Other tactics include frequent vacuuming, swapping out carpet for hardwood, tile or vinyl flooring and replacing window treatments with roll-up shades.
Most filters are available at your local hardware store or online. The size of the filter you need is determined by the size of your vent. If you have an existing system, check your vent and read the size on the existing filter. If you are in a new home, your AC installer will recommend a filter based on the unit that is right-sized for your house. Filters are measured by the MERV rating system on a scale of The higher the number, the better a filter is for trapping particles.
The acronym stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value and is the main industry-backed standard to allow consumers to judge how well a filter will work. Some homes have more than one air filter. Make sure you know your home and where the vents are so you can change your filters on a regular basis. Depending on the type of filter you use, the number of people in your home, whether you have pets in the home, the amount of traffic near your home and allergies, you may need to change your filter monthly or every three months, or in very rare cases, even just once a year.
Here are some facts to keep in mind about filters and their lifespan:. To be on the safe side, check your filter for buildup every month, particularly during heavy use in the summer and winter months. Another way to tell if you have a dirty air filter is if you notice more dust around your home than normal. It is usually been better to put the filter at the wall or ceiling return register grille since that way the return air ducts are protected from debris accumulation.
Central return registers are normally located in one or two common areas of the building where they will not be accidentally "shut off" by someone closing a door. For example, a bedroom won't normally have a central return register since closing the bedroom door would shut off other building areas from the return air path. This photo shows what you'll see when you open a ceiling return air register and remove the filter that should have been installed there.
The duct surfaces in this ceiling look rather clean - the filter has been doing its job. You may see house dust deposits around the edges of the opening into which the air filter is mounted - showing where air bypass leaks are occurring.
Some air filters include a gasket to seal these locations against air and dust leakage. Sometimes these leaky openings at air filters also cause noises when the air handler is running. Watch out : If a building air conditioning or heating system air handler gets its return air right at the air handler such as in this.
And the system will have high operating costs because the air flow is "one-way" drawing constantly "new" air from the basement into the air handler to be warmed or cooled and sent "one way" into the living area. Return ducts should bring air from the living are back to the air handler for cooling or warming. Individual room air returns - look in each room where there is an air conditioning supply register to see if the room also contains a return air registers.
Since some rooms have multiple air supply registers and ducts we need to know how to distinguish a supply air register from a return air register. The louver notice the little lever at the right end of the register cover? But don't be confused. Air moving into a return register also may just be felt as an airflow across your hand and you may not be sure which way the air is moving. Holding a simple piece of tissue paper next to an air register will by its movement show you for sure which way the air is moving.
Once you've located the air conditioning or heating air supply registers, look in the same room to see if there are other registers that collect return air to take it back to the air conditioning air handler. Return air inlet registers are usually louvered as well, but will normally not have adjustable openings that can be opened or closed.
Main air filters are rarely installed on individual room return or supply air registers, but identifying the presence and the location of both supply and return air registers will help us understand whether or not the system uses central returns or individual room air returns, or a mix of both. Individual air register filters : Sometimes you may see some filter like material installed right on individual air supply or air return registers in rooms.
These are usually "add-on" products that occupants have installed, perhaps in complaint that the duct system itself is dirty and that central filters have proven ineffective, or people may install individual register filters out of a general anxiety about building indoor air quality. OPINION: individual air supply or return register air filters are either ineffective not trapping much debris , or if they are effective, they are at risk of significantly reducing the air flow into the rooms where they are used, reducing the effectiveness of the cooling or heating system or increasing system operating costs.
If the building duct system is so dirty that people are installing these filters it may be preferable to have the duct system professionally cleaned. If a building uses both supply and return air registers in every room, that is, if it is not using central air return registers at just a few locations, then the air filters for the system are most likely going to be found on or very close to the individual air handlers or blower units themselves.
Photo: I'm holding a bit of tissue paper in front of an air register while the furnace or air conditioner is operating. Even a weak air flow at a register will move the tissue showing the direction of air flow.
