When and How to Change Your Furnace Filter

Caring for your furnace can go a long way in the period in between furnace service appointments. One of the easiest, and essential, ways to maintain your furnace lies in changing your furnace filter. Having a filthy air filter may contribute to a variety of adverse issues for your heating and cooling system, its efficiency, and ultimately, how much your energy expenses are each month.

So what goes in to deciding when you should switch out your furnace filter?

• Type of filter: the two most common filter sizes are 1 inch and 3 inch filters. 1 inch filters normally need to be changed every month and 3 inch filters ought to be replaced every three months, depending on the recommendations of the filter maker.
• Home habits: if you have pets in your home, it could make sense to switch out your filter more often as a result of pet dander. If you have someone in the house that deals with allergies or asthma, consider changing your home’s air filter more frequently to help potentially decrease their symptoms.

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

• Open or pull off the air filter panel around the bottom of your furnace to uncover an open compartment.
• On the top of that open compartment is where your furnace filter is resting on two metal supports.
• There will be a little space to move your filter back and forth that allows you to pull down one end of the filter and remove it from the compartment.
• When adding the new filter, inspect the perimeter of the filter for an arrow that indicates the air flow direction, to ensure you’re installing the filter in the proper direction. In most cases, the arrow should point at the main part (or top) of the furnace.