How Often Should You Change Your Air Filter On 2014 Acadia

Without a clean air filter, your HVAC unit works harder and is prone to more than breakdowns. Compared to other DIY home improvement projects, changing air filters is a quick and painless process that tin be done in less than an hour. However, many homeowners are unaware of how often air filters demand to be replaced, leaving their organization vulnerable to damage. Go along reading to acquire when and how to change your air filter.

Why Changing Your Filter Is Important

Air filters trap pet hair, dust, and other irritating particles and then that your air conditioning organisation delivers fresh, clean air back into your home. Eventually, the filter traps so much grit and droppings that air can't properly filter or travel to the HVAC unit of measurement, leading to:

High energy bills—When an HVAC filter is chock-full, your organisation has to work harder to pull air through to absurd or heat the room. This causes it to run for longer periods of time, increasing the energy your home uses.
Wellness concerns—If a filter isn't working properly, dust and allergens tin can circulate throughout your dwelling house and cause allergies and respiratory illnesses.
Organization failure—An HVAC system has to work hard to pull air through a clogged filter. This continuous strain on the unit can cause information technology to pause, causing you to pay for expensive repairs or replacements.

How to Change Your Air Filter

Yous should ideally modify your air filter every three months, all the same, there are certain factors to consider when determining when to change out an sometime filter.

Type of air filter—Some air filters are more than constructive than others. Lower quality fiberglass filters are more affordable, merely they don't last long and need to be changed every month. Pleated air filters are loftier-quality filters that are very effective in trapping particles and last upwards to 90 days.
Pets—If you own pets, change your filters every 2 months to go along your air clean.
Allergies—If you suffer from allergies, fifty-fifty the smallest corporeality of dust or debris in the air can trigger a reaction. To ensure your organization is pumping only make clean air, modify your filters nigh every 50 days.
Children—If you lot have young children in the dwelling, go on the indoor air quality high by replacing your air filters every two months.
Dwelling use—Homes that apply their HVAC system daily need more than frequent air filter replacements than a vacation dwelling house that doesn't filter air regularly. If your home'southward heating and cooling arrangement only run a few times a year, supercede the air filters every six to 12 months.

While these factors affect the frequency of air filter replacement, you should visually audit your filter every month to check for excess particle buildup. If the dirty air filter is completely layered with dust and debris, it's a skillful idea to change the filter even if information technology hasn't reached the end of its recommended lifespan.

How to Change Your Filter

Here'southward how to modify your air filter when it'south fourth dimension for a replacement.

Purchase the right size filter—To observe the size of your filter, bank check the old filter, which should have the size printed on one of its sides. If you lot tin can't locate the size of the old filter, utilize a measuring tape to check its length, width, and depth.
Turn off your unit—Flip the switch on your thermostat to plough off the unit, or turn your system completely off at the excursion breaker.
Locate the filter—Your air filter is located in one of two places: a return duct or the air handler located in an attic, basement, or utility closet.
Remove the grille or encompass to the air filter—If your air filter is located in the system'southward air handler, open the access panel. This may require a screwdriver to remove the small screws securing it. If your filter is in the return duct, flip the latches that hold the grille and remove it.
Remove the old filter and insert the new one—Take the old filter from its identify, carefully inspecting how information technology was situated within the encompass or grille. Take the new filter and place information technology inside, making sure the airflow arrows are pointed into the unit.
Replace the encompass and plough your system on—After replacing the filter, turn your arrangement back on to ensure the filter is situated correctly and the air conditioner is running smoothly.