I was recently video chatting with a friend and became distracted by the air vent behind her. I brought her attention to the vent and asked her when she had last changed the air filter in her home and when the HVAC system was last serviced. We are good enough friends that we can point these things out without it being weird. Looking up at the vent she laughed and said she’d have to check with her husband because she had no idea. She even said that was the first time she had ever looked up at the vent, and even if she had noticed it being filthy she wasn’t sure if it would have occurred to her to change the filter and check the system.

I think many of us are like my sweet friend. We forget to pay attention, we have ten thousand things to be accountable for each day, changing the air filter gets buried under a load of to-dos.

Dirty Air Vents Signal Dirty Air Filtration

If you’re home as you read this then take a quick stroll around your house to investigate those air vents. Are they filthy? Is the ceiling around the vent filthy? If so, chances are the filters are, too.

Even if the vent appears clean, go ahead and check the filter. If you cannot see through the filter clean air may unable to travel through the filter, therefore putting a strain on the HVAC system.

How Often Should Air Filters be Changed?

Knowing how often to change air filters can be tricky. There are so many factors that go into determining the frequency of renewing filters. Professionals will say as often as once per month to as far out as every six months. If any of the following applies to your household then change air filters more regularly:

• quality of the air filter - the cheap ones are simply less effective, change those more frequently

• frequency of use - the more the system runs the quicker the life of the filter runs out

• size of the household - more people means more traffic transporting dust and dirt

• pets in the home - frequency of new filters goes up with each pet

• smoking inside the home - experts say to change filters every 20 days

• living in an area with poor air quality - the quality of the air outside the home determines the quality of air inside the home

• living in a neighborhood with an active construction zone

• construction/remodeling inside the home

• older home

• older HVAC system

• nearby dirt road

• persons with asthma

How Often Should HVAC Systems be Checked Professionally?

Having a professional check the HVAC system in your home is the equivalent of having systems checked under the hood of your vehicle. You know that if systems aren’t regularly checked, odds are your vehicle will fail to run at some point. We all know this to be true about our homes as well, but for whatever reason, we fail to have the systems under our roof checked regularly enough. A good rule of thumb is to have your system checked at the peak of every Spring season. Having the system evaluated regularly can save you costly and timely repairs and replacements in the future.