What Happens if You Don't Change the Air Filter in Your Home?

A dirty air filter can have serious consequences for your home and your health. It reduces airflow to the HVAC system, making it work harder and use more energy, which costs you more money. It also affects the quality of the air you breathe, leading to immediate problems like headaches, itchy eyes or throat, and dizziness. In the long-term, it can even cause respiratory disease, heart disease, or cancer.

If you don't change your air filters, you risk increasing energy costs, damaging expensive equipment, and decreasing indoor air quality and personal health. Homeowners should be aware of what can happen if they don't change their air filters. If the air filter is clogged and can't trap pollutants like before, those things can get back into the air that everyone in your home breathes. As a result, immediate problems may include itchy eyes or throat, headaches, and more.

If you continue with the same air filter and problems keep pace, long-term impacts could be serious. They include possible heart disease, respiratory diseases, even cause cancer, experts say. The danger of not changing the air filter in the house for a long time is that it will eventually lead to damage to the oven. This means that the entire system will be destroyed by excess heat.

This causes the entire system to have to work harder to distribute heat or air where it's needed, increasing your utility bills as the air runs longer. You cannot cool or heat your home to the ideal temperature: with a clogged filter, the unit may work and function without reaching the ideal temperature. Vacation homes or empty homes that don't see much use can wait to change filters every 9 to 12 months. Stronger filters are reusable, usually with metal frames, and can be cleaned according to the manufacturer's instructions.

People who live alone without pets can change filters once or twice a year without any problem. Most filters are located in areas that can be easily accessed, and all you need is to remove the old one and put on a new one. If you have upgraded to a higher efficiency filter, as part of a COVID mitigation strategy or simply to relieve allergy symptoms, it's important to know that these filters need to be changed more often than standard HVAC filters. Getting the most out of your home can be as easy as changing your air filters. If you find it difficult to replace the air filters, do not try to do it on your own, as it could cause further damage. We can go to your house to examine the system and fix any problems caused by old filters, thus avoiding further problems in the future.