An essential component of any home’s HVAC system, air filters are lightweight barriers positioned within your air conditioning vents. They trap particulates to keep them from circulating through your vents and, ultimately, your house. Here are 4 reasons why air filters are necessary.
Hidden within your AC system, air filters are easy to forget, and most people only think to replace them twice a year, in the spring and the fall. But the importance of air filters should not be overlooked, especially in households with pets or individuals with sensitive respiratory systems.
The reality is that these trusty but silent heroes should be replaced at least once every two months. That’s because they’re important for keeping your house and family happy and healthy. Individuals with seasonal allergies often see the indoors as a safe haven from air pollution and pollen that can exacerbate respiratory conditions.
But without good indoor air quality, a house can be just as bad as polluted city streets. The following key advantages make air filters a necessary part of every home.
They Filter Out Allergens
An air filter’s number one role is filtering harmful particulates out of the air that you breathe. Most air filters have the capacity to filter out dust, dirt, pollen, pet hair, dandruff, mold and mold spores, wood and plastic particles as well as allergens from pests such as cockroaches or rats.
Higher quality filters can even trap microbes like bacteria and viruses. These particles can all trigger sneezing, coughing, runny noses, headaches, and even allergic reactions in sensitive individuals.
The quality of air filters is measured by its assigned MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) rating. The rating, developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), falls between a 1 and a 20.
Most households can do with a filter rated at a 6 or an 8. However, more sensitive individuals or homeowners with larger or older houses should opt for merv 11 air filters or higher.
Air Filters Reduce Utility Costs
Unsurprisingly, air vents clogged with dust and other particulates won’t operate at peak performance. This can result in inconsistent temperatures in your home, with your HVAC system overcompensating to make up for lost energy efficiency.
This will eventually drive up your utility bills far beyond the negligible cost of a good air filter. Air filters, if kept consistently clean, can reduce your energy bill by up to 15 percent!
If you still suffer from elevated utility costs, even after installing a high-quality air filter, an expert should take a closer look at your HVAC system.
Air Filters Increase the Lifetime of Your HVAC systems
One major benefit of having a high-functioning air filter is that it ultimately reduces the stress placed on your HVAC system. Dust can collect on old filters or within vents and clog them, causing your system to work harder to bring air into your home.
This can eventually put a strain on the motors of the fans that your home’s HVAC system utilizes and cause them to malfunction. Installing quality filters and replacing them regularly will keep your heating and cooling systems running longer and reduce the chance of a breakdown.
Even when problems do occur, air filters will help keep important components of the system clean, which will lower the cost of repairs.
Save Yourself a Trip to the Doctor
If you or a member of your family are particularly sensitive to allergens or have asthma or other respiratory conditions, having a high-quality air filter is more than a matter of saving on energy bills—it may help reduce your medical bills as well.
It’s not uncommon, considering the rising pollen counts recorded throughout the US. More and more people end up at the doctor because of severe allergy symptoms each year.
Air filters are a low-cost preventative measure that will help you breathe easier and may play a role in diminishing the frequency of asthma attacks or allergy flare-ups in more sensitive individuals.
Conclusion
Now, more than ever, people are spending more and more time inside. To ensure good health, we need to make sure that the air quality in our homes is as good as it can be.
By utilizing high-quality air filters and replacing them regularly, we can ensure that the air circulating through our homes is breathable and allergen-free.
Healthy air makes the house more livable and reduces our medical bills. Therefore, with one simple purchase, we can save money and keep our house’s HVAC system—and our lungs—working as they should be!
