How to Change the Air Filter On Your Air Conditioner or Furnace

January 28th, 2022

So you’ve decided it’s time to change the air filter on your air conditioner or furnace. Good decision! The reality is, you should be changing this regularly, at least a couple times per year even in the mild climate of the Greater Seattle area.

But if you’ve never done it before, how do you change an air filter?

The good news is, it’s actually pretty simple in most cases. We’ll walk you through the basic process. However, if you still aren’t able to figure it out, you can always give us a call and we can try to talk you through it over the phone. Or if necessary, we can come out and help you in person.

Before we get to how to change it, let’s quickly address how you know it’s the right time to change the air filter on your air conditioner.

One good way to test this is to hang a white sheet about five inches away from one of your vents, and leave it there for an hour. If during that time the sheet turns noticeably gray, that’s a good sign your air filter is due for replacement. Also, if there’s a buildup of dust around your vents, no need to use the sheet because that’s also a clear sign your filter is probably clogged up.

And in case you’re wondering, here’s a post on why changing your air filter is so important, and how it protects your health, your wallet, and your comfort.

How to Change an Air Filter in 6 Steps

1. Find the Air Filter

This step might seem silly, but sometimes, especially in larger homes with multiple vents, ducts, and other HVAC equipment, finding the air filter can be a little challenging.

Generally, it will be in the main air handling unit or in the main air duct vent. It could be in the return air duct that pulls air from your home back into the HVAC systems. Or it could be near the air handler that blows out the warm or cool air. This is quite common if your heating and air conditioning systems share the same ducts, which is true in most households.

You probably will have to open up a metal panel on top of the unit if it’s in the actual device, and this might require some unscrewing. In other cases, the door may be held with hooks, or it might just open up with minimal effort.

2. Turn Off the Power

You can turn off the unit or just switch off the circuit breaker. But you want to make sure there is no chance of electricity still operating in the unit when you open it.

3. Remove the Current Air Filter

Next, once you find the air filter and turn off the power, you can remove the current air filter from its location.

When you do this, pay attention to the orientation of the air filter. There are usually arrows printed on the sides of it pointing in one direction, either toward where the air is blowing from, or away from it. You will want to insert the new air filter facing the same direction, so pay attention to the old one before you take it out.

4. Inspect the Current Air Filter to Decide on the Replacement

Once you remove the air filter, take a moment to look at it. It will probably be quite dirty, especially if you’ve never done this before or it’s been a while. Hold it up to the light. If you can’t see much light through it, it’s dirty.

Assuming you need to replace the air filter, you want to learn two things in your inspection:

  1. The size of the air filter that fits in your system
  2. The MERV rating

Air filters come in many sizes. Generally, you’re looking for a length and a width, and it should be printed somewhere on the filter. If you can’t find it, you can always just measure it yourself. To be sure, you can also just bring the filter into the hardware store and make sure the new one you buy is the same size.

MERV stands for minimum efficiency reporting value. The higher the MERV rating, the more effective the air filter is at filtering out particulates. Ratings above 10 are considered able to filter out microorganisms that can impact your health and air quality.

The lowest quality air filters are made of fiberglass. These cost less, but they don’t last as long and need to be replaced more often, like almost every month. Pleated air filters are higher quality and should last several months.

HEPA filters are the highest quality. However, these are so good that in some HVAC systems they can impede airflow so much that the system has to work really hard to heat or cool your home, increasing your costs and risking breakdown. So just going for the highest possible MERV is not necessarily the best idea.

If you’re in doubt, give us a call and we’ll try to help you out over the phone. In general, you should be okay with a MERV rating between 5 and 13.

5. Dispose of the Old Air Filter

Especially if it’s very dirty and filled with possible health hazards, it’s a good idea to slip the old air filter into a plastic bag and then throw it in your usual garbage can.

If you happen to have a reusable filter, then you’ll need to add a step here to clean it and wait for it to dry. Some reusable air filters can be washed with water. Others can be vacuumed. Check the instructions on yours to find out how to clean it.

6. Buy and Insert the New Air Filter

Then, go to the hardware store and pick out the new air filter of the right size and desired MERV rating. Or, order it online. But if you do that, be absolutely certain about the size. Going to the store is a less risky approach because you can compare the old filter to the new one right there.

To insert the new one, slip it in the same way the old one came out. Again, use the arrows on the side to make sure it’s facing the correct direction.

The arrows always face away from the return air duct, and toward the air handler system.  If that’s confusing and you aren’t sure if the original was installed right, give us a call and we will try to talk you through it.

