The Consequences Of Not Changing The HVAC System's Air Filter

16 December 2020
Categories: , Blog

While there are many things that you should do to maintain your HVAC system over the years, one of the easiest and most important things you can do is change the system's air filter. Here are some of the reasons why ignoring this easy maintenance step can be bad for the HVAC system.

Poor Air Flow

The first thing that you may notice is that the HVAC system is going to have poor airflow. This is due to the filter being very dirty and the air having a hard time passing through it. As such, more debris in the filter is going to limit the amount of air that can pass through it when the system is running.

Frozen AC Coils

Another problem that can come up is a frozen evaporator coil inside the main air conditioner unit for your home. With all that cold air trapped and not able to leave the air handler, it is going to cause the temperature to drop significantly. That drop in temperature is going to cause ice to form on the evaporator coil, which is something that should not happen. While you may think that ice is a good way to help cool down the air, the coil actually works by extracting heat from the air to cool it down. With ice on all of the coils, the heat cannot be absorbed to cool down the air.

Additional Stress

When you have poor airflow and ice on the evaporator coil, it is going to cause a lot of unnecessary stress on the HVAC system as a whole. The system will have to run longer to cool down your home and maintain its temperature, which means that the main components are going to have a shorter lifespan as a result. You may find that the furnace breaks sooner rather than later, leading to an unexpected repair. Thankfully, this can be avoided by changing the air filter when it needs to be done.

Higher Electric Use

With the HVAC system running more due to that dirty air filter, the system is also going to use a lot more electricity. While the changes may be hard to identify by just looking at your electric bill, there can be a direct correlation between HVAC system use and energy costs that add up over time. However, you can avoid all these problems by simply putting in a new air filter when the time comes.

For more information, contact a company such as Baton Rouge Air Conditioning & Heating.

About Me

I almost always have my air conditioner inspected every spring before I start using it in the summer. However, last year I decided to skip the inspection. Everything had been OK for the last couple of years, so I assumed that it would be fine this year as well. Why not save a few dollars and skip the annual check up, just this once? Of course, this was the year that my air conditioner decided to break down. It ran for a few days, but it never really seemed to get cool enough to bring the indoor temperature down. Then it started making a loud noise, right before shutting off completely. By that time, the AC repair company was swamped like it always is when the weather is warm, and I had to wait days for an appointment. Next year, I will definitely be getting that yearly inspection first.