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

One of the most basic issues that we hear about at Knochelmann Service Experts in Sharonville is dusty air filters. They may seem like a very tiny piece of the overall home comfort puzzle, but the role they play in helping us control comfort is a lot greater than most homeowners realize. Regardless if it is cooling season or heating season, having a dirty air filter can cause a number of concerns for your heating and AC system.

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

• Decreased airflow. This is easily the largest issue you’ll notice when your home’s air filter is severely clogged. The longer the air filter goes without being switched, the more dirt, dust and other particles build up. Of course, this hinders 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 working harder as a result of a filthy air filter, you also run the chance of having the cooling coil freeze inside of the system, because it’s running overtime to provide you with 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 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 diminished equipment lifecycle
• Decreased energy efficiency
• Decreased air quality
• Greater dust and debris
• Lack of comfort