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

One of the most routine issues that we encounter at Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning in Memphis is dusty air filters. They may seem like a very small piece of the overall home comfort puzzle, but the role they play in helping us control comfort is a lot bigger than most homeowners notice. Regardless if it is cooling season or heating season, having a dirty air filter can cause a host of problems for your heating and AC system.

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

• Diminished airflow. This is easily the largest headache you’ll recognize when your home’s air filter is severely clogged. The longer the air filter goes without being swapped out, 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 quite a bit harder to provide you with the same amount of air.
• Frozen coil. If your system is working harder due to a clogged air filter, you also run the danger of having the cooling coil freeze inside of the system, because it’s operating overtime to leave you with cool air.
• Total loss of cooling or heating. This is also a probability if your air filter goes neglected for months and months on end. In essence, you will have worked your system so hard that something gives out 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 can 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
• Reduced energy efficiency
• Decreased air quality
• More dust and debris
• Lack of comfort