During summertime, an air conditioning unit is a must-have. The blast of cold air brings the much-needed relief from excessive humidity and heat. However, for the AC to keep you cool for extended time periods, you need to conduct regular air conditioning maintenance.

There are many important aspects to be borne in mind when planning AC maintenance and one of this is changing your filters regularly. You should change or clean your filters at least once every three months. However, in dusty and polluted environments, you need to change the filters once per month.

Prolongs the Lifespan of Your System

A filter has one important task of collecting dust and grime before it is blown throughout the house by your AC. Whenever the filter gets clogged, the AC has to work extra hard to push the air through which can effectively destroy its efficiency and leave you with an energy-guzzling unit. Also, a dirty filter may cause some of the dirt to bypass the system and end up in your indoor air. Excess dirt may clog up the AC motor and other components thus shortening its lifespan.

Improves Indoor Air Quality

When the air filters are clogged, it means dust mites, pollen, pet dander, and other allergens are constantly being circulated in your indoor environment. This can cause allergies, asthma, and other illnesses which are detrimental to the health of your family.

Changing your AC filter ensures fresher, cleaner, healthier air is flowing in your indoor space. This is a great thing for you and your family members especially those suffering from allergies, asthma, and other respiratory problems. It’s therefore important to change the air filters regularly.

Enhances Energy Efficiency

Aside from protecting your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system from unnecessary damage, changing air filters also helps to boost the energy efficiency of your system. This saves you a significant amount of money on energy bills. When the air filters are dirty and dusty, they force the system to run extra hard to deliver the desired results. This leads to skyrocketing of energy bills. However, clean air filters can save you up to 15% on energy bills.

Cleaning or changing filters, based on their type, is one of the easiest tasks in AC maintenance and you can comfortably do it yourself. The manufacturer’s guidebook will show you on a step-by-step basis how this is done. Filters are found near the ductwork or fan motor. In some instances, you may have to take out some screws or remove a grate in order to access the filter.

For the washable filters, simply clean them thoroughly with a vacuum cleaner or water. For disposal filters, you don’t need to clean them, but rather trash and replace with new ones. If you are not sure of the filter model or size, you can consult with your local HVAC professional.