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

One of the most routine concerns that we hear about at Comfortech Service Experts in Jackson is dirty air filters. They may seem like a very small piece of the big home comfort puzzle, but the role they play in helping us maintain comfort is a lot greater than most homeowners notice. Regardless if it is cooling season or heating season, having a clogged air filter can cause a host of problems for your heating and AC system.

So what exactly happens when you forget to swap out your air filter? Here are a just a couple of the side effects you may encounter:

• Reduced airflow. This is easily the biggest issue you’ll note 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 prevents air from passing through the filter as it should, meaning your system is working significantly harder to leave you with the same amount of air.
• Frozen coil. If your system is operating harder because of a dirty air filter, you also run the danger of having the cooling coil freeze inside of the system, because it’s operating overtime to provide you with cool air.
• Total loss of cooling or heating. This is also a probability 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, possibly causing damage to your system.

In addition to these, you can also expect:

• A diminished equipment lifecycle
• Lower energy efficiency
• Diminished air quality
• Increase in dust and debris
• Lack of comfort