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Why Is It Important to Change Air Filters on Air Conditioners and Furnaces?

January 14th, 2022

Clogged air filters are probably the leading cause of breakdown for air conditioners and HVAC systems. That’s the main reason why changing air filters is so important.

Air conditioners and heaters depend on airflow. With impeded airflow, the system doesn’t work as well, and problems arise. Here are four reasons why it’s so important to change your air filter, and what could happen if you don’t.

4 Reasons to Change the Air Filter on Your AC / Furnace

1. Changing the Air Filter Saves You Money

Yes, you have to pay for the air filter. But the more clogged your air filter gets, the harder your system has to work. That means it is using more energy to produce and push the same amount of cool or warm air. Using more energy means you pay more for the same benefit. That’s a bad deal.

And in case you’re wondering, the air filter does get used in both summer and winter because the same fan moves the air either way. The mechanism for producing the warm or cool air may be different, but the fan that moves it and the filter the air passes through is the same.

Changing the air filter also saves money because it extends the healthy life of your HVAC system. And as you can imagine, air conditioning and heating repairs cost a lot more than buying an air filter every few months.

2. Changing the Air Filter Improves Performance

As time goes by, air filters will get clogged by various types of debris. This makes it harder to produce the same amount of warm or cool air.

This means, especially in the extreme hot and cold months, a fresh air filter will help your home warm up and cool down faster than it otherwise would. If it seems like it’s taking longer to warm up or cool down your house lately, there’s a good chance your air filter is the main culprit.

And by the way, if you want us to come out and do a maintenance check, we can also show you where your air filter is and how to change it. Sometimes, it is a little tricky. Here’s a quick guide on how to change your air filter yourself.

3. Changing the Air Filter Improves Indoor Air Quality

There are all kinds of pollutants and particulates floating around inside and outside. A good air filter will capture many of these and thus improve your air quality. Especially if you have kids, elderly residents, or people with medical conditions such as asthma or allergies, pristine air quality is a must.

Consistent replacement of your air filter is a low cost way to make a big difference in your air quality.

A saturated air filter will struggle to corral things like dust, spores, pollen, pet dander, hair, and microorganisms. Plus, all that gunk can collect moisture and lead to mold growth. If the mold gets in your ducts and the inner workings of your HVAC system, now you’ve got a serious and much more costly problem, for your health and your pocketbook.

4. Changing the Air Filter Reduces Your Environmental Footprint

Because a clean air filter allows your air conditioner and furnace to work more efficiently at heating up and cooling down the house, you will use less energy and thus reduce the cost your HVAC system is putting on the environment – especially if you’re relying on gas or electric power.

What Happens If You Don’t Change Your Air Filter?

If you neglect to change your air filter frequently enough, a number of problems will begin to mount over time.

First, because your air conditioner and heater will have to work harder, this extra strain will increase the wear and tear on the system and can cause it to overheat and break down. Again, in our experience, clogged air filters are the number one cause of costly and expensive repairs for HVAC systems. Extending the useful life of your system saves thousands of dollars.

Also, very old air filters can start to break down themselves, and this may release fibers into the air handling system. These fibers can interfere with the functionality of the HVAC system and require expensive repair and maintenance.

And, as already mentioned, not changing your air filter will make your home take longer to heat up or cool down, increasing your costs for no extra benefit.

The health problems that can be caused by the buildup of mold are well-known, and if mold is infesting your HVAC system, then your family is breathing unhealthy air. You can prevent most or all of this simply by regularly changing your air filter.

One way to tell if it’s well past time to change your filter is if there’s a buildup of dust near your vents, including on furniture near the vents. If you see this, then your air filter is probably well past due for replacement.

How Often Should You Change Your Air Filter?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this. Energy Star recommends a minimum of changing your air filter every three months. Some experts recommend every month.

But really this depends on several factors, such as the type of air filter you use, and how often you use your air conditioner and heater.

In the mild climate of the Pacific Northwest and Snohomish and North King County, we have pretty temperate springs and falls, and many people don’t use their systems at all during those months. There would obviously be no reason to change the filter if it isn’t being used.

But in summer and winter, it probably gets pretty heavy use. So keep an eye on it, and don’t let it sit there unchanged for too long.

As for the type of air filter, lower quality fiberglass air filters need to be replaced more frequently than higher quality ones.

If you want a professional HVAC repair and maintenance technician to come take a look at your system or show you how to change your air filter, feel free to schedule an appointment, and Bob will come out to take a look.

