Having adequate air filtration in your home is essential. All central heating and cooling systems as well as ductless mini-split systems have an air filter that prevents dust and debris from getting into the system. The main role of the air filter is to prevent damage and ensure the HVAC system continues working effectively. Dust and debris could easily damage or gum up many of the system’s components and can also lead to the system producing less heating or cooling. Having proper air filtration can also improve your home’s indoor air quality, as a high-quality air filter will also remove many allergens and pollutants from the air.
How Often Should an Air Filter Be Replaced or Washed?
No matter what type of air filter you use, it is essential that you clean or replace it regularly. The longer you go without cleaning or replacing the filter, the more dust, lint, hair and debris it will collect. Eventually, the filter can get so dirty that almost no air can flow through it. When this happens, it puts much more strain on the blower motor since it will struggle to draw air in through the filter. This can lead to the blower overheating, and it can also cause your furnace to overheat since there won’t be enough cool air coming in to keep the temperature inside the furnace from rising too high. A clogged air filter is also one of the main causes of many other HVAC issues, such as a frozen evaporator coil, and will drastically limit the amount of heating and cooling the system can produce.
You should always replace your air filter at least once every three months, but there are many situations where you may need to replace it every month or two. If you use a reusable, washable filter, you will also want to clean it just as often.
We always recommend checking the condition of your filter at least once a month. When doing so, you can try to gently clean off any debris that has collected on the surface of the filter to help prevent it from clogging as quickly.
However, the internal pores in the filter will still eventually become clogged, which is why you should always replace or clean it when it starts to look overly dirty or black. It is also a good idea to take the filter out and hold it up to a light. If the filter is still in good condition, you should easily be able to see light through it. If you can’t see through it, it’s time to clean it or put a new filter in.
How Filtration Helps Protect Your HVAC System
Dust and debris can impact your HVAC system in many ways. If the system didn’t have an air filter, the HVAC blower would quickly start to experience many issues. The blower assembly consists of the blower motor that powers fan blades which sit inside a metal housing known as a squirrel cage.
Too much dust on the fan blades can start to weigh them down so they can no longer spin as quickly or potentially not spin at all. In turn, this issue would result in the motor working much harder and potentially overheating, which could cause the motor to burn out or damage its electrical wiring.
If the squirrel cage starts to get coated in a thick layer of dust and debris, the blower won’t be able to produce much air. This could also lead to the blower motor overheating, and it would also severely reduce the amount of heating and cooling the system can produce.
If your home has central air conditioning, dust can also start to coat the evaporator coil. If there is too much dust, it will insulate the coil so that the warm air being drawn into the system can’t come into direct contact with the coil. When this happens, the refrigerant that flows through the coil won’t absorb much or any heat from the air. As a result, the coil can quickly get cold enough that any condensation that forms on it starts to freeze.
A frozen evaporator coil can be a serious problem. Not only will the system not produce any cool air if the coil is frozen, but it can also lead to the liquid refrigerant flowing back to the outdoor unit. The refrigerant always has to be heated so it turns from a liquid into a gas before it enters the compressor motor in the outdoor AC unit or heat pump.
If liquid refrigerant enters the compressor, it will quickly start to boil and lead to some of the oil in the motor’s crankcase vaporizing. When this happens, the oil level can drop to the point where the motor can’t stay properly lubricated. Without adequate lubrication, the components in the motor could be seriously damaged or the motor could completely burn out. A burnt-out compressor motor is one of the worst HVAC problems as replacing the motor is quite time consuming and extremely expensive. In most cases, you’ll end up paying almost the same to replace the compressor motor as you would to simply install a whole new AC unit or heat pump.
How Filtration Can Improve Indoor Air Quality
Poor indoor air quality is a problem that plagues most every building. Most buildings stay close up tight throughout much of the year. This is why the concentration of many harmful pollutants is almost always much higher inside than in the air outside as most homes don’t have a way to effectively replenish the building with fresh, clean air.
Basic, lower-rated air filters are really only effective at trapping much larger particles like dust so they can’t get inside the HVAC system. However, there are also much more efficient filters that can trap the majority of even the tiniest particles. For instance, a whole-home air purification system with a HEPA filter and UV light purifier will eliminate more than 99% of all pollutants and allergens while also killing most microorganisms like mold spores, bacteria and viruses.
If anyone in your home suffers from allergies or any type of respiratory or breathing problem, you are always best to use a higher-rated filter in your HVAC system. Even better is if you upgrade the system with an add-on air filtration or purification system as this will vastly improve your indoor air quality compared to relying on your HVAC filter alone.
The issue is that residential HVAC systems can only handle a certain level of filtration without it leading to issues. Most residential systems can only handle up to a MERV 12 or 13 filter. If you were to use anything higher, it would basically result in the same issues as running the system with a completely clogged filter as residential blowers aren’t powerful enough to draw much air in through a high-efficiency filter. As such, if you want a higher level of filtration, you will need to opt for a filtration or purification system as these won’t impact how much air can flow through your HVAC system.
If you have any questions about your home’s air filtration, you can trust the team at Matheson Heating Air Plumbing. Our technicians can help you choose the best air filter for your home, and we can also help if you’re looking to upgrade your home with an air purifier or other indoor air quality system. If you need any heating, cooling, plumbing or indoor air quality service in Commerce, give us a call today.