When was the last time you changed your home’s furnace air filter? Let’s be honest: this home maintenance task can be a hassle. Remembering when to change your air filter and what size you need can make it even more dreadful.
Here are our best tips to help make changing your air filter easier.
How often to change an air filter
If you haven’t already, you must determine how often you should change your home’s air filter. Replacing your air filter regularly will keep your HVAC unit running smoothly. It can also have an impact on your indoor air quality.
Many factors can influence how often you should be changing your filters. Take into consideration the number of people living in the home, how many pets, and the size of the home. Changing filters every 1-3 months is recommended; however, it’s ultimately up to you.
If you’re new to air filter maintenance, we suggest you read about Three Questions to Ask before Choosing an Air Filter.
How to change your air filter
Regular maintenance for your filters can become second nature once you know what you’re doing. Just follow these easy steps:
- Start by locating your air filter housing. Check the ceiling and floors for a return air grille or your furnace system. If you live in a home with multiple levels, you may have more than one air filter to change.
- Remove the old air filter.
- Insert the new filter.
Tip: Ensure the airflow arrow points towards your return or furnace when you change.
Follow this step-by-step process each time. For more detailed instructions, check out How to Change Your In-Home Furnace Air Filter.
Our Top 5 Air Filter Maintenance Tips
- Use pleated air filters. Cheap fiberglass air filters will cost you more money in the long run. Fiberglass filters need replacing more often and will let large particles through, which will affect the performance and longevity of your HVAC system. Pleated air filters will last longer and prevent contaminants from reaching the coils and ductwork.
- Buy your air filters in bulk. The per-filter cost of a 6-pack is much cheaper than buying a single filter. Plus, you will have replacement filters on hand and ready to go when you need them. You’ll save time and money with this hack.
- Set a reminder. Setting up a reminder on your phone is a simple way to ensure you don’t forget to change your air filter. Set up the reminder to repeat every 30, 60, or 90 days and change your filter when it goes off.
- Sign up for an air filter subscription. Setting your air filters up for auto-delivery is easy! The FiltersFast.com Home Filter Club subscription program will automatically deliver your filters for you. Subscribe & Save will save you money on each order and let you customize your delivery schedule. So you can have your filters delivered when it’s time to change them.
- Consider the cost of not changing your filter. Putting off something as simple as changing your filters can cost you more money and time than you wish. The longer you go without changing your filters, the more it strains your system, which can drive up your energy bills. It can also lead to costly repairs or even system replacement.
By keeping these five things in mind, your air filter changes will be much smoother. If you haven’t practiced the above suggestions, you can start today by ordering your air filter replacement.
If you have any air filter questions, share them with us in the comments, and we’ll be happy to assist you!
Kory says
Yes, the arrow is supposed to point towards the furnace.
Frances says
SO, the arrow is supposed to point toward the furnace, correct? Or if you filters have cardboard “x’s” on one side, they go on the INSIDE (away from you, Towards the furnace?”) I’m looking at the picture posted here, and that’s really all I needed to know.
Amanda Drew says
That’s a great idea to make sure you write down what size of air filters you have as well as where those go. My husband and I just bought a new house for us and our son. It’s our first house, so we want to make sure we do everything right. We’ll have to find some air filters to buy to keep our air clean.
Marcus Coons says
It really helped when you mentioned how you should choose the right size air filters to make sure contaminants do not sneak past it. I can understand that taking the time to understand this can help you get the best air quality you can in your area. We are looking into getting an air purifier and want to make sure we know how to replace its filters and get the most of it, so I’m glad I found your post.
Erika Brady says
I think that is a great idea to buy filters in bulk. I have had a few instances where the filter needed to be changed and I did not have anything to change it with. I will buy a lot of them and keep them in my storage. Then I will create a routine of when they need to be changed so I have a rough idea of how often I should be doing that.