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

One of the most routine issues that we hear about at Niagara Home Services by Enercare in Niagara Falls is dirty air filters. They can seem like a very insignificant piece of the big 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 dirty air filter can cause a variety of concerns for your heating and AC system.

So what exactly happens when you don’t remember to swap out your air filter? Here are a just a couple of the side effects you might encounter:

• Diminished airflow. This is easily the biggest issue you’ll notice when your home’s air filter is severely clogged. The longer the air filter goes without being changed, the more dirt, dust and other particles build up. Of course, this inhibits air from passing through the filter as it should, meaning your system is working significantly harder to give you the same amount of air.
• Frozen coil. If your system is working harder as a result of a filthy air filter, you also run the danger of having the cooling coil freeze inside of the system, because it’s running overtime to leave you with cool air.
• Total loss of cooling or heating. This is also a probability if your air filter goes neglected for months and months on end. In essence, you will have worked your system so hard that something quits working or wears out and needs to be replaced or serviced.
• Short cycling. Short cycling means the heating and cooling system turns on and off all the time. When your system short cycles, it could 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
• Greater dust and debris
• Lack of comfort