We are often booked several months out, so if you suspect problems with your HVAC system, don’t wait too long to call us!

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Why Get a Heat Pump in the Pacific Northwest?

February 20th, 2020

5 Reasons to Consider Switching to a Heat Pump or Mini-Split

Heating and cooling your home in the Pacific Northwest can be achieved through several different methods.

more efficient energy is one reason why to get a heat pump in the puget sound
Image by Iván Tamás from Pixabay

There are other more specialized options, but your three main choices for heat are natural gas, electric heat, or a heat pump. Each has their various pros and cons, which we may explore in a different article later.

For today, let’s explore the points in favor of a heat pump. First – what is a heat pump?

What Is a Heat Pump and How Does It Work?

A heat pump works much like a refrigerator, using refrigerant to remove heat from one area and move it to another. One of its two main defining characteristics is that it doesn’t generate heat through a heating coil or the burning of some type of fuel. Rather, it compresses and moves warm air absorbed by the refrigerant from the cooler place and transfers that heat to the warmer place.

Your refrigerator works in much the same way. It continually removes the heat from the items you put in your fridge (the cooler place) and transfers it through the refrigerant into the room. That’s why you can feel warm air coming out the bottom of your fridge.

Likewise, a heat pump takes warmth from the air from outside your home in the winter and moves it into your house with the help of an air handler.

A heat pump’s other defining characteristic is that it can go both ways. Unlike a furnace or an air conditioner which can only heat or cool your house, a heat pump can do both.

In the summer, it takes the warmer air from inside your home, and blows it outside, thus cooling the interior. In the fridge comparison, with a heat pump in the summer your house is the refrigerator. In the winter, the rest of the world is the refrigerator.

The primary reason most people give for not choosing a heat pump is that they don’t work as well in extreme temperatures. Especially in very cold (sub-freezing) temperatures, the heat pump struggles to get enough warm air from the outside to pump into your home.

But here in the Puget Sound area, we don’t generally have temperatures that low, so this is rarely an issue.

5 Reasons to Choose a Heat Pump

1. Uses Less Energy – Saves You $$$

saving on heating costs is one reason why to get a heat pump
Image by Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay

As you may have already inferred, because the heat pump does not have to generate its own heat, it uses far less energy than a gas or electric furnace. All the heat pump has to do is power the compressor, the fans, and other components to facilitate the transfer of the warm air.

This makes a heat pump much more energy efficient than your other options.

Measurements and studies vary, but your heat pump will probably save you between a third and a half of your home heating energy costs. Other factors can affect this, such as how well insulated and sealed your house is, the size of the house, your preferred temperatures in summer and winter, and other variables.

To produce 1 million BTUs, according our data, heat pumps cost far less than the other options.

2. Helps the Environment in Two Ways

First, because you’re not burning fuel to produce energy, a heat pump produces far fewer emissions than something like a gas or oil furnace.

If you’re looking for a way to play your part in curbing climate change by minimizing your carbon footprint, switching from a fossil fuel burning furnace to a heat pump is one of the most high-impact decisions you can make.

According to one source, a heat pump can offset energy produced by burning up to 300 gallons of oil.

Second, because heat pumps use less energy, you will also be drawing less power from your utility to operate the appliance. It runs less often than a furnace, and requires less energy to do so.

So with a heat pump, you are tapping the grid less often, reducing your overall energy usage. The Energy Department estimates that a heat pump can reduce your electricity use by about 50%.

3. Mini Split Style Heat Pumps Do Not Require a Duct System

If your home doesn’t have ducts, that’s not a problem. Heat pumps can adapt to this using a ‘mini-split’ approach. This essentially means the outdoor condenser unit can be hooked up to wall units all around your home.

However, traditional heat pumps require ducting because this is how the air handler moves the heat throughout the home.

4. Heats Your Home Faster

Because the ductless heat pump is just blowing warm air into one room rather than the entire house, individual controls for each room helps keep the comfort level more consistent. With a furnace, the warmest air is the air closest to where it was produced. As it gets farther from the unit, it cools more. So the furnace has to work harder to heat the rooms farthest from it.

The exception to this is if you are demanding large temperature swings from your system. Heat pumps are designed to keep consistent temperatures, not to go back and forth between 55 and 70 every day. If you try to do that, a traditional heat pump will switch to the furnace to heat the house. On the other hand, a mini split or ductless system allows you to heat or cool specific rooms.

5. Technology Continues to Advance

Today’s heat pumps work substantially better than ones produced 30 – 40 years ago.

