When and How to Change Your Furnace Filter

Maintaining your furnace can help quite a bit in the time in between furnace service appointments. One of the simplest, and crucial, ways to maintain your furnace is by switching out your furnace filter. Having a clogged air filter may contribute to a host of unfavorable issues for your heating and cooling system, its efficiency, and ultimately, how much you’re spending on your energy bills every month.

So what goes in to consideration when you should replace your furnace filter?

• Type of filter: the two most common filter sizes are 1 inch and 3 inch filters. 1 inch filters typically need to be replaced every month and 3 inch filters ought to be replaced every three months, dependent on the recommendations of the filter maker.
• Home habits: if you have pets in your home, it could make sense to replace your filter more often as a result of pet dander. If someone in your family deals with allergies or asthma, contemplate switching out your home’s air filter more often to help ease their symptoms.

Now you’re possibly wondering how to change your furnace filter. Obviously this will differ depending on what furnace you have, but normally: 

• Open or pull off the air filter panel close to the bottom of your furnace to reveal an open compartment.
• On the top of that open compartment is where you’ll see your furnace filter resting on two metal supports.
• There will be a small amount of space to move your filter back and forth that allows you to pull down one end of the filter and pull it out of the compartment.
• When adding the new filter, check the perimeter of the filter for an arrow that shows you the air flow direction, to ensure you’re installing the filter in the proper direction. In nearly all cases, the arrow should point to the main part (or top) of the furnace.