When to Change Your Home Heating and Air Filters

Have you ever wondered how often you should change the heating and air conditioning filters in your home?
Changing furnace and return air filters is critical to the proper performance of your HVAC system, not to mention your home’s air quality. Studies show that indoor air pollution is one of the top five environmental health risks. We know it’s the last thing on your mind, but it’s important to take care of it and it is quite simple to do.

Follow these tips and changing your home’s filters will be easy!

First, you should know how often to change your furnance or air conditioner filter. Second, remember to change them when needed.

Very simply – when your air filters are dirty, change them. Choosing how often to change your air filters can depend on these factors:
•Type of filter your A/C system requires
•The overall air quality where your home is
•Pets – Birds, cats, dogs, and other animals
•Number of occupants in the home

For your typical 1″-3″ air filters, the manufacturer specs basically say to change them bi-monthly, which is a great rule of thumb. However, general guidelines are not applicable to all filters. If you have light to moderate allergies, you may need to upgrade the air filter or change them even more regularly. On the other hand, if you’re in a remote area, own an infrequently occupied home (like a vacation home in the Treasure Coast) or an area where there are fewer cars around, replacing your air filters once a year may be quite sufficient.

Why do pets matter so much? They have a tendency to shed and that can clog your air filter fast. Clearly, the air filter is just doing its job by capturing pet hair and dander, but tremendously dirty filters can cause weak HVAC performance.

To recap:
•Seldom used home or single occupant homes without pets or allergies: Change every 6-12 months
•Typical suburban home without pets: Change every 90 days
•Add a dog or cat: Change every 60 days
•Multiple pets or have allergies: Change every 30-45 days

Call Argos Home Watch to have your filters changed and for a free, no-obligation consultation today.