A winter rolls around in Northern Virginia, many homeowners are looking for ways to trim their heating bills. One way to accomplish this is to make your heating system more efficient. You can boost your furnace’s efficiency with costly upgrades, or you can keep it simple and inexpensive: give your furnace a filter change.
Filters are important for a variety of reasons. Filters keep the furnace itself clean and running smoothly, and keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy by filtering out harmful and irritating particles, including:
- Dirt and dust
- Mold and pollen
- Animal hair and pet dander
- Cigarette smoke
- Bacteria and viruses
- Insect and rodent waste.
Over time, however, filters can get clogged with all the materials they filter out of the air. This can cause your furnace to run less efficiently, because it has to work extra hard to push hot air through the clogs. This translates to greater energy use and higher utility bills.
A clogged filter can also cause a problem known as short-cycling, which occurs when a clogged filter blocks hot air from getting through. this causes the system to overheat and shut down. When it cools off, your furnace will restart, only to overheat and shut down yet again.
The only way to avoid these problems is to change your furnace filters. How often they should be changed varies from one household to the next, and depends on a variety of factors. here are some things to consider:
- Most experts recommend a filter change every three months, or at the start of each season.
- Certain factors may require you to change filters more often, such as a household with a smoker, with pets, or that is prone to unusually large amounts of dust.
- Inexpensive fiberglass filters do not get clogged as quickly as more expensive filters. This is not because they are better; it is because they are very inefficient, and allow more particles to flow through.
For more information on the benefits of a filter change, contact Jones-Rogers, inc. We’re proud to serve all of Northern Virginia’s heating and cooling needs.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about filter changes and other HVAC topics, visit our website and see our special offers.
Jones-Rogers, Inc. services Northern Virginia.