Now, furnaces and air handlers use variable speed or dual speed motors. This keeps air moving at a consistent speed, which minimizes cool drafts, increases your savings, and make less noise.

Heat pump compressors have also seen vast improvement in their technology. Originally, units only had piston compressors. Then came scroll technology. Now, they are inverter driven, which varies the capacity of the unit and makes it much more efficient and quiet.

Trane and American Standard have worked with Seattle code compliance officials to achieve sound levels once thought impossible. We have units that will keep the decibel levels at 52 or less at full capacity and then lower that to under 40 after 10pm. Seattle and Kirkland have the most strict noise ordinances in the area, which is a huge problem with buildings now being built so close to each other.

Why Choose a Heat Pump?

To be clear – B&C Comfort does not endorse any one heating or cooling solution. All solutions have their pros and cons. What we care about most is that you are happy and comfortable in your home, no matter the season.

If you’re drawn to the idea of a heat pump but are concerned about getting a return on your investment, the question we usually ask is, how long do you plan to live in your home? It generally takes about five years to pay yourself back for switching to a heat pump as opposed to adding a separate air conditioner, assuming you already have a furnace.

More and more people are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprints and be more energy efficient. Heat pumps in the Puget Sound region are one very impactful way to achieve that.

B&C Comfort no longer installs heat pumps, but we do still perform service and repair work.

Schedule a service appointment

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Do I Really Need to Clean My Gas Fireplace?

April 18th, 2019

Do I Really Need to Clean My Gas Fireplace?

do i really need to clean my gas fireplace

Image by Sophie Janotta from Pixabay

It’s a good question. After all, your gas fireplace is a lot simpler than a wood-burning fireplace. No chopping, no carrying wood inside on a freezing day. No spiders in the woodpile. No ash. No hot coals to worry about. And best of all – no trouble starting the fire. Just flip a switch.

So there’s a lot to love about gas fireplaces, and it’s easy to get lulled into complacency and believe you don’t need to clean your gas fireplace either.

The truth is, you do need to clean it, just a lot less often than a wood-burning fireplace. The recommended frequency to clean and maintain a gas fireplace is once per year. If you want to use B&C Comfort and are in our service area (click here and scroll all the way to the end), we are regularly booked out several months in advance, so get on our schedule today.

Schedule my fireplace cleaning

Why You Need to Clean Your Gas Fireplace

But why must we clean our gas fireplaces if they burn so cleanly and make no visible mess?

Here’s the simple answer: all fire (combustion) produces waste products.

In general, the products of combustion are water vapor and carbon dioxide. But it’s not that simple. Water can react to metals and form rust, or combine with certain other chemicals to form corrosive acids, even very mild ones that take years to be noticed (see this article from the Chimney Safety Institute for more)  Carbon dioxide is one of those chemicals – it can combine with water to produce carbonic acid. Your fireplace can also create other waste products such as carbon monoxide, which is a deadline odorless gas.

So regardless of what else might be crawling around in your chimney, venting system, and in the components of your fireplace, over time you will build up soot and other residues.

These residues will collect on the glass doors, the internal fireplace parts, the walls, the fake logs, and in the chimney/venting.

They will affect performance.

They will affect visibility.

They will affect safety.

Over time, an uncleaned gas fireplace will develop clogged or partially clogged gas lines and air passages. The motion of your fans will become inhibited. Small leaks can form.

Nothing works forever without ongoing maintenance. And let’s not forget, you are using this fireplace to burn a fire in your house. So, once a year, it’s a pretty smart move to make sure everything is cleaned and in working order.

Additional Gas Fireplace Maintenance Issues

Besides just the residues and soot collecting on everything, your annual fireplace cleaning is the perfect time to make sure everything else is working properly. Here are a few other items a professional can look at while they’re cleaning your fireplace.

  • Check functionality of thermopile and thermocouple, as applicable
  • Check that venting system is working properly (a major safety issue)
  • Look for chipped or cracked glass doors
  • Evaluate status of ceramic or faux logs – these too wear down over time
  • Do a carbon monoxide test

It takes a trained eye to quickly evaluate the quality and functionality of these and other gas fireplace components.

But in addition to cleaning, it’s very important to keep your fireplace working in perfect shape. It maximizes your energy efficiency, maintains optimal safety, and keeps your fireplace looking great.

If you live in our service area (scroll to the end of this page to find out) and haven’t cleaned your fireplace in a long time (or ever), now’s a good time to get on our busy schedule.

Schedule your next fireplace cleaning

 

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