When and How to Change Your Furnace Filter

Maintaining your furnace can help more than you’d think in the months in between furnace service appointments. One of the simplest, and essential, ways to care for your furnace is in switching out your furnace filter. Having a filthy air filter may contribute to a number of negative problems for your heating and cooling system, its efficiency, and ultimately, how much you’re spending on your energy bills month after month.

So what goes in to determining when you should replace 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 switched out every month and 3 inch filters ought to be changed every three months, depending on the recommendations of the filter manufacturer.
• 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 a family member suffers from allergies or asthma, contemplate changing your home’s air filter more frequently to help ease their symptoms.

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

• Open or pull off the air filter panel close to the bottom of your furnace to expose an open compartment.
• On the top of that open compartment is where you will find your furnace filter resting on two metal supports.
• There will be a little space to move your filter back and forth that allows you to bring down one end of the filter and take it out of the compartment.
• When putting in the new filter, look at the perimeter of the filter for an arrow that indicates the air flow direction, to make sure you’re installing the filter in the right direction. In most cases, the arrow should point towards the main part (or top) of the furnace.