5 Signs it’s Time to Change Your Furnace Filter

If you live in an area with a cold climate, it is extremely important for your home to have an effective heating system. However, sometimes your furnace filters need periodic maintenance or replacement. To know when to replace your furnace filter, here are five signs you will see when it is the right time.

Air Coming Out of Your Ducts Is Not Hot Enough

It would be easy to detect this issue with your furnace filter. It could be an ice-cold day outside, and you turn your thermostat as high as it can handle, but cold air from outside continues to counteract the straining efforts of your heating system. You might think it is a major fault with your furnace, but it is likely due to your air filter having passed its usable life. The heat energy generated from your furnace can get blocked and dispersed by debris in your filter, preventing it from flowing through your home. The easy fix for this is to change your filter. After that, the heat will flow uninterrupted through your home.

There Is a Musty Odor in Your Home

If your furnace filter is past its prime, it might blow a musty odor throughout your home. If you detect that smell in your home, you may jump to the conclusion that there is some water leak in the walls. Before spending hundreds of dollars on an inspection, consider looking at your furnace air filters instead. Especially if you live in an area with a humid climate, moisture may build up in the debris trapped in your furnace filter some parts of the year. When the weather turns cold and you turn on your heating system, you will detect that moisture in the form of a musty smell. If that happens, the time to change your furnace filter might have come.

You or Your Family Are Coming Down With Allergies

Dust and debris trapped in your furnace air filter likely contain allergens such as pollen and dust. Pollen from fall can build up in your air filter will then trickle into your home during the winter, causing unseasonable allergies to strike members of your household. Moreover, dust buildup in your filter can cause allergies all year round. It might be necessary to change your furnace air filter to mitigate the allergic suffering of your family members.

When looking for those new furnace filters, keep in mind what the right price should be. Atomic Filters usually sells packs of six air filters for around forty dollars. They offer a wide variety of filters, from pleated options to specialized hypoallergenic models. Furthermore, they come in different shapes and sizes to fit all ducts and units. From Monday through Friday, Atomic Filters offers free 24-hour shipping to most parts of the country.

Inflated Energy Bills

If your energy bills are rising, you may first blame your windows or other insulation in your home. However, the issue can be right at the source. If your furnace air filter is in need of replacement, it will be less efficient in filtering and delivering heat to your home in the winter. Therefore, you will likely turn up your thermostat and make your furnace work harder, raising energy consumption and the bills to pay for it.

Dirty Look

The simplest way to find out if your furnace air filter requires replacement is through routine inspections. If you open your filter and find it full of dust and debris, that will be the easiest clue to tell you to switch it. Dirty furnace air filters can cause all the problems listed previously, so be sure to replace them as soon as possible.

There are many ways to tell if your furnace air filters need replacement. If you experience any of the issues in your home previously mentioned, it is likely time to invest in new furnace air filters to make your home more comfortable.