An air filter change indicator can potentially save you hundreds of dollars on replacement air filters and can even lead to reduced operating costs for your air conditioner, heat pump or furnace.
How is this possible?
- Change your furnace filter or air conditioner filter too often and it’s like throwing money away.
- Wait too long between filter changes and equipment operating efficiency begins to decline.
How often should an air filter be changed?
Manufacturers often differ in their recommended filter change frequency. Some say every month, some say every other month and others recommend every three months and that’s only for 1 and 2 inch filters. If you use 4, 5 or 6 inch pleated air filters, recommendations vary from 3 months to a year.
Filters are expensive, especially the efficient varieties and the 4, 5 and 6 inch types so you don’t want to be changing them more often than absolutely necessary. It’s very difficult to know when a filter has reached the point where it is better to change it than to leave it in the system.
Manufacturers can’t really tell you because they can’t possibly know the conditions in every home, not to mention every geographic area. There are just too many variables to consider. If you follow a set schedule for your filter changes you are probably not getting the best value from your filters.
Leaving an air filter in your heating or air conditioning system too long costs money
If you don’t replace you air filter often enough it begins to impact air flow and causes equipment operating efficiency to decline. A decrease in operating efficiency translates to higher operating costs. This means higher energy bills and nobody wants that either.
If left in a system long enough, a dirty filter will cause air flow restriction and can cause evaporator coils to ice up, heat exchangers to crack, longer run times and other equipment troubles that may require a service technician.
So what’s the solution?
Installing an air filter change indicator eliminates the guessing from filter change schedules. You won’t be throwing money away by changing filters too often and you won’t be wasting money and dealing with the potential problems associated with leaving an air filter in too long.
More about air filter change indicators.
3 comments ↓
It is a difficult question to answer that is for sure. A filter change indicator is one solution, but most of the technology only allows them to be used on non-pleated media. There are programmable thermostats that remind you when to change but then again they are programmed to remind you every month, not on pressure drop or efficiency loss. The best way to do it is to check them at least once a month, if they are really dirty, change them. A good indication is holding them up to a light and seeing if you can see through them. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the comment but I have to disagree:
First I have to point out that I’m not talking about thermostat reminders, they are only ok, at best.
Filter change indicators are best used on pleated air filters because pleated filters can have a huge impact on air flow when they become dirty. Although pleated air filters are the most common and among the most efficient, their design is really a weakness. All dirt collects on the surface of the filter and they begin to restrict air flow rapidly as they become dirty. This makes the air filter change indicators job even more important for these filters.
Media filter pads distribute dust throughout the entire 1 or 2 inch thickness of the filter which reduces its impact on air flow and it can remain in the system longer before reduced air flow becomes a problem.
Fiberglass disposable filters should never be used anyway because they are so inefficient, but they have similar characteristics as media filter pads.
Holding a filter up to see how much light you can see is OK for someone like me, I change thousands of filters every year, but it is still a judgment call. How much light should you be able to see? Who wants to remove a filter and look at it to see if its too dirty to see through? An air filter change indicator eliminates the guesswork.
That is nice to definitely find a site where the blogger knows what they are talking about.
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