The air filter in your central air conditioning system is not really there to protect the quality of the air throughout your home. You will need a more efficient, designated filter to do that, typically. Why, then, are we reminding you about just how important it is that you keep a fresh filter in your air conditioning system? Because the job that it does do it still incredibly important — and your AC won’t be able to successfully do its job without a clean filter in place.
You should obviously be scheduling routine air conditioning maintenance service on an annual basis. However, having a trained professional tune up your system once a year is not really enough to keep it functioning at peak performance and efficiency levels. That is because most filters need to be changed once every 1-3 months. You cannot wait for scheduled maintenance before replacing it. Here are a few problems that can be caused by a dirty air filter in your air conditioner in Spring, TX.
Decreased Indoor Air Quality
Hold on a second, you may be thinking, didn’t you just say that the air filter in the AC is not really there in order to boost air quality throughout the house? Yes, we did — but that does not mean that a very dirty air filter is not going to negatively affect that indoor air quality. Air filters fit pretty snugly into place, but they are not hermetically sealed in. If the filter is dirty enough, and the airflow through the system is met with enough airflow resistance, then air may be forced around the filter, along with the pollutants that it carries.
Increased Operating Costs
Why would you pay more to drag down the performance quality of your AC and the air quality in your home? That is exactly what you risk doing if you do not keep a fresh air filter in your system. As the AC has to work harder and harder to force air through the filter, it is going to use up more and more energy. That will be reflected in increased cooling costs.
Wear and Tear, and Other Problems
If you do not take the time to change your air filter as needed, your air conditioning system is going to suffer a number of potential problems. General wear and tear is the most obvious, as it is going to work harder than it should have to in order to distribute cooled air throughout your home. However, other problems, such as short cycling, will exacerbate matters. If your system overheats due to the strain put on it, it will shut down. Then start up. Then shut down again quickly. Short cycling can really take a toll over time.
The decreased airflow over the evaporator coil could also result in the icing of the coil. This added layer of insulation will then make it even more difficult for your system to pull a sufficient amount of heat out of the air surrounding it. If you want to prevent such issues, a fresh filter is the way to go.
Contact Milton Frank Plumbing & Cooling for your AC service needs.