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Your furnace is going to have an air filter that’s responsible for trapping unwanted airborne particles that circulate throughout your ductwork. Your furnace filter will be typically located in a housing within the blower compartment. When it’s time to replace your furnace filter, there are various considerations you’ll want to take into account to get the perfect one to meet your needs.
Filter Replacement
As a homeowner, it’s important that you check the state of your furnace filter every month. You want to pull it out of its housing and hold it up to a light source. If you’re no longer able to see through the filter, then it’s time to replace it. Most homeowners find they need to replace their furnace filter every two to three months.
It’s never a good idea to let your furnace run with a dirty filter. This leads to restricted airflow and makes your furnace work much harder. The overworking can cause premature wear and tear on your furnace’s internal components and shorten its overall lifespan.
Filter Sizing
One of the first things you’ll want to know when you go to get a new furnace filter is the dimensions you need. One of the easiest ways to get the dimensions is to look at what’s written on the existing filter in your system. All filters will have three different numbers on them that indicate the filter’s length, width, and depth. All these measurements are given in inches.
For example, a filter with a rating of 25x16x1 is going to be 25 inches long by 16 inches wide by 1 inch deep. All furnace filters are given in nominal measurements. This means that the actual filter size may be slightly below the dimensional number. For example, your filter depth may only be three-quarters of an inch in actual size. However, its nominal sizing will be 1 inch, found by rounding it up.
All furnace filters are meant to go into your ducting where they’re able to cover the entire open area. You never want to put a filter in that’s smaller than the intended filter size. This undersized filter can allow air to travel unfiltered around the sections of the ducting that the filter doesn’t cover. This situation reduces indoor air quality and leaves the furnace’s internal components susceptible to damage from airborne debris traveling through your ducting.
MERV Ratings
All furnace filters are given an efficiency rating known as MERV. This stands for minimum efficiency reporting value and runs on a scale from 1 all the way up to 20. Filters with a MERV rating of 20 are more effective at capturing airborne particles than filters with a rating of 1. It can be helpful to note that when talking about capturing airborne particles, the particles are measured in microns.
If you suffer from allergies, a respiratory illness, or even asthma, you may want to consider getting a highly rated MERV filter. It’s vital to realize that not all MERV filters will work in a residential setting. Homeowners should only be using filters with a MERV rating between 1 and 13. Anything higher requires a more powerful commercial system in order to filter the air.
If you run one of these higher-rated filters in your residential furnace, it’s going to greatly restrict the airflow and overwork your system. In some cases, it can even cause it to not run at all. We’ve included a general guideline of what filters can trap depending on their MERV rating. Each classification includes the listed items and the items listed for lower MERV ratings.
- MERV 1 to 4: dust, lint, dust mites, pollen
- MERV 5 to 8: mold
- MERV 9 to 13: pet dander, bacteria
If you have pets in your home, you’ll likely want to consider a filter with a higher rating that can trap unwanted pet dander. Additionally, if your home is highly trafficked, you may want to consider getting a higher-rated filter to trap more airborne allergens.
Filter Type
Furnace filters will come in a few different types. There are three main types, including fiberglass, pleated, and washable filters. Fiberglass filters are going to be the least expensive to buy and provide minimal filtering capability. They’ll typically have MERV ratings between 1 and 4.
Washable filters have a similar filtering capability and come with the added benefit of being able to be reused. You’ll want to pull out your washable filter, rinse it thoroughly, and let it dry before reinstalling it. Washable filters are more expensive than fiberglass filters but have a much longer lifespan of around five years or more.
Pleated air filters are going to be the most common as they provide a moderate to high amount of filtering for airborne particles and allergens. These filters can offer a higher filtering capability because there’s more surface area due to their pleated design as compared to a flat fiberglass air filter. Typically, the higher the MERV rating a furnace filter has, the more expensive it will be to purchase.
Replacement Process
Replacing your furnace filter is a pretty easy task to do. You’ll want to locate the filter housing which will be near the blower components of your furnace. Simply remove the cover and pull out the old filter. There should be a specific direction shown near the filter housing. If you look on your new furnace filter, it will have an arrow that shows airflow direction.
You’ll want to ensure that you match the arrow on your filter with the direction of the airflow on your system so that it works correctly. The arrow should always be pointing in the direction that the air flows. It can be extremely helpful to use a marker to write the replacement date on your new filter. This will allow you to get a decent idea of how often your filter is going to need changed.
Can You Run Your Furnace Without an Air Filter?
It’s not uncommon for homeowners to wonder if they can run their furnace without having an air filter in it. The short answer is that you technically can. However, it isn’t recommended. Running your furnace without a filter can lead to unwanted airborne debris entering the internal components of your furnace. This debris can cause malfunctions and premature wear on your system’s components. Overall, this can lead to a significantly decreased lifespan for your furnace.
Furthermore, running your furnace without an air filter will heavily deteriorate the quality of your indoor air. Essentially, your ducting will be circulating air full of unwanted airborne contaminants over and over without removing any of them. Poor indoor air quality is linked to issues like headaches, fatigue, and sinus symptoms. Additionally, symptoms associated with asthma, allergies, or a respiratory condition will worsen with poor quality air.
Expert Filter Replacement Service
Atticman Heating and Air Conditioning, Insulation offers expert filter replacement service for Sacramento, CA and the surrounding communities. We’re more than happy to assist you with all your heating maintenance, cooling, whole-house fan, ductwork, electrification, insulation, and water heater services. Simply give us a call today to schedule your next heating service consultation with one of our knowledgeable HVAC technicians.
