How Often Should I Change the Air Filter at My Home?
Maintaining good air quality in your home is important, especially when you’ve got a heating and cooling system. This is why you should regularly change the air filter in your furnace. Keep reading to learn more about the importance of keeping a fresh air filter in your Staunton, IL, home.
Changing Your Furnace Filter Improves Air Quality
There are loose guidelines to help you decide when to change your air filter. The exact interval changes depending on the conditions in your home, but the bottom line is that you should check it at regular intervals no matter what. Here are some tips:
- In a vacation home or single-occupant home, the air filter should be changed every 6-12 months
- In the average suburban home, the air filter should be changed every 90 days
- In the average home with a cat or dog, the air filter should be changed every 60 days
- In the average home with an occupant with allergies or more than one cat or dog, the furnace filter should be changed every 20-45 days
Air Quality
The most important reason to change your furnace filter is to have good air quality in your home. You and your family spend a lot of time breathing the air in your home, so it’s important that it’s free of contaminants. As your filter removes contaminants from the air, it becomes clogged and gets to be less effective. This process happens even faster with air filters that are designed to remove smaller contaminants from the air. In addition to changing your furnace filter, you should also have the ducts cleaned occasionally so dust isn’t collecting in them.
Efficiency
Another good reason to change your air filter regularly is to improve efficiency. As the filter collects contaminants from the air, it becomes more and more clogged. The more clogged the filter is, the more difficult it is for air to pass through, which in turn makes your heating system less efficient. Fortunately, a quick furnace filter change will clear that problem right up and doesn’t take much time at all.
If you haven’t been staying on top of changing your furnace air filter, now is the perfect time to start. Not only does it improve the air quality in your home and the efficiency of your furnace, but it’s also easy to do and doesn’t cost a lot of money.