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

One of the most routine problems that we come acress at Strogen's Service Experts in Rochester is dirty air filters. They can seem like a very small piece of the big home comfort puzzle, but the role they play in helping us create comfort is a lot larger than most homeowners realize. Regardless if it is cooling season or heating season, having a clogged air filter can cause a host of problems for your heating and AC system.

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

• Diminished airflow. This is easily the greatest problem you’ll note when your home’s air filter is very clogged. The longer the air filter goes without being swapped out, the more dirt, dust and other particles build up. Of course, this prevents air from passing through the filter as it should, meaning your system is working a lot harder to leave you with the same amount of air.
• Frozen coil. If your system is working harder as a result of a filthy air filter, you also run the chance of having the cooling coil freeze inside of the system, because it’s working overtime to leave you with 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 breaks or wears out and needs to be replaced or serviced.
• Short cycling. Short cycling means the heating and cooling system turns on and off more than it should. 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 shorter equipment lifecycle
• Lower energy efficiency
• Lower air quality
• More dust and debris
• Lack of comfort