What Happens When You Don’t Change Your Furnace’s Air Filter
One of the most common issues that we come acress at Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning in Fort Lauderdale is dusty air filters. They can seem like a very small piece of the overall home comfort puzzle, but the role they play in helping us control comfort is a lot greater than most homeowners notice. Regardless if it is cooling season or heating season, having a filthy air filter can cause a variety of problems for your heating and AC system.
So what exactly happens when you forget to switch out your air filter? Here are a just a couple of the side effects you might encounter:
- Diminished airflow. This is easily the greatest headache you’ll notice 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 hinders air from passing through the filter as it should, meaning your system is working a lot harder to give you the same amount of air.
- Frozen coil. If your system is running harder as a result of a filthy air filter, you also run the risk of having the cooling coil freeze inside of the system, because it’s working overtime to give you 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 breaks or wears out and needs to be replaced or serviced.
- Short cycling. Short cycling means the heating and cooling system turns on and off all the time. When your system short cycles, it can overheat or break down from the added work, possibly causing damage to your system.
In addition to these, you can also expect:
- A shortened equipment lifecycle
- Lower energy efficiency
- Diminished air quality
- Greater dust and debris
- Lack of comfort
If you’re not sure when you last switched out your air filter, it may be a good time to do so in order to get around any likely damage that might come with a filthy air filter. If you don’t know where your home’s air filter is located or you simply have a question about the number of air filters available, give Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning a call at 954-736-4314 or schedule an appointment online.