What Happens When You Don't Change Your Furnace's Air Filter

One of the most basic problems that we encounter at Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning in Ocala is dusty air filters. They may seem like a very tiny piece of the whole home comfort puzzle, but the role they play in helping us maintain comfort is a lot larger than most homeowners realize. Regardless if it is cooling season or heating season, having a dirty air filter can cause a variety of issues for your heating and AC system.

So what exactly happens when you forget to change your air filter? Here are a just a handful of the side effects you may encounter:

• Diminished airflow. This is easily the biggest headache you’ll note when your home’s air filter is very clogged. The longer the air filter goes without being changed, the more dirt, dust and other particles build up. Of course, this inhibits air from passing through the filter as it should, meaning your system is working quite a bit harder to give you the same amount of air.
• Frozen coil. If your system is running harder because of a dirty air filter, you also run the chance of having the cooling coil freeze inside of the system, because it’s operating overtime to leave you with cool air.
• Total loss of cooling or heating. This is also a probability if your air filter goes neglected for months and months on end. In essence, you will have worked your system so hard that something gives out or wears out and needs to be replaced or serviced.
• Short cycling. Short cycling means the heating and cooling system turns on and off more than it should. When your system short cycles, it could overheat or break down from the added work, potentially causing damage to your system.

In addition to these, you can also expect:

• A shortened equipment lifecycle
• Decreased energy efficiency
• Lower air quality
• Increase in dust and debris
• Lack of comfort