Maintaining a clean and healthy home environment is essential for your family's wellbeing. One of the most important steps you can take to ensure your home is free from pollutants is to regularly change your air filter. As the filter increasingly traps natural pollution by particles in your home, such as dust, mold and fungal spores, pet dander, cloth fibers, etc., it becomes clogged and air cannot pass through as easily. The only way to be sure how often your air filter should be changed is to do a visual inspection of the filter every month.
After a few months, you'll get an idea of how quickly it gets dirty. Most air filter manufacturers and HVAC companies recommend changing your air filter every 90 days or 3 months. This may change depending on the location of your home (for example, dry and dusty climates), if you have pets, and the age of your system and equipment. If you have pets in the household, you should consider changing the filter every 60 days or 2 months, and for households with multiple pets or people with allergies or respiratory conditions, we recommend changing the filter every 20-45 days.
Usually, vacation homes or empty homes that don't see much use can wait to change filters every 9 to 12 months. The general consensus is that the more you use your home, the more you need to change the air filter. Getting rid of the contaminated air filter can cause cleaner air to spread throughout your home. This makes your home much more comfortable and will avoid any allergies caused by dust particles. Outdoor air quality can have a big impact on how often the air filter becomes dirty and needs to be replaced.
As mentioned earlier, an air filter that is clogged means an HVAC system that works harder, resulting in the release of large amounts of carbon monoxide and other greenhouse gases. Regular home maintenance should include inspection and replacement of air filters every one to three months. If you answer yes to this question, you'll want to change the filter every 6 weeks to maintain the best indoor air quality. Fiberglass air filters are the most affordable of the two, but they are less efficient at capturing dust and particles in the air. To ensure that only clean air comes out of the HVAC system, replace the air filter before it becomes clogged so you can breathe better. The air filter is designed with fibers, usually made of fiberglass, that trap unwanted elements contained in the air of your home. In addition, studies show that indoor air quality is worse than outdoor air, and people typically spend about 90 percent of their time indoors.
If you live in a “smaller house”, your air conditioners and furnaces must pump less air for the same amount of temperature change, which could mean fewer filter changes. One of the most important things you can do on your own to take good care of your HVAC system is to simply change your air filter on a regular basis. You'll find it easier to remember to do this important task if you learn how often you should change your air filter in the first place. As air passes through a building's HVAC system, air filters trap and collect large and small particles, such as dust, allergens, and microorganisms. It is a general recommendation that you change the air filter in your home every 30 days when using cheaper fiberglass filters. If you have allergies, you can reduce your symptoms by using a high-quality air filter and adopting a more frequent replacement program.
