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

One of the most common problems that we hear about at Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning in Raleigh is dusty air filters. They might seem like a very insignificant piece of the whole home comfort puzzle, but the role they play in helping us control comfort is a lot larger than most homeowners notice. Regardless if it is cooling season or heating season, having a filthy air filter can cause a number of problems for your heating and AC system.

So what exactly happens when you neglect to change your air filter? Here are a just a couple of the side effects you could encounter:

• Decreased 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 give you the same amount of air.
• Frozen coil. If your system is working harder because of a dirty air filter, you also run the risk of having the cooling coil freeze inside of the system, because it’s operating overtime to give you cool air.
• Total loss of cooling or heating. This is also a possibility 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 may 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
• Reduced energy efficiency
• Lower air quality
• Increase in dust and debris
• Lack of comfort