When and How to Change Your Furnace Filter

Maintaining your furnace can go a long way in the time in between furnace service appointments. One of the easiest, and crucial, ways to care for your furnace is by changing your furnace filter. Having a clogged air filter may contribute to a host of negative concerns for your heating and cooling system, its efficiency, and ultimately, how much your energy expenses are month after month.

So what goes in to deciding 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 usually need to be replaced every month and 3 inch filters ought to be swapped out every three months, dependent on the recommendations of the filter company.
• Home habits: if you have pets in your home, it could make sense to replace your filter more often because of pet dander. If someone in your family has allergies or asthma, think about changing your home’s air filter more frequently to help potentially decrease their symptoms.

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

• Open or take off the air filter panel around 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 brackets.
• There will be a small amount of space to move your filter back and forth that allows you to remove one end of the filter and take it out of the compartment.
• When putting in the new filter, inspect the perimeter of the filter for an arrow that indicates the air flow direction, to ensure you’re installing the filter in the correct direction. In nearly all cases, the arrow should point towards the main part (or top) of the furnace.