What Happens When You Don't Change Your Furnace's Air Filter

One of the most routine problems that we encounter at Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning in Girard is dusty air filters. They can seem like a very insignificant piece of the whole home comfort puzzle, but the role they play in helping us create comfort is a lot greater than most homeowners recognize. Regardless if it is cooling season or heating season, having a filthy air filter can cause a host of issues for your heating and AC system.

So what exactly happens when you forget to swap out your air filter? Here are a just a handful of the side effects you could encounter:

• Decreased airflow. This is easily the biggest issue you’ll recognize when your home’s air filter is severely clogged. The longer the air filter goes without being swapped out, the more dirt, dust and other particles build up. Of course, this inhibits air from passing through the filter as it should, meaning your system is working a lot harder to provide you with the same amount of air.
• Frozen coil. If your system is operating harder due to a clogged air filter, you also run the chance of having the cooling coil freeze inside of the system, because it’s working overtime to give you cool air.
• Total loss of cooling or heating. This is also a probability if your air filter goes unchanged for months and months on end. In essence, you will have worked your system so hard that something gives out or wears out and needs to be replaced or serviced.
• Short cycling. Short cycling means the heating and cooling system turns on and off excessively. When your system short cycles, it could overheat or break down from the added work, which could end up causing damage to your system.

In addition to these, you can also expect:

• A diminished equipment lifecycle
• Reduced energy efficiency
• Lower air quality
• Greater dust and debris
• Lack of comfort