Let's Clear The Air


Your air filter is the most important and least expensive part of any air conditioning system. Every air conditioning unit includes an air filter that is used to remove particles from the air that can damage the system and pollute the air in your home. The filter both protects the fans and coils from dust and dander build-up that can reduce its efficiency and significantly improves the quality of the air by removing airborne contaminants.

Replacing your air filter regularly is the easiest and least expensive way to reduce the risk of air contamination in your home and may improve your health. As an added benefit, regular filter replacement also prolongs the life of your air conditioner, saving you money over time. Leaving a dirty air filter in place will cause the system to malfunction. Why? Because your air conditioner moves such a tremendous amount of air that eventually it will pull the dust particles completely through a dirty air filter and into your air conditioning system.

Homeowners need to be careful with certain types of expensive filters that are too thick or dense. They have a tendency to actually do more harm than good due to restricted air flow. The same is true with certain pleated air filters. In some cases, heating and cooling systems do not have the ability to move enough air with a pleated filter. As the filter gets dirty it will decrease airflow, causing the load on the blower motor to decrease since it's doing less work. This can easily be demonstrated by covering the intake on a vacuum cleaner with your hand. The motor rpm increases because it's doing less work. Dirty and too restrictive air filters generate a lot of repair work and generally wastes energy.

I recommend to my customers that the best time to replace your air filter or at the very least, check your air filter is when you receive your power bill (once a month). After all, a dirty air filter may be what's driving up your power bill.




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