to house disposable, highly efficient air filter media. Air filter media pads trap a great number of particles because of their thickness.

How Often Does the Filter Need to be Changed?

How often you change your filters should be determined by the manufacturer’s recommendations, the type of filter you use and how sensitive your family is to airborne particles. The cost of not changing your filter often enough, is a furnace that isn’t operating at peak efficiency so it will use more fuel. As air filters are relatively inexpensive and easy to change, there isn’t any reason to defer this home maintenance task.

• Standard filters are made of spun fiberglass. They are good at collecting particles that can interfere with the operation of your furnace but they’re too loosely constructed to trap particles that cause problems for those who suffer from dust, pollen and/or allergens. These filters should be changed once a month when the furnace is being used.
• More expensive, high performance filters are made of accordion pleated paper that does a great job removing large and small particles form the air. When you have family members that suffer from allergies or asthma, you’ll want to use these filters. The higher cost is somewhat offset by the need to change them only once or twice a year.

Home owners concerned about their impact on the environment will also prefer the high performance filters as the paper they’re made of can be recycled.

Tips for Buying Your Air Filters

• Buy enough filters to last a year, i.e. order a case of 12 and have them delivered to your home. One hint I found while researching this article, watch for sales in the spring.
• In addition to helping your furnace run more efficiently, changing your air filters frequently can help extend the life of your furnace.