One thing that many homeowners may not know is how often they should be changing the air filters on their HVAC unit. The air filters are important because they remove particles, allergens, and other pollutants from the air, improving the indoor air quality of your home. Additionally, changing the filters can increase the life of your unit.
Since the filters play such an important part in keeping the air in your home clean, it is important to replace them as needed. Changing your filter is easy to do and doesn’t take much time at all. The hardest part is figuring how just how often you should really change your air filters.
How Often Should You Change Your Air Filters?
Essentially, you should base the timeframe for changing your filters on how often the system is used. If you have a vacation home, it may be okay to change the filters less often than in your everyday-living home. This is because you will use your system more often in the home that you live in every day. The actual timeframe varies, however, based on a few different factors.
Factors That Affect When You Should Change Your Air Filters
- People and pets in the home
The more people and pets, the more particles are getting into the air. More dirt and debris are being carried into the home on each person, and having pets just adds to that. With pets come dander, dust, pollen, and dirt. If you have even one pet, you should change your filters at least every 2 months. If you have more than one pet, you should actually change the filters each month. For a single person home with no pets, the filters could be changed as little as every 4-6 months. If more than one person lives in the home, but there are not pets, the filters could be changed every 3 months.
- The type of filter you use
If you use a high-quality filter, you will get more life out of it. The high-quality filters work to filter out even more particles and debris than less effective ones, lengthening the life of the filter.
- If you follow the replacement recommendations
Each manufacturer will suggest how to properly replace a filter. If you follow those suggestions, you will likely get more life out of them than if you replaced them incorrectly.
- Allergies
If someone in your home has allergies, changing the filters more often can be beneficial to their health. When this is the case, your air filters should actually be changed every month. If you need help changing your air filters, or if you have any questions, call us at 408-295-2182. We can help make the process easy on you.