Video Transcription:

How to Clean a Furnace Air Filter

Hi, I’m Scott from A/C Doc Heating & Cooling. And I’m here to give you some tips and hopefully some good advice on maintaining your furnace and your air conditioning. And something very easily done and often overlooked and we see it all the time is cleaning your air filters or your furnace. I can’t stress how critical this is and this is something that’s pretty simple that the average homeowner should be able to do.

First Switch Furnace Off

Before you start changing your air filters, it’s always best to turn the system off at the furnace. You don’t want to have an on switch. Normally, up is on, down is off. Turn the circuit breaker off before you go opening the panels and get into the system.

Different Types Of Air Filters

There are all different types of filters that I’m going to talk to you about.

1 Inch Fiber Glass Filter

These are a 1 inch fiber glass filters that I really don’t recommend as you can see right through it. It doesn’t pick up any of the small particles and things of that nature. So if it’s a last ditch effort when you’re at a store… This is the only thing you had and you don’t have a filter in then I’d put it in. If not, I would pretty much avoid this particular filter. That’s just my opinion.

1 Inch Washable Filter

The next one is the 1 inch washable filter. Again, it’s not a whole lot better in my opinion. Again, you can see through it so it’s not going to pick up any small particles really. OK? And it is nice that you can just wash it out or vacuum it and let it dry after you wash it and put it back in. After a couple of years of use, it starts to deteriorate. Then it would be replaced every couple of years or so.

Cheap insurance with the filters every month, they can last up to three months. It all depends on the activities in the house, if you have dogs and cats and things of that nature. Again, every environment in the house is different. Cheap insurance with these filters that are disposal is changing every month especially if you got a new system. It’s cheap insurance.

1 Inch Pleated Filter

The 1 inch pleated filter is what I recommend, the disposable again, the $3 to $5 at hardware stores. And that’s really what I recommend. They had some that cost as much as $15. I really don’t; recommend them only because they got – they’re a such high static pressure drops across them that it causes duct whistling and overheats the furnace and things of that nature. So I will try to avoid those. Get the good ones like $3 to $5 pleated filter. OK?

RECOMMENDED – 5 Inch Pleated Filter

And then I’m going to show you my preference. If you really want a good air filter system that you’re not going to have to maintain as often, this is what I would recommend. It’s a 5 inch pleated filter.

Now, keep in mind, the cabinet is about 7 inches wide. Not every application can accept these because of the ductwork and space confinements in that situation. But if you put the new system in, this is what I would recommend to do.

One, it’s easy. It’s usually a spring loaded door. Readily, you can change this filter. There’s a cartridge in here that you slides in and out once you pull that door. This will lasts six months to a year. Again, depending on the environment and the activities in the house. The cheap insurance, the initial cost is for the whole thing and the ductwork and the time. But once it’s in then all you’re doing is paying for this.

And like I said, most average homeowners can get – you pull the door off and you slide this duct in and out. It’s pretty simple. And this, you put a good filter like this in. Ten years from now, if you change this religiously, ten years from now, I come out and look inside of that furnace, it would still look like it’s brand new. They have much better filters for allergies and things of that nature than this one. However, it requires a lot more maintenance. They’re a lot more expensive and if you’re not maintaining them then you got a very expensive air filter that is not performing what it is designed to do.

So that’s why I like this one. Most people will take care of this because you don’t need to take anything out and still get it washed and wait around and like I said, you slide it out, you throw it away. You slide another one back in. Very simple. It really pops in and out, very easy. You do have to give it a little bit of a tug but not a big deal.

AC Doc Heating & Cooling

That’s what I recommend. Again, this is Scott from AC Doc Heating & Cooling. And I hope that was helpful.

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