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The leaves fall, the weather becomes colder, the holiday season approaches, and your furnace’s air filter needs changed… Wait, your furnace’s air filter needs changed?

That’s right, every 60–90 days is the general recommendation by the EPA. Of course, this number can vary based on a variety of factors, but we recommend you observe your air filter frequently and replace it when it appears to be clogged; especially during this fall season when contagious respiratory illnesses are nearly uncontainable.

While this isn’t a frequently done household task, it probably should be. We spend up to 90% of our time indoors, and indoor air is typically two to five times dirtier than the air outside. The air we breathe should always be fresh and clean. So, to improve your indoor air quality this fall and moving forward, we've put together some maintenance tips on common mechanical appliances that utilize air filters. As the weather changes and the holiday season invites your family to stay indoors, use this article as a guide moving forward to help you breathe easy. 

Forced Air Systems (Furnace), Heat Pumps, and Mini-splits 

All home HVAC systems have an air filter, and it should be removed and inspected every 60–90 days. Continuing to use a dirty air filter with your HVAC system past its recommended time-of-use will restrict airflow that is required to reach all areas of your home. This problem leads to inconsistencies in temperatures throughout your home, and may increase the load on your HVAC system. Potentially adding to increased energy costs that can also result in less reliable humidity control during the cooling season.

When choosing a replacement filter, go with the filter recommended by the appliance manufacturer. For instance, if the newly inserted filter has a higher Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) than your system can handle, it can force your air system to work too hard. Make sure you have the correct filter size and appropriate filter MERV rating for your system.

If your system has reusable air filters, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for inspecting and cleaning those filters.

Fresh Air Appliance 

Alongside a standard HVAC system, some homes are equipped with a Fresh Air Appliance (FAA). An FAA is designed for tight homes. These appliances have a counterflow/crossflow core to bring fresh air in and exhaust stale air out. These appliances filter the incoming air and deliver air into the forced air system (if connected to one) or they distribute air throughout the living space (if installed independently from your central HVAC system). 

Allow your fresh air appliance to work efficiently and keep energy costs low by inspecting and cleaning the filters when necessary. When the filters become clogged, airflow is restricted, causing your appliance to expend the same amount of energy with less delivered airflow. Avoid this altogether by performing correct maintenance on your FAA. 

Filters

To keep the air clean in your home, and to keep pressure levels the same, we recommend to check the filters within your Fresh Air Appliance every 3 months, and cleaning or replacing them when they’re dirty. Within our top ported FAAs, we utilize two MERV-3 electrostatic filters and a MERV-8 filter: check these and clean/replace if necessary. Within our side ported FAAs, we utilize two MERV-3 electrostatic filters: check these and clean as necessary.

Core 

Fresh air is brought through the fresh air appliance’s core, and into your home. If the core is dirty, less air is brought in. To make sure your appliance is working as intended, check the cleanliness of the core every 6 months. According to the manufacturer’s supplied instructions, clean the core as necessary. 

Intake Vent

Another factor that can hinder the ability of your HVAC system is a dirty intake vent. Intake vents are critical for homes with a standard HVAC system as it keeps the indoor air from becoming stagnant. Since these are installed on the exterior of the home, the vents will pull in all types of pollutants and organisms through the duct. We recommend that you inspect the screens during the spring and fall seasons and clean the interior of the vent with a wire brush or a soft cloth. 

HEPA Filtration Systems

Most tight homes opt to exchange their air with a Fresh Air Appliance. However, for homes that reside in areas where outdoor air pollution is high, or for individuals that require a high degree of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration system may be used. Most often, you can find HEPA filtration systems within the utility room, mounted onto or near your home’s HVAC system.  

HEPA systems utilize a three-stage filtration process that collects particles between 3–10 microns in size, smelly odors, and air particles as small as 0.3 microns in size with the HEPA filter.  

Like a Fresh Air Appliance, performing proper recommended maintenance will allow the filtration system to work efficiently and keep energy costs low.  

We recommend to check the filters within your HEPA filtration systems and replace the filters as recommended by the manufacturer. Replace the carbon pre-filter if dirty every 3–6 months, and replace the HEPA filter annually or when dirty. 

Breathe Easy with Fantech

Keeping your air systems clean is imperative to their operation. Be sure to check your air filters regularly, and if recommended, clean and put the filters back in place. If cleaning is not an option, replace air filters as necessary. At Fantech, we want to help your IAQ stay clean; now and forever.

Curious about clean air? Check out our other blog articles that offer tips to help your home breathe better:
 

Healthier Homes Start with Fresh Air

Top 5 Seasonal Maintenance Tips for Efficient Ventilation Year-Round

How to Fix the 4 Biggest Air Quality Issues in Homes

The Good, Better, Best Ways of Tackling Indoor Air Quality