A Reminder to Replace your HVAC’s Air Filters

hvac filters.jpg Thank goodness for Gregory’s posts on Air Filters. We are the first to admit that we had neglected this essential part of our HVAC's maintenance...

As you can see from the photo, we went well past the recommended 3 month usage for our HVAC’s air filters. There is something horrifying and yet strangely fascinating about the amount of, well, crap, that can build up in an air filter. We'd rather not think about what we've been breathing in all summer.

hvac filters 2.jpg

It was so simple to change, we feel silly for not doing it sooner. They pop right in and out of our vents and took us all of 5 minutes to do. New filters are available at most hardware stores in a variety of sizes and brands. We've even seen them at Target. Prices can range dramatically depending on the brand and the duration of use (30 days to 3 months).

Comments (8)

i change mine every month. living in arizona = lots of dust. after 30 days they're GROSS

posted by animalhouze on October 28th 2008 at 3:08pm
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One of the cool features on my programmable digital thermostat is the blinky reminder to change my filter. Totally useful.

posted by Jezebella on October 28th 2008 at 3:31pm
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I went the whole summer without changing my ac filter. It really did affect the peformance.

I purchased re-usable filters from Lowes for about 19 bucks. Thought it was more enviro friendly than the cheap disposable ones.

posted by david on October 28th 2008 at 3:38pm
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I had one of those until my A/C guy told me that fancy allergen-control filters make the unit work harder and wear out faster. As I was writing him a rather substantial check for the replacement of an A/C coil at the time, I decided to take his word for it and switched back to the cheapy filters.

posted by Jezebella on October 28th 2008 at 4:06pm
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Good reminder! I just bought some new ones (I have 3 intakes for some reason and all three are a different size). I hadn't done it in a year and with the dogs they were FOUL. Since it was hard to find the sizes I needed, I bought enough for the next change too.

posted by LilyC on October 28th 2008 at 6:52pm
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I try to change mine once a month, but sometimes it goes a little longer... I just changed mine this weekend and there was a layer of dog hair on the one upstairs. Gross!

posted by mmh1983 on October 29th 2008 at 4:02am
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I agree with Jexebella 100%!!! The expensive Filtrete filters are a waste of money. Just get the cheaper ones and replace them more often. Your A/C until will be much happier for it.

posted by Monica on October 29th 2008 at 5:27am
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Does anyone know if these can be washed so they can be reused? OR, what about recycling them?

Scott aka declutteryou.com

posted by DeClutterYou on October 29th 2008 at 12:45pm
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