This is a supply register: the tissue is blown away from the register's opening. We would have guessed that this is a heat or cool air supply register by the presence of louvers inside of the register grille and by the control lever that can open or close them. Operable control louvers to adjust air flow are normally found only on supply air outlets into the occupied space, while return air registers or grilles normally have no lever controls.
When air filters are not found at return registers in a building the most likely place for an air filter to be found is at or even inside the air handler itself.
At the blower unit observe that large ducts will be connected to bring return air from building return ducts into the blower unit and to send conditioned air cooled or warmed out of the blower unit into the building supply ducts.
Air handlers are installed either horizontally in an attic or crawl space or vertically in a basement, high attic, or other building area. Photos of horizontal and vertical air handlers are shown in this article and at our website. Horizontal air handlers such as the attic mounted horizontal air handler in the photo above will have return air entering one end of the air handler unit and supply air exiting at the other end.
Vertical air handlers may be an "up-flow unit" which has return air entering at the bottom of the air handler or blower and conditioned air cooled or warmed exiting at the top of the unit. The photograph shows a vertical or up-flow heating and air conditioner unit whose cooling section was mounted as an add-on atop a hot air furnace.
In this case the overhanging size of the top mounted cooling section suggests poor design - the sizes of the air moving sections are not matched. Other vertical air handlers may be a "down-flow" unit which has return air entering the top of the air handler or blower and conditioned air passing out into supply ducts connected at the bottom of the unit. Follow the duct work : If you were able to spot central or room air registers inside the living space, at the air handler unit you should be able to spot where those ducts enter the air handler itself.
That will tell you which end of the air handler has entering return air. Feel the outside temperature of duct work at the air handler : If you cannot determine where return air ducts are entering the air conditioning or heating air handler, if the system has been running in air conditioning mode the supply or outlet air end of the ducts connected to the air handler will be cool or even cold, and the return air end of the ducts connected to the air handler will be warmer to the touch.
If the system has been running in heating mode , the supply or outlet air ends of the ducts connected to the air handler will be warm to the touch and the inlet or return air ducts will be cooler. Air handler filters may be located between the return air plenum and the rest of the air handler which contains a cooling coil for air conditioning or a heat exchanger for heating systems, and also a blower fan that causes air to move across these components and out into the supply ducts.
This photo shows an air filter located between a return air plenum at photo right side and the bottom of the air handler unit. The slot may have a removable cover, but inside here should be located a central return air filter.
Open the slot, remove the filter, and install a new filter. Some types of filters are reusable; others must be replaced. They are available in a variety of types and efficiencies. Clean or replace your air conditioning system's filter or filters every month or two during the cooling season. One may also ask, when should I change my central AC filter? Here are averages that might help you know how often you should change the air filter at home:.
The air filter is typically located at the point where the return duct enters the air handler. Larger houses often have more than one HVAC system. Each system will typically have at least one air filter. Therefore, your home may have air filters located at the air handler AND in the returns. All central heating and cooling systems should have an air filter , but the filter can be harder to locate on some HVAC units than others.
The air filter is usually located in the return air duct or blower compartment before the return air reaches the air handler. This allows the filter to clean the air coming from your house before it enters the HVAC unit.
Clean air means a clean system. Hose down your outside air conditioning unit during extremely hot days. If you spray water on the condenser, it reduces the temperature of the outdoor air and thus increasing the efficiency of the AC.
Something as simple as spraying water on the condenser can help the air conditioner perform better and last longer.
The most common cause of window air conditioners not blowing cold air is a lack of adequate air flow. If the air filter is dirty or clogged, there may be little or no air flow over the evaporator coils, which may cause them to become too cold and frost or ice can form on them, restricting the air flow even more.
The simplest place to start is to make sure you change the air filters on your HVAC system at least every 3 months. Keep Plants Away. Clean the Drain Line. Check the Overflow Pan. Straighten the Fins. Check the Insulation.
Wash the Unit. As a general rule, you should clean your air conditioner filters within the indoor unit every two weeks.
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