As a homeowner, the most important step you can take to maintain your HVAC system is to regularly change your air conditioner filter. To keep your cooling system in top shape this season and beyond, Douglas Cooling & Heating explains why a clean filter is so beneficial for your HVAC system, ways to make filter changes quick and easy, and when you should call our team for professional assistance.

Clean Filters Are Critical to HVAC Performance and Efficiency

The filter within your heating and cooling system serves as a protector for all the delicate sensors and components housed within your indoor HVAC equipment cabinet. Many believe the filter’s sole purpose is to remove airborne pollutants and improve air quality inside the home – this is merely a bonus the filter delivers by doing its primary job.

Over time, the air filter becomes full of contaminants that clog up its surface area. This leaves no more surface for the filter media to capture particles that circulate through the system. Therefore, those contaminants circulate into the HVAC equipment and back into your living areas.

Operating your heating and cooling system when you don’t change your air filter doesn’t just cause problems related to more contaminants in the air. Because the surface of the filter is clogged with particles, the filter restricts air movement through it. Air conditioners and furnaces rely on proper airflow through the system to operate efficiently. Without a clean filter, the HVAC equipment must use more energy to circulate air. This wastes energy, increases your utility bills, and can even cause the system to overheat and sustain damage.

If you want to keep your heating and cooling equipment in good condition, keep your energy bills low, and breathe cleaner air inside your home, change your AC filter regularly.

Tips to Help You Change Your HVAC Filter

It’s tough to say exactly when you need to change your AC filter. Frequency depends on the type of filter you use in your system, how often your HVAC unit runs, and attributes about your household that affect indoor air quality, such as indoor pets, smoking inside the house, family members with allergies or asthma, etc. Low quality filters often need changed monthly while those with higher MERV ratings can last much longer.

As a general rule, you should check your filter every month to see if you need to change it. Simply remove the filter from the cabinet and take a look. If the filter media surface is covered with grey matter and no clear space is left, it’s time to change it. If it is difficult to tell, try this trick – hold the filter up to a light; if you can see the light shining through then there is still some life left, but if not, go ahead and replace it with a new one.

Many people forget this important maintenance step because filters are out of sight, out of mind. Try marking this task on your calendar or setting a reminder in your phone each month to help you remember to change your AC filter regularly.

When You Need Help

Most homeowners find it possible to change their HVAC filter without any outside help. But there may be times where you need professional help. Here are a few scenarios where you should call our heating and air conditioning technicians to assist with your air filter change needs:

• You can’t find where the filter is located.
• If you cannot remove the filter from its compartment.
• If the filter compartment covering is stuck, and you cannot detach it to access the filter.
• If the new filter doesn’t fit inside your system correctly after you change the old filter, even though it is the correct dimensions.
• The filter falls out of its frame and becomes stuck in the HVAC equipment.
• You remove the old filter and find out that it’s wet and moldy.

HVAC Help from Douglas Cooling & Heating

If you have issues when you change your air filters, don’t hesitate to call us for help. The pros of Douglas Cooling & Heating are here to help you care for your cooling equipment, and we will make sure your system is good to go with the right filter! Contact us today to schedule service.

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During the summer, your air conditioning system is working hard to keep you and your family cool, especially as temperatures continue to rise. However, with your cooling system working harder to keep you comfortable indoors, your energy bill will be higher and may cost you money that you can’t afford to lose.

Douglas Cooling & Heating understands summers are for fun in the sun, which is why we want to help your AC unit before it’s too late. Follow some of our tips below to improve the efficiency and performance of your air conditioning unit while saving you a little bit of money this summer.

How to Increase Your Air Conditioner’s Efficiency

Everyone loves to save money, especially in the summer when they are planning vacations and family gatherings. However, blasting your air conditioner during all times of the day can drive up quite the energy bill. The last thing you want to deal with is a high energy bill due to your air conditioner working harder than necessary to keep you cool.

There are several ways to make your air conditioner more energy efficient without sacrificing your comfort. Below are suggestions to save you money and keep you smiling all summer long:

Check Your Outdoor Unit 

Clear away debris from the exterior unit, which can restrict the airflow around your AC compressor and reduce your air conditioner’s efficiency. You can visually inspect and remove leaves, twigs, feathers and other pieces of trash lodged in or around your unit.

Landscaping, such as trees, bushes, and shrubs, needs to be at least two feet away from the outdoor component. If you notice anything overgrowing and interfering with your unit’s ventilation, trim it back so the AC compressor can breathe.

Utilize Ceiling Fans

Air movement from ceiling fans can make a room feel much cooler without touching the thermostat. Use ceiling fans in rooms where traffic is high.

They push cool air out and down, allowing your skin to evaporate sweat faster and leaving you feeling cooler. A ceiling fan increases your air conditioner’s efficiency throughout the summer by keeping you cool so you don’t touch the thermostat.

Schedule a Tune Up

Your air conditioner’s efficiency is affected by how clean it is and the amount of wear and tear it suffers during the cooling season. Air conditioner tune ups or scheduled maintenance with our NATE-certified technicians will keep your system healthy.

Our technicians check and/or replace dirty filters, clean the interior components, and notify you of issues potentially leading to expensive HVAC repairs in the future, such as air leaks. They will also inspect all electrical connections and wiring, and check for refrigerant leaks during a routine tune up.

Finally, the technician lubricates any moving parts to reduce friction and excess wear and tear on your air conditioner’s parts.

Install a Programmable Thermostat

A regular old-fashioned dial thermostat lets you adjust the temperature in your house, while a modern thermostat can be programmed to reflect the routines of your household.

Wi-Fi-enabled models allow you to control the temperature from anywhere remotely, whether it’s at the airport or after you’ve settled into bed. Your air conditioner’s efficiency is amplified with a programmable or smart thermostat, especially when it informs you of your energy consumption, excessive humidity, an anomaly in your HVAC system, or the need for new air filters.

Call Douglas Cooling & Heating for Air Conditioner Efficiency Help

Don’t blow your hard-earned money on high energy bills this summer! Improve the efficiency of your air conditioner with these tips, and contact Douglas Cooling & Heating for all your heating and cooling needs.

We offer HVAC maintenance services, tune ups, and repairs to keep you cool all summer long. Interested in a new air conditioner or heat pump? We offer free estimates and can arrange financing to spread out the payments.

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